When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!” They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.
But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21 6. When this was noised abroad. Luke saith thus…
6. When this was noised abroad. Luke saith thus in Greek, This voice being made; but his meaning is, that the fame was spread abroad, whereby it came to pass that a great multitude came together. For if one after another in divers places, and at divers times, had heard the apostles speaking in divers tongues, the miracle had not been so famous; therefore they come altogether into one place, that the diversity of tongues may the better appear by the present comparison. There is a further circumstance also here to be noted, that the country (and native soil) of the apostles was commonly known, and this was also commonly known, that they never went out of their country to learn strange tongues. Therefore, forasmuch as one speaketh Latin, another Greek, another the Arabian tongue, as occasion was offered, and that indifferently, and every one doth also change his tongue, the work of God appeareth more plainly hereby.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21 Not that they spake with one voice, and many…
Not that they spake with one voice, and many languages were heard, but that the Apostles spake with strange tongues: for else the miracle had rather been in the hearers, whereas now it is in the speakers, Nazianzen in his oration of Whitsunday.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude…
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
Ver. 6. Were confounded] Or troubled, transported, amazed, and amused, συνεχυθη, as Act 2:7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6–21 Noised abroad; either the miraculous winds were heard, or…
Noised abroad; either the miraculous winds were heard, or the report of what had happened was spread abroad.
Were confounded; either out of shame that they had slain Christ, whom God thus extraordinarily glorified; or out of admiration at so extraordinary a matter.
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Every man heard them speak in his own language; probably, not that the same words spoken by the apostles were diversified according to every one’s understanding, for then the miracle had been wrought in their auditors, and not in the apostles; but that the apostles did speak to every one in their proper and most intelligible language: and this was the gift of tongues, which for some time after also was continued in the church.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v14 Observe here, The holy courage of St. Peter, in…
Observe here, The holy courage of St. Peter, in defending the innocency of the apostles, and confuting the calumny of drunkenness, which was now cast upon himself and them: These men are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Where note, 1. How he argues negatively from the time of the day: it was but the third hour of the day, that is nine o’clock in the morning, which was the hour for the morning sacrifice and prayer; and the worshippers of God (at the great feast especially) were never wont to eat or drink before those holy services were performed. In those times they went to their public devotions fasting; they served God before they served their bellies. The first fruits of the day were offered in the temple then; in the tavern now: ten in the morning and evening visits are made by some to the latter for one to the former.
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Note farther, How he argues positively: he assures them, that the apostles were full of the Holy Ghost, and not full of wine; filled with the Spirit of God; and what was now done, was the completion of a prophecy uttered by Joel: That in the last days, that is, in the days of the Messias, there should be a most plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh: that is, upon Jews and Gentiles, and upon all sorts of persons with out distinction, old and young, sons and daughters, bond and free.
Learn thence, That the Spirit of God is a free spirit, not confined to any party, to any order or degrees of men, but plentifully and abundantly poured forth under the gospel dispensation upon all believers. It is one of the great cheats which the pope has imposed upon the world, to persuade them to believe the Spirit of God is tied to the pommel of his chair; that he, and his cardinals, have monopolized the Holy Ghost. But, blessed be God, he has promised to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, even upon servants and handmaids, to show, that he doth not despise persons of the lowest rank and condition in this world, but that the promise of the Spirit is made unto them also.
Observe lastly, What is here foretold that should come to pass after this great effusion of the Holy Spirit, namely, Wonder in the heaven, and signs in the earth, the sun turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. Which expressions signify the great miseries and troubles , the calamities and desolation, which should befall the Jews before the destruction of Jerusalem, for their crucifying the Lord of life and glory; unto which is subjoined the only way to escape and avoid them, namely, calling upon the Lord in fervent prayer and supplication: Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Intimating that prayer makes us shot-free, and is a sure defence in all storms, that no evil shall fatally touch our person, or come near our dwellings, whilst we take hold of God by faith, and approach unto him by prayer.
Lord! how happy is it when the strong afflictions from thee, raise strong affections in us towards thee!
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v14 We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in…
We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in the sermon which Peter preached immediately, directed, not to those of other nations in a strange language (we are not told what answer he gave to those that were amazed, and said, What meaneth this?) but to the Jews in the vulgar language, even to those that mocked; for he begins with the notice of that (Act 2:15), and addresses his discourse (Act 2:14) to the men of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but we have reason enough to think that the other disciples continued to speak to those who understood them (and therefore flocked about them), in the languages of their respective countries, the wonderful works of God. And it was not by Peter's preaching only, but that of all, or most, of the rest of the hundred and twenty, that three thousand souls were that day converted, and added to the church; but Peter's sermon only is recorded, to be an evidence for him that he was thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the divine favour. He that had sneakingly denied Christ now as courageously confesses him. Observe,
I. His introduction or preface, wherein he craves the attention of the auditory, or demands it rather: Peter stood up (Act 2:14), to show that he was not drunk, with the eleven, who concurred with him in what he said, and probably in their turns spoke likewise to the same purport; those that were of greatest authority stood up to speak to the scoffing Jews, and to confront those who contradicted and blasphemed, but left the seventy disciples to speak to the willing proselytes from other nations, who were not so prejudiced, in their own language. Thus among Christ's ministers, some of greater gifts are called out to instruct those that oppose themselves, to take hold of sword and spear; others of meaner abilities are employed in instructing those that resign themselves, and to be vine-dressers and husband-men. Peter lifted up his voice, as one that was both well assured of and much affected with what he said, and was neither afraid nor ashamed to own it. He applied himself to the men of Judea, andres Ioudaioi - the men that were Jews; so it should be read; "and you especially that dwell at Jerusalem, who were accessory to the death of Jesus, be this known unto you, which you did not know before, and which you are concerned to know now, and hearken to my words, who would draw you to Christ, and not to the words of the scribes and Pharisees, that would draw you from him. My Master is gone, whose words you have often heard in vain, and shall hear no more as you have done, but he speaks to you by us; hearken now to our words."
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II. His answer to their blasphemous calumny (Act 2:15): "These men are not drunken, as you suppose. These disciples of Christ, that now speak with other tongues, speak good sense, and know what they say, and so do those they speak to, who are led by their discourses into the knowledge of the wonderful works of God. You cannot think they are drunk, for it is but the third hour of the day," nine of the clock in the morning; and before this time, on the sabbaths and solemn feasts, the Jews did not eat nor drink: nay, ordinarily, those that are drunk are drunk in the night, and not in the morning; those are besotted drunkards indeed who, when they awake, immediately seek it yet again, Pro 23:35.
III. His account of the miraculous effusion of the Spirit, which is designed to awaken them all to embrace the faith of Christ, and to join themselves to his church. Two things he resolves it into: - that it was the fulfilling of the scripture, and the fruit of Christ's resurrection and ascension, and consequently the proof of both.
1. That it was the accomplishment of the prophecies of the Old Testament which related to the kingdom of the Messiah, and therefore an evidence that this kingdom is come, and the other predictions of it are fulfilled. He specifies one, that of the prophet Joel, Joe 2:28. It is observable that though Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance, yet he did not set aside the scriptures, nor think himself above them; nay, much of his discourse is quotation out of the Old Testament, to which he appeals, and with which he proves what he says. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bible; and the Spirit is given not to supersede the scriptures, but to enable us to understand and improve the scriptures. Observe,
(1.) The text itself that Peter quotes, Act 2:17-21. It refers to the last days, the times of the gospel, which are called the last days because the dispensation of God's kingdom among men, which the gospel sets up, is the last dispensation of divine grace, and we are to look for no other than the continuation of this to the end of time. Or, in the last days, that is, a great while after the ceasing of prophecy in the Old Testament church. Or, in the days immediately preceding the destruction of the Jewish nation, in the last days of that people, just before that great and notable day of the Lord spoken of, Act 2:20. "It was prophesied of and promised, and therefore you ought to expect it, and not to be surprised at it; to desire it, and bid it welcome, and not to dispute it, as not worth taking notice of." The apostle quotes the whole paragraph, for it is good to take scripture entire; now it was foretold,
[1.] That there should be a more plentiful and extensive effusion of the Spirit of grace from on high than had ever yet been. The prophets of the Old Testament had been filled with the Holy Ghost, and it was said of the people of Israel that God gave them his good Spirit to instruct them, Neh 9:20. But now the Spirit shall be poured out, not only upon the Jews, but upon all flesh, Gentiles as well as Jews, though yet Peter himself did not understand it so, as appears, Act 11:17. Or, upon all flesh, that is, upon some of all ranks and conditions of men. The Jewish doctors taught that the Spirit came only upon wise and rich men, and such as were of the seed of Israel; but God will not tie himself to their rules.
[2.] That the Spirit should be in them a Spirit of prophecy; by the Spirit they should be enabled to foretel things to come, and to preach the gospel to every creature. This power shall be given without distinction of sex - not only your sons, but your daughters shall prophesy; without distinction of age - both your young men and your old men shall see visions, and dream dreams, and in them receive divine revelations, to be communicated to the church; and without distinction of outward condition - even the servants and handmaids shall receive of the Spirit, and shall prophesy (Act 2:18); or, in general, men and women, whom God calls his servants and his handmaids. In the beginning of the age of prophecy in the Old Testament there were schools of the prophets, and, before that, the Spirit of prophecy came upon the elders of Israel that were appointed to the government; but now the Spirit shall be poured out upon persons of inferior rank, and such as were not brought up in the schools of the prophets, for the kingdom of the Messiah is to be purely spiritual. The mention of the daughters (Act 2:17) and the handmaidens (Act 2:18) would make one think that the women who were taken notice of (Act 1:14) received the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as well as the men. Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters who did prophesy (Act 21:9), and St. Paul, finding abundance of the gifts both of tongues and prophecy in the church of Corinth, saw it needful to prohibit women's use of those gifts in public, Co1 14:26, Co1 14:34.
[3.] That one great thing which they should prophesy of should be the judgment that was coming upon the Jewish nation, for this was the chief thing that Christ himself had foretold (Mt. 24) at his entrance into Jerusalem (Luk 19:41); and when he was going to die (Luk 23:29); and these judgments were to be brought upon them to punish for their contempt of the gospel, and their opposition to it, though it came to them thus proved. Those that would not submit to the power of God's grace, in this wonderful effusion of his Spirit, should fall and lie under the pourings out of the vials of his wrath. Those shall break that will not bend. First, The destruction of Jerusalem, which was about forty years after Christ's death, is here called that great and notable day of the Lord, because it put a final period to the Mosaic economy; the Levitical priesthood and the ceremonial law were thereby for ever abolished and done away. The desolation itself was such as was never brought upon any place or nation, either before or since. It was the day of the Lord, for it was the day of his vengeance upon that people for crucifying Christ, and persecuting his ministers; it was the year of recompences for that controversy; yea, and for all the blood of the saints and martyrs, from the blood of righteous Abel, Mat 23:35. It was a little day of judgment; it was a notable day: in Joel it is called a terrible day, for so it was to men on earth; but here epiphanē (after the Septuagint), a glorious, illustrious day, for so it was to Christ in heaven; it was the epiphany, his appearing, so he himself spoke of it, Mat 24:30. The destruction of the Jews was the deliverance of the Christians, who were hated and persecuted by them; and therefore that day was often spoken of by the prophets of that time, for the encouragement of suffering Christians, that the Lord was at hand, the coming of the Lord drew nigh, the Judge stood before the door, Jam 5:8, Jam 5:9. Secondly, The terrible presages of that destruction are here foretold: There shall be wonders in heaven above, the sun turned into darkness and the moon into blood; and signs too in the earth beneath, blood and fire. Josephus, in his preface to his history of the wars of the Jews, speaks of the signs and prodigies that preceded them, terrible thunders, lightnings, and earthquakes; there was a fiery comet that hung over the city for a year, and a flaming sword was seen pointing down upon it; a light shone upon the temple and the altar at midnight, as if it had been noon-day. Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of these presages: The blood of the Son of God, the fire of the Holy Ghost now appearing, the vapour of the smoke in which Christ ascended, the sun darkened, and the moon made blood, at the time of Christ's passion, were all loud warnings given to that unbelieving people to prepare for the judgments coming upon them. Or, it may be applied, and very fitly, to the previous judgments themselves by which that desolation was brought on. The blood points at the wars of the Jews with the neighbouring nations, with the Samaritans, Syrians, and Greeks, in which abundance of blood was shed, as there was also in their civil wars, and the struggles of the seditious (as they called them), which were very bloody; there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in. The fire and vapour of smoke, here foretold, literally came to pass in the burning of their cities, and towns, and synagogues, and temple at last. And this turning of the sun into darkness, and the moon into blood, bespeaks the dissolution of their government, civil and sacred, and the extinguishing of all their lights. Thirdly, The signal preservation of the Lord's people is here promised (Act 2:21): Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus (which is the description of a true Christian, Co1 1:2) shall be saved, shall escape that judgment which shall be a type and earnest of everlasting salvation. In the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, there was a remnant sealed to be hid in the day of the Lord's anger; and in the destruction by the Romans not one Christian perished. Those that distinguish themselves by singular piety shall be distinguished by special preservation. And observe, the saved remnant are described by this, that they are a praying people: they call on the name of the Lord, which intimates that they are not saved by any merit or righteousness of their own, but purely by the favour of God, which must be sued out by prayer. It is the name of the Lord which they call upon that is their strong tower.
(2.) The application of this prophecy to the present event (Act 2:16): This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; it is the accomplishment of that, it is the full accomplishment of it. This is that effusion of the Spirit upon all flesh which should come, and we are to look for no other, no more than we are to look for another Messiah; for as our Messiah ever lives in heaven, reigning and interceding for his church on earth, so this Spirit of grace, the Advocate, or Comforter, that was given now, according to the promise, will, according to the same promise, continue with the church on earth to the end, and will work all its works in it and for it, and every member of it, ordinary and extraordinary, by means of the scriptures and the ministry.
2. That it was the gift of Christ, and the product and proof of his resurrection and ascension. From this gift of the Holy Ghost, he takes occasion to preach unto them Jesus; and this part of his sermon he introduces with another solemn preface (Act 2:22): "You men of Israel, hear these words. It is a mercy that you are within hearing of them, and it is your duty to give heed to them." Words concerning Christ should be acceptable words to the men of Israel. Here is,
(1.) An abstract of the history of the life of Christ, Act 2:22. He calls him Jesus of Nazareth, because by that name he was generally known, but (which was sufficient to roll away that reproach) he was a man approved of God among you, censured and condemned by men, but approved of God: God testified his approbation of his doctrine by the power he gave him to work miracles: a man marked out by God, so Dr. Hammond reads it; "signalized and made remarkable among you that now hear me. He was sent to you, set up, a glorious light in your land; you yourselves are witnesses how he became famous by miracles, wonders, and signs, works above the power of nature, out of its ordinary course, and contrary to it, which God did by him; that is, which he did by that divine power with which he was clothed, and in which God plainly went along with him; for no man could do such works unless God were with him." See what a stress Peter lays upon Christ's miracles. [1.] The matter of fact was not to be denied: "They were done in the midst of you, in the midst of your country, your city, your solemn assemblies, as you yourselves also know. You have been eyewitnesses of his miracles; I appeal to yourselves whether you have any thing to object against them or can offer any thing to disprove them." [2.] The inference from them cannot be disputed; the reasoning is as strong as the evidence; if he did those miracles, certainly God approved him, declared him to be, what he declared himself to be, the Son of God and the Saviour of the world; for the God of truth would never set his seal to a lie.
(2.) An account of his death and sufferings which they were witness of also but a few weeks ago; and this was the greatest miracle of all, that a man approved of God should thus seem to be abandoned of him; and a man thus approved among the people, and in the midst of them, should be thus abandoned by them too. But both these mysteries are here explained (Act 2:23), and his death considered, [1.] As God's act; and in him it was an act of wonderful grace and wisdom. He delivered him to death; not only permitted him to be put to death, but gave him up, devoted him: this is explained Rom 8:32, He delivered him up for us all. And yet he was approved of God, and there was nothing in this that signified the disapproving of him; for it was done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, in infinite wisdom, and for holy ends, which Christ himself concurred in, and in the means leading to them. Thus divine justice must be satisfied, sinners saved, God and man brought together again, and Christ himself glorified. It was not only according to the will of God, but according to the counsel of his will, that he suffered and died; according to an eternal counsel, which could not be altered. This reconciled him to the cross: Father, thy will be done; and Father, glorify thy name; let thy purpose take effect, and let the great end of it be attained. [2.] As the people's act; and in them it was an act of prodigious sin and folly; it was fighting against God to persecute one whom he approved as the darling of heaven; and fighting against their own mercies to persecute one that was the greatest blessing of this earth. Neither God's designing it from eternity, nor his bringing good out of it to eternity, would in the least excuse their sin; for it was their voluntary act and deed, from a principle morally evil, and therefore "they were wicked hands with which you have crucified and slain him." It is probable that some of those were here present who had cried, Crucify him, crucify him, or had been otherwise aiding and abetting in the murder; and Peter knew it. However, it was justly looked upon as a national act, because done both by the vote of the great council and by the voice of the great crowd. It is a rule, Refertur ad universos quod publice fit per majorem paretm - That which is done publicly by the greater part we attribute to all. He charges it particularly on them as parts of the nation on which it would be visited, the more effectually to bring them to faith and repentance, because that was the only way to distinguish themselves from the guilty and discharge themselves from the guilt.
(3.) An attestation of his resurrection, which effectually wiped away the reproach of his death (Act 2:24): Whom God raised up; the same that delivered him to death delivers him from death, and thereby gave a higher approbation of him than he had done by any other of the signs and wonders wrought by him, or by all put together. This therefore he insists most largely upon.
[1.] He describes his resurrection: God loosed the pains of death, because it was impossible that he should be holden of it; ōdinas - the sorrows of death; the word is used for travailing pains, and some think it signifies the trouble and agony of his soul, in which it was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the death; from these pains and sorrows of soul, this travail of soul, the Father loosed him when at his death he said, It is finished. Thus Dr. Godwin understands it: "Those terrors which made Heman's soul lie like the slain (Psa 88:5, Psa 88:15) had hold of Christ; but he was too strong for them, and broke through them; this was the resurrection of his soul (and it is a great thing to bring a soul out of the depths of spiritual agonies); this was not leaving his soul in hell; as that which follows, that he should not see corruption, speaks of the resurrection of his body; and both together make up the great resurrection." Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of this: "Having dissolved the pains of death, in reference to all that believe in him, God raised up Christ, and by his resurrection broke all the power of death, and destroyed its pangs upon his own people. He has abolished death, has altered the property of it, and, because it was not possible that he should be long holden of it, it is not possible that they should be for ever holden." But most refer this to the resurrection of Christ's body. And death (says Mr. Baxter) is by privation a penal state, though not dolorous by positive evil. But Dr. Hammond shows that the Septuagint, and from them the apostle here, uses the word for cords and bands (as Psa 18:4), to which the metaphor of loosing and being held best agrees. Christ was imprisoned for our debt, was thrown into the bands of death; but, divine justice being satisfied, it was not possible he should be detained there, either by right or by force; for he had life in himself, and in his own power, and had conquered the prince of death.
[2.] He attests the truth of his resurrection (Act 2:32): God hath raised him up, whereof we all are witnesses - we apostles, and others our companions, that were intimately acquainted with him before his death, were intimately conversant with him after his resurrection, did eat and drink with him. They received power, by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them, on purpose that they might be skilful, faithful, and courageous witnesses of this thing, notwithstanding their being charged by his enemies as having stolen him away.
[3.] He showed it to be the fulfilling of the scripture, and, because the scripture had said that he must rise again before he saw corruption, therefore it was impossible that he should be holden by death and the grave; for David speaks of his being raised, so it comes in, Act 2:25. The scripture he refers to is that of David (Psa 16:8-11), which, though in part applicable to David as a saint, yet refers chiefly to Jesus Christ, of whom David was a type. Here is,
First, The text quoted at large (Act 2:25-28), for it was all fulfilled in him, and shows us, 1. The constant regard that our Lord Jesus had to his Father in his whole undertaking: I foresaw the Lord before me continually. He set before him his Father's glory as his end in all-for he saw that his sufferings would redound abundantly to the honour of God, and would issue in his own joy; these were set before him, and these he had an eye to, in all he did and suffered; and with the prospect of these he was borne up and carried on, Joh 13:31, Joh 13:32; Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5. 2. The assurance he had of his Father's presence and power going along with him: "He is on my right hand, the hand of action, strengthening, guiding, and upholding that, that I should not be moved, nor driven off from my undertaking, notwithstanding the hardships I must undergo." This was an article of the covenant of redemption (Psa 89:21), With him my hand shall be established, my arm also shall strengthen him; and therefore he is confident the work shall not miscarry in his hand. If God be at our right hand we shall not be moved. 3. The cheerfulness with which our Lord Jesus went on in his work, notwithstanding the sorrows he was to pass through: "Being satisfied that I shall not be moved, but the good pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in my hand, therefore doth my heart rejoice, and my tongue is glad, and the thought of my sorrow is as nothing to me." Note, It was a constant pleasure to our Lord Jesus to look to the end of his work, and to be sure that the issue would be glorious; so well pleased is he with his undertaking that it does his heart good to think how the issue would answer the design. He rejoiced in spirit, Luk 10:21. My tongue was glad. In the psalm it is, My glory rejoiceth; which intimates that our tongue is our glory, the faculty of speaking is an honour to us, and never more so than when it is employed in praising God. Christ's tongue was glad, for when he was just entering upon his sufferings, in the close of his last supper, he sang a hymn. 4. The pleasing prospect he had of the happy issue of his death and sufferings; it was this that carried him, not only with courage, but with cheerfulness, through them; he was putting off the body, but my flesh shall rest; the grave shall be to the body, while it lies there, a bed of repose, and hope shall give it a sweet repose; it shall rest in hope, hoti, that thou wilt no leave my soul in hell; what follows is the matter of his hope, or assurance rather, (1.) That the soul shall not continue in a state of separation from the body; for, besides that this is some uneasiness to a human soul made for its body, it would be the continuance of death's triumph over him who was in truth a conqueror over death: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell" (in hades, in the invisible state, so hades properly signifies); "but, though thou suffer it for a time to remove thither, and to remain there, yet thou wilt remand it; thou wilt not leave it there, as thou dost the souls of other men." (2.) That the body shall lie but a little while in the grave: Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption; the body shall not continue dead so long as to begin to putrefy or become noisome; and therefore it must return to life on or before the third day after its death. Christ was God's Holy One, sanctified and set apart to his service in the work of redemption; he must die, for he must be consecrated by his own blood; but he must not see corruption, for his death was to be unto God of a sweet smelling savour. This was typified by the law concerning the sacrifice, that no part of the flesh of the sacrifice which was to be eaten should be kept till the third day, for fear it should see corruption and begin to putrefy, Lev 7:15-18. (3.) That his death and sufferings should be, not to him only, but to all his, an inlet to a blessed immortality: "Thou has made known to me the ways of life, and by me made them known to the world, and laid them open." When the Father gave to the Son to have life in himself, a power to lay down his life and to take it again, then he showed him the way of life, both to and fro; the gates of death were open to him and the doors of the shadow of death (Job 38:17), to pass and repass through them, as his occasion led him, for man's redemption. (4.) That all his sorrows and sufferings should end in perfect and perpetual felicity: Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. The reward set before him was joy, a fulness of joy, and that in God's countenance, in the countenance he gave to his undertaking, and to all those, for his sake, that should believe in him. The smiles with which the Father received him, when, at his ascension, he was brought to the Ancient of days, filled him with joy unspeakable, and that is the joy of our Lord, into which all his shall enter, and in which they shall be for ever happy.
Secondly, The comment upon this text, especially so much of it as relates to the resurrection of Christ. He addresses himself to them with a title of respect, Men and brethren, Act 2:29. "You are men, and therefore should be ruled by reason; you are brethren, and therefore should take kindly what is said to you by one who, being nearly related to you, is heartily concerned for you, and wishes you well. Now, give me leave freely to speak to you concerning the patriarch David, and let it be no offence to you if I tell you that David cannot be understood here as speaking of himself, but of the Christ to come." David is here called a patriarch, because he was the father of the royal family, and a man of great note and eminency in his generation, and whose name and memory were justly very precious. Now when we read that psalm of his, we must consider, 1. That he could not say that of himself, for he died, and was buried, and his sepulchre remained in Jerusalem till now, when Peter spoke this, and his bones and ashes in it. Nobody ever pretended that he had risen, and therefore he could never say of himself that he should not see corruption; for it was plain he did see corruption. St. Paul urges this, Act 13:35-37. Though he was a man after God's own heart, yet he went the way of all the earth, as he saith himself (Kg1 2:2), both in death and burial. 2. Therefore certainly he spoke it as a prophet, with an eye to the Messiah, whose sufferings the prophets testified beforehand, and with them the glory that should follow; so did David in that psalm, as Peter here plainly shows. (1.) David knew that the Messiah should descend from his loins (Act 2:30), that God had sworn to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He promised him a Son, the throne of whose kingdom should be established for ever, Sa2 7:12. And it is said (Psa 132:11), God swore it in truth unto David. When our Lord Jesus was born, it was promised that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, Luk 1:32. And all Israel knew that the Messiah was to be the Son of David, that is, that, according to the flesh, he should be so by his human nature; for otherwise, according to the spirit, and by his divine nature, he was to be David's Lord, not his son. God having sworn to David that the Messiah, promised to his fathers, should be his son and successor, the fruit of his loins, and heir to his throne, he kept this in view, in penning his psalms. (2.) Christ being the fruit of his loins, and consequently in his loins when he penned that psalm (as Levi is said to be in Abraham's loins when he paid tithes to Melchizedek), if what he says, as in his own person, be not applicable to himself (as it is plain that it is not), we must conclude it points to that son of his that was then in his loins, in whom his family and kingdom were to have their perfection and perpetuity; and therefore, when he says that his soul should not be left in its separate state, nor his flesh see corruption, without doubt he must be understood to speak of the resurrection of Christ, Act 2:31. And as Christ died, so he rose again, according to the scriptures; and that he did so we are witnesses. (3.) Here is a glance at his ascension too. As David did not rise from the dead, so neither did he ascend into the heavens, bodily, as Christ did, Act 2:34. And further, to prove that when he spoke of the resurrection he meant it of Christ, he observes that when in another psalm he speaks of the next step of his exaltation he plainly shows that he spoke of another person, and such another as was his Lord (Psa 110:1): "The Lord said unto my Lord, when he had raised him from the dead, Sit thou at my right hand, in the highest dignity and dominion there; be thou entrusted with the administration of the kingdom both of providence and grace; sit there as king, until I make thy foes either thy friends or thy footstool," Act 2:35. Christ rose from the grave to rise higher, and therefore it must be of his resurrection that David spoke, and not his own, in the Psa 16:1; for there was no occasion for him to rise out of his grave who was not to ascend to heaven.
(4.) The application of this discourse concerning the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
[1.] This explains the meaning of the present wonderful effusion of the Spirit in those extraordinary gifts. Some of the people had asked (Act 2:12), What meaneth this? I will tell you the meaning of it, says Peter. This Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God, so some read it, to sit there; exalted by the right hand of God, so we read it, by his power and authority - it comes all to one; and having received of the Father, to whom he has ascended, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath given what he received (Psa 68:18), and hath shed forth this which you now see and hear; for the Holy Ghost was to be given when Jesus was glorified, and not before, Joh 7:39. You see and hear us speak with tongues that we never learned; probably there was an observable change in the air of their countenances, which they saw, as well as heard the change of their voice and language; now this is from the Holy Ghost, whose coming is an evidence that Jesus is exalted, and he has received this gift from the Father, to confer it upon the church, which plainly bespeaks him to be the Mediator, or middle person between God and the church. The gift of the Holy Ghost was, First, A performance of divine promises already made; here it is called the promise of the Holy Ghost; many exceedingly great and precious promises the divine power has given us, but this is the promise, by way of eminency, as that of the Messiah had been, and this is the promise that includes all the rest; hence God's giving the Holy Spirit to those that ask him (Luk 11:13) is his giving them all good things, Mat 7:11. Christ received the promise of the Holy Ghost, that is, the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, and has given it to us; for all the promises are yea and amen in him. Secondly, It was a pledge of all divine favours further intended; what you now see and hear is but an earnest of greater things.
[2.] This proves what you are all bound to believe, that Christ Jesus is the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; this he closes his sermon with, as the conclusion of the whole matter, the quod erat demonstrandum - the truth to be demonstrated (Act 2:36): Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that this truth has now received its full confirmation, and we our full commission to publish it, That God has made that same Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ. They were charged to tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ till afte
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–21 Now when this was noised abroad,.... Or "when this…
Now when this was noised abroad,.... Or "when this voice was made"; referring either to the sound, as of a mighty rushing wind, which came from heaven; and might not only be heard by those in the house, into which it came, but by the inhabitants of the city, as it came down from heaven; so the Arabic version renders it, "when the aforesaid sound was made": or else to the apostles' voice, and their speaking with divers tongues; which being heard by some, was told to others, and a rumour of it being made through the city,
the multitude came together; to the house, or temple, where the disciples were; and this multitude did not consist only of the devout Jews, before mentioned; but of others who scoffed and mocked at the apostles, and who had been concerned in the crucifying of Christ:
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and were confounded; or "confused"; they ran and came together in a disorderly and tumultuous manner; the whole city was in an uproar, the assembly on this occasion was a perfect mob; their numbers were so large, that they were ready to thrust each other down, and trample one another under foot: the Vulgate Latin adds, "in mind"; they did not know what to think of things, they were so astonished at what they heard, that they were scarcely themselves; they were as persons stupid and senseless; being filled partly with shame and confusion, and partly with wonder and amazement, that these illiterate men, the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, and whose disciples they had in so much contempt, should have such extraordinary gifts bestowed on them:
because that every man heard them speak in his own language; which shows, what has been before observed, that one spake in one language, and another in another language; or the same person sometimes spoke one language, and sometimes another; so that in course, all languages were spoken by them; whence it appears, that it was not one language only which was spoken by the apostles, which men of different languages heard and understood, as if it was their own; for then the miracle must have been in the hearers, and not in the speakers; and the cloven tongues, as of fire, should rather have sat on them, than on the disciples; and these men be said to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, rather than they.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 The multitude came together, and were confounded - The…
The multitude came together, and were confounded - The motions of their minds were swift and various.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Verse 6. When this was noised abroad] If we…
Verse 6. When this was noised abroad] If we suppose that there was a considerable peal of thunder, which followed the escape of a vast quantity of electric fluid, and produced the mighty rushing wind already noticed on Ac 2:2, then the whole city must have been alarmed; and, as various circumstances might direct their attention to the temple, having flocked thither they were farther astonished and confounded to hear the disciples of Christ addressing the mixed multitude in the languages of the different countries from which these people had come.
Every man heard them speak in his own language.] Use may naturally suppose that, as soon as any person presented himself to one of these disciples, he, the disciple, was immediately enabled to address him in his own language, however various this had been from the Jewish or Galilean dialects. If a Roman presented himself, the disciple was immediately enabled to address him in Latin-if a Grecian, in Greek-an Arab, in Arabic, and so of the rest.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Act 2:14-15. But Peter, standing up with the eleven…
Act 2:14-15. But Peter, standing up with the eleven — Who were then in company with him, and who, doubtless, also all, or at least most of them, addressed the people on this occasion, some in one language, and others in another, speaking by turns, or even altogether, in different parts of the assembly, to those who understood the languages in which they spoke, and therefore flocked about them. Peter, however, it appears, spoke first, and addressing himself to the native Jews, undoubtedly spoke in the language of the country, the Chaldaio-Syriac, which they all understood. It is probable that the others, who discoursed in other languages, uttered truths similar to those declared by Peter; and certainly it was not by Peter’s preaching only, but that of all, or most of the rest of the hundred and twenty, that the three thousand souls were that day converted and added to the church. But Peter’s sermon is recorded, to be an evidence for him, that he was thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the divine favour. He that had in a timid, cowardly manner, denied Christ, now as courageously confesses him. Peter, by standing up, showed that he was not drunk; and by the regular, consistent, and conclusive manner in which he reasoned, he manifested the utmost sobriety, and most perfect recollection. He lifted up his voice — As one that was both well assured of, and much affected with, what he said; and was neither afraid nor ashamed to avow it; and in order that those who had been reproaching them might hear him; and said, Ye men of Judea — Ανδρες Ιουδαιοι, ye men that are Jews; and you especially that dwell at Jerusalem — Who were accessary to the death of Jesus; be this known unto you — Which ye did not know before, and which it infinitely concerns you to know now; and hearken to my words — With an attention becoming the importance of the subject on which I address you. My Master is gone, whose words you often heard in vain, and shall hear no more as you have done; but he speaks to you by us: hearken now to our words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose — These disciples of Christ, that now speak with other tongues, speak good sense, and know what they say, as do those to whom they speak; who are led by their discourses into the knowledge of the wonderful works of God; and, indeed, it is very unreasonable and uncharitable for you to imagine that they are men intoxicated; seeing it is but the third hour of the day — That is, nine in the morning. The hour of morning sacrifice, before which, you know, none, who have any regard for their character, will allow themselves so much as to taste wine, and much less to drink any large quantity of it, whereby they would be rendered incapable of attending the service of the temple, and especially would not do it on such a solemn festival as this. Josephus tells us, that on feast-days the Jews seldom ate or drank any thing till noon; a circumstance which, if true, as there is reason to suppose it was, rendered this calumny still the more incredible. Peter’s discourse has three parts, each of which (see Act 2:14; Act 2:22; Act 2:29) begins with the same appellation, men: only to the last part he also prefixes, with more familiarity, the additional word brethren.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–21 When this was noised abroad - When the rumor…
When this was noised abroad - When the rumor of this remarkable transaction was spread, as it naturally would be.
Were confounded - συνεχύθη sunechuthē̄. The word used here means literally “to pour together,” hence, “to confound, confuse.” It is used:
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(a)Of an assembly or multitude thrown into confusion, Act 21:27;
(b)Of the mind as perplexed or confounded, as in disputation, Act 9:22; and,
(c)Of persons in amazement or consternation, as in this place. They did not understand this; they could not account for it.
Every man heard them speak ... - Though the multitude spoke different tongues, yet they now heard Galileans use the language which they had learned in foreign nations. “His own language.” His own dialect - διαλέκτῳ dialektō. His own idiom, whether it was a foreign language, or whether it was a modification of the Hebrew. The word may mean either; but it is probable that the foreign Jews would greatly modify the Hebrew, or conform almost entirely to the language spoken in the country where they lived. We may remark here that this effect of the descent of the Holy Spirit was not special to that time. A work of grace on the hearts of people in a revival of religion will always “be noised abroad.” A multitude will come together, and God often, as he did here, makes use of this motive to bring them under the influence of religion. Curiosity was the motive here, and it was the occasion of their being brought under the power of truth, and of their conversion. In thousands of cases this has occurred since. The effect of what they saw was to confound them, to astonish them, and to throw them into deep perplexity. They made no complaint at first of the irregularity of what was done, but were all amazed and overwhelmed. So the effect of a revival of religion is often to convince the multitude that it is indeed a work of the Holy One; to amaze them by the display of his power; and to silence opposition and cavil by the manifest presence and the power of God. A few afterward began to cavil Act 2:13, as some will always do in a revival; but the mass were convinced, as will be the case always, that this was a mighty display of the power of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 19 But Peter standing up, &c. A wonderful change which…
But Peter standing up, &c. A wonderful change which the Holy Ghost, at his coming, in a moment wrought in the apostles, as we see in the person of St. Peter, who before, when questioned by a silly girl, denied his master, now he values not all the Sanhedrim of the Scribes, Pharisees, and magistrates; he boldly and publicly charges them with the murder of Jesus, their Lord, and their Christ. (ver. 36) (Witham) --- As the prince of the apostolic college, and head of the Church, under Jesus Christ, hence Peter speaks in the name of the other apostles also, gives an account of the miracle, and promulgates the evangelical law. (Menochius) --- Newly replenished with all knowledge and fortitude, and full of the holy Spirit, he her maketh his first sermon. (Bristow)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v14 C.— The testimony of peter
C.— The testimony of peter
Act_2:14-36
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Contents:—Peter arises and asks for attention, Act_2:14; he says: (1). These scenes are the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, Act_2:15-21; (2) Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye slew, has been raised up. in accordance with the prophecies of David, Act_2:22-32; (3) This exalted Jesus, the Lord and Messiah, has now poured out the Spirit, Act_2:33-36.
§ I.—Peter stands forth, and addresses the multitude. He explains that this astonishing course of action on the part of the disciples, is not the effect of drunkenness, but is occasioned by the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, namely, the outpouring of the Spirit of God in the last days
Act_2:14-21
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea [Jewish men], and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this knownunto you, and hearken to my words: 15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose,seeing [for] it is but the third hour of the day. 16But this is that which was spokenby the prophet Joel; 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall [will] prophesy, and your young men shall [will] see visions, and your old men shall dream [will have] dreams:9 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out inthose days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19And I will shew [do] wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke;20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great.and notable10 day of the Lord come: 21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act_2:14-15. (a) But Peter, standing up, etc.—The apostles were authorized, and, indeed, impelled by a sense of duty, in view alike of the amazement and inquiries of the devout, and of the scoffs of the others, to address the assembled multitude, and deliver their testimony. Hitherto all the disciples of Jesus had pursued the same course, but at this point, the Apostles, mindful of the will and words of Jesus: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem,” (Act_1:8), presented themselves to the multitude. Their public appearance is described in solemn language: Peter stood up with the eleven, as the leader of the latter, “the mouth of the apostles and their corypheus” (Chrys.), quick in his movements and resolute, bold in his faith and eloquent. The position which he took in the sight of the multitude (σταθείς), was not, however, isolated, as his eleven fellow-apostles surrounded him, and also addressed the people, at least, subsequently, Act_2:37-40. Peter lifted up his voice, so that the thousands who stood before him might hear distinctly; his good conscience and joy of soul gave him confidence and strength. He spoke in a solemn, distinct and intelligible manner, and praised God, not in an ecstatic state, but with self-possession; his whole demeanor, his voice, and his words, revealed entire sobriety.
b. Ye men of Judea.—The manner in which Peter begins his address indicates that truths of high importance are to be communicated. He speaks to the assembled Jews with simple dignity, and modestly but emphatically entreats them to listen, and lay his words to heart. He spoke undoubtedly in the Aramæan, the language of the country, which all the hearers could understand.
c. These are not drunken.—He replies at once to the mocking language of some of the Spectators, and repels their degrading charge by referring to the early hour of the day. The third hour of the day, extending from eight to nine o’clock in the morning, according to the modern computation, was the first of the three stated hours of daily prayer [see below, Act_3:1 c. and Act_10:3-6.—Tr.] which coincided with the morning sacrifice [Exo_29:38-42; Num_28:3-8]; the Israelites were not allowed by devout usage to partake of food and drink until this hour had expired, particularly, when the festivals occurred. The calmness with which Peter replies to the mockers, is well worthy of attention; he is as dignified as he is prudent in his language, when he assumes that such is the sincere, although unfounded, opinion of these people, and refrains from accusing them of uttering malicious and slanderous remarks in opposition to their own secret convictions. When he here speaks of the disciples in the third person [ον̓τοι], he by no means intends to exclude himself and the other apostles from the number of those who spake with tongues, as de Wette supposes, [overlooking ἅπαντες in Act_2:4, and] assuming that the speaking with tongues proceeded from an inferior grade of inspiration, of which the apostles would have been ashamed. Peter adopts that phraseology simply because he is himself at the moment speaking in the ordinary style, and temporarily associates himself with the spectators, so that he might the more effectually establish the truth respecting the real nature of the occurrence: he unquestionably includes himself in his defence of the Whole number of the disciples.
Act_2:16-21. But this is, etc.—A simple denial is never regarded as a sufficient defence against a charge, and is not adapted to make a favorable impression. We cannot convince others, unless we not only deny, but also affirm, that is, prove the truth. This course Peter pursues. He declares that the event which had just occurred, and had so greatly amazed his hearers, was nothing less than a fulfilment of the divine promise given through the prophet Joel (Act_2:28-32). The prophet announces, in the name of God, that after his people had endured heavy judgments, a season of grace should arrive, distinguished by a general and abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God. He announces, further, that previously to the last judgment, the enemies of God shall be visited with a succession of terrible judgments, while all the true people of God shall find protection and deliverance. God promises, in a special manner, to pour out of his Spirit upon all flesh, that is, not upon certain individuals only, but upon the whole human race, without distinction of sex, age, or station, even as a rain that is graciously sent to water the whole land. “To prophesy, to see visions, and to dream dreams,” are each specified as operations of the Spirit of God, and as evidences of an overflowing outpouring of the Spirit. The bodily senses are more impressible in the case of the young, while the inner sense is more acute in the old; hence, “visions” are promised to the former, and “dreams” to the latter, although these gifts are not confined to each class respectively. In the prophecy of Joel, the promise of the gracious gift of the Spirit is combined with intimations of the judgments that shall overtake the enemies of God, and of the signs that shall precede that awful final judgment. These signs will appear partly on earth, namely, the shedding of blood and vast conflagrations, partly in the heavens above, namely, eclipses of the sun and moon, together with other fearful phenomena. All these things shall precede that great day of the Lord, on which his irrevocable decisions and final judgments shall be manifested. But while these awful punishments bring destruction upon the enemies of God, deliverance and salvation are prepared for those who “call on the name of the Lord;” that is, for those who believe in God, even as he is revealed to them, who humbly obey, offer devout prayer, and consecrate their hearts and lives to him.—When the prophet mentions the great day of the Lord, he doubtless refers to the times of the Messiah, although he does not introduce that name. He speaks of the end of the world, which he is called to describe chiefly in its awful aspects, as a time in which terrible judgments will come upon the wicked. Still, he also addresses consolatory words and soothing promises to those who devoutly worship and obey God. Periods of time of great length, and widely separated, are obviously grouped together in this prophecy; it is, however, a peculiarity of the language of prophecy, that it presents one comprehensive view of future events, which, when they actually occur, are found to be separated by wide intervals of time.—How did Peter understand and apply this prophecy? With respect to the language, it will be perceived that he does not give a strictly literal version of the Hebrew, but quotes with a certain degree of freedom, while he adopts to some extent the rendering of the Septuagint. At the commencement of the passage, he deviates from the original, to which the Alexandrian version adheres. For the word “afterward” he substitutes the phrase, “in the last days,” [for which see below, Doctr., etc., No. 1.—Tr.], in order to specify, with greater precision, the period to which the prophecy alludes, in conformity to other prophetic passages [e. g. Isa_2:2; Mic_4:1]. Further, he deviates from the Hebrew, but agrees with the Septuagint in the phrase: “I will pour out of my Spirit” [ἀπὸ], while Joel says:אֶת־רוּחיStill, we should assign undue importance to the partitive expression [of the Greek], if, with Starke, we understand it to be designed as an antithesis to the entire fulness of the Spirit which is in Christ; comp. Col_1:19. We can as little accord with Olshausen, who here finds an indirect allusion to a future outpouring of the entire fulness of the Spirit in the Church, when it will have attained to its perfected state [when all nations shall have been received into it (Olsh.).—Tr.]. The phrase in question is very probably intended only to distinguish the whole fulness of the Spirit of God in itself, or as a whole, from the outpouring of the Spirit on individuals.—Lastly, Joel speaks, in the Hebrew, of “servants and handmaids,” that is, slaves in the proper sense of the word. When Peter, in accordance with the Septuagint, terms them δον́λονς—δον́λας, it is not his intention that the difference in station should be made to disappear entirely from the view (Meyer) [and that the fact should be set forth more prominently, that persons of both sexes belonged to the Christian people of God]; he, rather, intends to give a prominent position to the fact that the male and female slaves upon whom the Spirit is poured out, must have previously been devout persons, or servants of God.
When Peter says (Act_2:16): “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” he undoubtedly maintains that the prophecy is fulfilled on the present occasion; still, he does not assert that it was now fulfilled in every point, and on this occasion alone, or that such fulfilment was confined to the present moment. He has, besides, a special object in view, when, in place of pausing at Act_2:18, he continues in Act_2:19-21 to quote from the prophet; namely, he assigns a conspicuous position to the prophetic revelations of the divine judgments, and even of the final judgment, in order that he might make known to his hearers the end which awaits the enemies of God (comp. Act_2:35). and thus the more emphatically direct inquiring souls to Jesus Christ, as the Saviour and deliverer from such a mournful lot.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. How are we to understand the words: the last days?—Peter regards the outpouring of the Spirit as the fulfilment of that prophecy concerning the last times; nevertheless, many centuries, and, indeed, well-nigh two thousand years, have passed away, since he pronounced these words. How shall this apparent discrepancy be explained? It is, in the first place, certain that the term: “the last days” denotes, not a single point of time, but an entire period, including a succession of times, and, consequently, also a process of development. It must be remembered, in the second place, that all the prophecies of the Old Testament reach their ultimate limit, or are fulfilled in the Messianic age, of which the advent of the Anointed One constitutes the central point. The New Testament, accordingly, represents the appearance of Jesus Christ, in connection with the attendant circumstances, as the beginning of the last time; comp. Heb_1:2. It is quite possible that the disciples did not imagine that so many centuries would intervene between the “beginning of the end,” and the extreme end itself. Nevertheless, the view which Peter indicates, when he uses the phrase in question, involves the following great and incontestable truths:—Christ is the culmination of the world’s history; his appearance on earth was the end of the old world, the fulfilment of the hopes and longings of the world, the goal which struggling mankind sought to reach, the realization of God’s plan of grace; and, now that he has appeared, subsequent events can only be the gradual revelation and execution of his atoning work, until it is consummated, or until He comes a second time, who has already once appeared on earth. And the more diligently and humbly our faith ponders the twofold truth, that Christ’s Person stands alone [no other like it, by any possibility, being in existence], and, that the fulness of his work [which supplies every want] admits of no repetition, the more clearly will we perceive the truth of such a view of the times.
2. While Peter recognizes the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel in the outpouring of the Spirit, particularly in the indiscriminate communication of the gifts of the Spirit to persons of different ages and conditions, and of both sexes, he bears witness to the adjustment and equalization through Christ of those opposite states or conditions which prevail in the world. These presented the most striking contrast, or the most fully developed contrariety among pagans, that is, fallen men who were out of the pale of covenantal revelation. We mention, as instances, the differences between the condition of man and that of woman, and the oppression to which the female sex was subjected; the contrasts between masters and slaves, and the failure to recognize the dignity and the rights of man in the latter; and, to a certain extent, the contempt and ill treatment to which old age is exposed in some nations. The law of God, even within the pale of the old covenant, directed attention to the adjustment and the reconciling of these different opposite states, in its provisions, for instance, respecting the relations between masters and servants: the female sex, however, did not fully rise to its proper level, under the Mosaic law. The sign of the covenant was given to the male sex alone, and the promises and predictions respecting more extended privileges refer only to the future, the Messianic age. The complete adjustment of these relations was not accomplished until the Gospel concerning Christ was given; for in him, first, as the Person of the God-Man, human nature was manifested in its perfect state. And it is precisely the gift of the Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, which adjusts and produces harmony in the different states and conditions of those who belong to the human race. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal_3:28.
3. Divine grace and divine judgments are the subjects which both the prediction of Joel and the discourse of Peter discuss. The glance which both direct us to cast at the great and terrible day of the Lord, teaches us to value, and to be grateful for, that grace of God which renews and ultimately saves man, and to call on the name of the Lord with faith. The atoning and redeeming work of Christ, which is, pre-eminently the subject to which Peter here refers, cannot be clearly seen, nor can its inestimable value be understood, until we have surveyed the abyss of misery and damnation from which we are delivered by Christ alone. “Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” Jam_2:13.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Act_2:14. But Peter, standing up, etc.—Peter was sitting, when he received the gift of the Spirit; he and the other apostles were, if we may employ the image, gloriously entertained at the table of God; he now appears on the field of battle, in which he is expected to apply the powers that grace had bestowed upon him. But when the holy apostle begins to speak, it is obviously not his main purpose to protect his own reputation and that of his fellow-apostles from the aspersions of others, but to maintain the honor of his crucified Saviour, and to secure the salvation of his hearers, even of those, too, who mocked him. If he had been the Peter of old, who, when the Saviour was seized, smote with the sword, his address would have exhibited a very different spirit. But the rashness and ardor of his nature were now subdued by heavenly influences, and his tongue, once too prompt to speak, had received the unction of the Holy Spirit; hence, he now combines gentleness with boldness, and wisdom with zeal, (Apost. Past.).—Behold the wonderful power of the Holy Ghost; fugitives are converted into resolute men; those who once denied Christ, boldly confess him; timid men are now heroes, who, armed with the sword of the Spirit, intrepidly face vast hosts; unlettered fishermen speak like accomplished orators, and act as reformers of the whole world. (Starke).—When the honor of God is assailed, or his name is blasphemed, we are not permitted to remain silent.—Our calmness in repelling slanders must correspond in degree to the malignity of our enemies; let us, as our duty requires, simply state the facts, and never revile or mock in return, (id.).—The Holy Ghost not only converts lambs into lions, but also lions into lambs.—Peter, standing up with the eleven.—All speak at first with tongues; then, they cease, and Peter alone comes forward and preaches the word; so, too, at our public worship, all sing together at first, and in a common hymn proclaim the wonderful works of God; then, one alone speaks, and preaches the word. On this account, even as the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost, directed the disciples to observe silence, in order that the words of Peter, as a preacher of the Gospel, might be heard, so, too, he withdrew all those extraordinary gifts from the Church, after the lapse of some years, and permitted the office or ministry of reconciliation [2Co_5:18] alone to remain: and the gifts which he bestowed, were intended to be a testimony that his presence in the Church would always be found in connection with this office. (Muenkel: Epistelpredigten).—Ye men of Judea.—Peter does not attempt to overwhelm the mockers with the language of stern rebuke; he, rather, desires to free them from all self-delusion, and win them for the cause of the truth by a calm and even kind address.
Act_2:15. These are not drunken, as ye suppose.—Peter refutes the slanderous charge with great mildness, and in very brief terms, not being disposed to expend his own time and that of his hearers in considering a subject that was so unworthy and frivolous. We might think that the language would not have been too harsh, if he had told the mockers that their tongues were set on fire of hell [Jam_3:6], and that their hearts were possessed by the devil, as the father of lies. But he merely says: “As ye suppose,”—i.e. as ye erroneously think. Now he accomplished far more by adopting this course than if he had employed the most severe words that his tongue could utter, and had thus increased the irritation of his hearers. The best vindication, in the case of the children of God, consists in their good and holy walk, when, with well doing, they put to silence the ignorance of foolish men [1Pe_2:15]. (Apost. Past.).—The order of the words in the original (“Not as ye suppose, are these drunken”), suggests another thought of great depth;—“Unquestionably we are drunken, but drunken after sitting at the well-furnished table of the house, and drinking the sweet wine of gladness presented at the beginning of the marriage of the Lamb.” The outpouring of the Holy Ghost was truly a sweet and divine wine, which the Lord poured out, that they might drink it with him in his kingdom. (Leonh. and Sp.)
Act_2:16. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.—These words of Peter are designed to awaken the interest of the devout Jews, who waited for the promise of the prophet. He desired that they should hear and learn that the third hour of that day had brought with it an answer to all the prayers which their fathers had offered since that remote day on which the third hour of Israel was consecrated to the morning sacrifice. (Besser).—That teacher alone is competent to explain the word of the Lord correctly, who has himself been made a partaker of the Holy Ghost. Very rich and expressive explanations will flow from his lips, when he himself possesses the gift concerning which the prophets so abundantly bear witness in their writings. Davidica non intelligit qui non Davidica habet. (Apost. Past.).—The word of God, a sure light upon our path. Even the illumination of the Spirit can never render the written word superfluous. The apostle, when filled with the Spirit, seeks a firm foundation in the word of prophecy [2Pe_1:19], not in his own internal illumination.—The word and the Spirit—in what relation do they stand to each other? I. The word is inspired by the Spirit, 1Pe_1:11; II. The Spirit teaches us to understand, explain, and apply the word. (Lechler).
Act_2:17-18. In the last days, etc.—All the days of the new covenant are the last days; and these are already far advanced. (Bengel).—I will pour out—not in drops, as under the old covenant, but in streams; “which he shed on us abundantly.” Tit_3:6.—Upon all flesh.—The word was made flesh [Joh_1:14], so that the Holy Ghost might be poured out upon all flesh, and convert us, who are carnal, into spiritual persons. (Starke).—This is the glorious promise of God, from which all believers under the new covenant may derive rich consolation. For this promise was not fulfilled on that holy day of Pentecost alone, but is also daily fulfilled through the Word and the Sacraments, so that, among believers, every day is a spiritual Pentecostal festival; and that fulfilment will never cease in the Christian Church, as long as the Word and the Sacraments endure. (John Arndt).—Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.—As the words of the prophet were fulfilled before the people both visibly and audibly, when the gift of foreign tongues was imparted, so, too, the other words of the prophet were fulfilled: “Your sons—your daughters—your young men—your old men, etc.,” namely, in the persons of all the disciples, who were united by a common faith in Jesus Christ, and on whom, without distinction of sex, age, or station, the Spirit was poured out. (Besser).—Prophecy, visions, and dreams, the three principal forms assumed by the influences of the Spirit under the old covenant, are exalted in character and united as a whole, when, under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit enters into the heart, and dwells in it. “For what are all other gifts, however numerous they may be, in comparison with this gift, when the Spirit of God himself, the eternal God, descends into our hearts, yea, into our bodies, and dwells in us, governs, guides, and leads us. Thus, with respect to this declaration of the prophet, prophecy, visions, and dreams, are, in truth, one precious gift, namely, the knowledge of God through Christ, which the Holy Ghost enkindles through the word of the Gospel, and converts into a flame of fire.” (Luther).—God does not promise and impart every gift to every individual, but a special gift to each one—that of prophecy to the sons and daughters, visions to the young, etc. (Starke).—The oneness of the gifts of the Spirit, and their difference: I. Oneness, in their (a) origin, (b) value, (c) purpose; II. Difference, (a) in form, (b) grade, (c) effects. The Holy Spirit is the only true equalizing power among men. (Lechler).
Act_2:19-20. And I will shew wonders, etc.—The fire either serves as a baptism, or it consumes. God promises to baptize all flesh with his Spirit. He who rejects this baptism, is condemned already; to him the Pentecostal baptism comes as the “burning” of judgment, and the Pentecostal fire, as a “fire” of judgment (Isa_10:17); and to him, too, the antitype of the Pentecostal day of grace will come as that great and notable day of the Lord (Rev_16:14). This day will be ushered in by wonders in heaven above, which will compel men to listen, and by signs in the earth beneath, which will be intelligible to believers, and afford them consolation. These wonders of wrath were foreshadowed when Israel nailed his King to the cross, for the sun was then turned into darkness. These wonders were repeated with still more power at the destruction of Jerusalem; blood, fire, and vapor of smoke filled the city. The light of the moon became red as blood, when it fell upon the pools of blood in the streets, and the sun has, since that day, withheld its healthful light from that desolated country.—At a later period the half-moon [Crescent] of Mohammed arose in blood over regions on which the bright light of the sun of salvation had once been shed, and the earth, sorely dishonored by the service of mammon, is ripe for the judgment pronounced in the words: “The strong shall be as tow, and his work [marg. version, and German] as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.” Isa_1:31. (Besser).—God does not separate punishments from the gifts of his grace; when the latter are despised, his wrath will follow.—Before God sends his judgments, he warns men, and calls them to repentance by the wonderful works which he performs. (Starke).—Amid all the judgments which overtake the world, the word of the Lord abides in his Church; hence, amid all the storms which threaten to destroy the Church, the believing children of God have abundant reason to be of good cheer, and to lift up their heads; comp. Psalms 46. (Ap. Past.).—God lavishes all his treasures on man; he sends his Son, and pours out his Spirit. What could have been done more, that he has not done? [Isa_5:4]. How terrible will that day of the Lord be, on which men will be called to give an account unto God for the blood of his Son, and the gracious gifts of his Spirit! (Quesnel).—The grace and the Judgments of God: I. The solemnity of his judgments imparts new glory to his grace; II. The solemnity of his grace imparts additional weight to his judgments. (Lechler).
Act_2:21. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.—In wrath God remembers mercy. Hab_3:2; Mal_3:17.—The entire Church consists of those who are “scarcely saved” [1Pe_4:18], or, of the rebellious, who have surrendered unconditionally.—How great is the goodness of God! He has made the way of salvation easy: it consists in calling on the name of the Lord. Comp. Act_16:31; Rom_10:13-15. (Starke).—Although contrition of heart, and godly sorrow on account of our sins, are indispensable, nevertheless, strictly speaking, it is faith, or the calling on the name of the Lord, by and through which we are justified and saved. [Rom_5:1; Eph_2:8]; faith is, preëminently, the condition which is prescribed, as well when we are converted, as when we finish our course. (Apost. Past.).—To save men—such is the first vigorous act of the Church; for this great work she exists. When the divine judgments overwhelmed Jerusalem like a flood, the waves lifted up and carried the vessel of the Church of Christ even to the shores of the heathen world. Here she cast anchor, and threw out the rope of salvation to all men: “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” Whosoever! Listen, all ye, who have ears to hear: Whosoever! Now let him who has heard, throw out the rope of salvation to other perishing souls—in his own house—in the huts and by-ways of misery; let him assist in throwing it out among the nations that still languish in the dark night of heathenism.—Shall we complain of the word of the Lord, because we do not see all the signs of which Joel speaks? O let us, rather, praise the patience of the Lord! The cheerful light of the sun which he made, retained all its brightness, until the call was extended even to our fathers! And that sun will continue to shine until the lingering mariners of Christendom shall have guided the vessel to the last, unvisited shore, and shall have there, too, proclaimed: ‘It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ This loud cry of the Church, proclaiming salvation, shall be repeated till the last hour arrives, and then be renewed with augmented power. And when in the final agony of a perishing world, the surging waves rise up like mountains, once more will the offer of tender, infinite mercy, be proclaimed: “He who calls, shall be saved!” Such is the action of the Church from the beginning to the end. (Zezschwitz: Sermons).—The act of calling on the Lord: it is, I. A result of faith; II. A source of salvation. (Lechler).
ON THE WHOLE SECTION.
The outpouring of the Holy Ghost: I. It bears witness to the truth of the Scriptures, Act_2:16; II. It admonishes us to consider the solemn character of these last days, Act_2:17; III. It affords consolation amid the trials and sorrows of the present times, Act_2:17, (Leonh. and Sp.).
The Christian, in his conflict with unbelieving scoffers: I. He confesses the truth of God with power and joyfulness, Act_2:14; II. He does not suffer himself to be provoked to anger, but manifests the gentle spirit of that love which hopes to reclaim wanderers, Act_2:14; III. He does not employ the carnal weapons of temporal power or human wisdom, but wields the two-edged sword of the truth of God. (ib.).
What are the essential requisites, without which we cannot bear witness with a joyful spirit and with the divine blessing? I. A divine call; II. The unction of the Spirit; III. A good conscience; IV. The firm foundation of the Scriptures. (Lechler).
What course shall the Christian adopt when he is falsely accused? Let his statements and his actions be characterized by, I. Candor and fearlessness; II. Thoroughness and truth; III. Gentleness, and that charity which is not easily provoked, (ib.).
What course of conduct should we adopt, as disciples of Christ, when the Holy Spirit is blasphemed? I. Let us lift up our voices against impiety, whenever an opportunity is found; II. Let us oppose blasphemies directed against God’s word and promise, in an humble and charitable spirit; III. Let us diligently pray that the Lord may pour out of his Spirit upon all flesh. (Langbein).
The wonderful power of the Pentecostal Spirit, revealed in glory when the first Christian congregation was built up: we perceive here, I. A firm bond of union, not weakened by the varied characteristic features of the individuals; II. A well-sustained soberness, combined with the highest degree of inspiration; III. An humble, child-like simplicity in strong men, who are crowned with victory; IV. A faithful love to their own nation, united with a deep interest in the welfare of all mankind. (W. Hofacker).
The Holy Pentecostal Spirit, the almighty author of a new creation of mankind: I. The new creative breath which proceeds from him; II. The new spiritual language which he reveals; III. The new direction of life to which he gives an impulse. (id.)
The coming of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost: I. The circumstances which prepared the way for the Spirit; II. His solemn manifestation; III. His power in the believers; IV. His influences, designed for the whole world. (W. Hoffmann, in the Wilhelmsdorf Book of Sermons).
The language of the Holy Ghost: I. The mode in which it is uttered; II. The various modes in which men listen to it; (a) some are confused; (b) some Commit sin; (c) some are conducted to salvation (Staudt).
“These are not drunken, as ye suppose” —a vindication of the witnesses of the truth, and an answer to those who mock holy things: for, I. Drunkenness, (whether it be the gross vice of the inebriate, or the internal vice of the fanatic) darkens the mind; but in these men, the mind is clear, and their glance penetrates the mysteries of the divine word and the divine ways, Act_2:16 ff. II. Drunkenness unchains the passions; but these men continue to be gentle and self-possessed, Act_2:14 ff. III. Drunkenness passes away; but in these men the fire of faith, charity, and hope continues to burn, insomuch that no storms of trial or temptation can extinguish it (demonstrated by references to the life and the death of the apostles).
The Holy Spirit, the only true common spirit of mankind: for he alone breaks down every wall of partition that divides, I. Different ages and sexes; II. Different ranks and degrees of culture; III. Different nations and ages; Act_2:16-18.
Hidden things revealed in the light of the Pentecostal festival: I. The counsels of the heart; (a) of the mockers; (b) of Peter and the disciples. II. The mysteries of the Scriptures; (a) the promises, Act_2:16-18; (b) the the threatenings, Act_2:19-20. III. The ways of God; (a) in past ages; (b) in the future.
(See also the Hom. and Pract. remarks below, on Act_2:22-36, and Act_2:37-41).
Footnotes:
[9][Act_2:17.—ἐνύπνια of the text. rec. with E., has been exchanged by Stier and later editors generally for ἐνυπνίοις, in accordance with A. B. C. D. (corrected) Cod. Sin. For examples in the N. T. of the accus. of conjugate nouns, see Winer, Gram. N. T. § 32. 2, and for the dat. ib. § 54. 3.—Tr.]
[10][Act_2:20.—ἐπιφανῆ, text. rec. and Sept.; נוֹרָא; Luther and Lechler, in obsolescent German, offenbarlich. The Hebrew signifies terrible, if from יָרָא as usually explained, but glorious, if traced to רָאָה as is done by the Sept. (de Wette).—The words καὶ ἐπιφανῆ of Act_2:20, and the whole of Act_2:21, are omitted in the original text of Cod. Sin., but a later hand added the words found in Act_2:21.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21 Parthians, &c.--Beginning with the farthest east, the Parthians, the…
Parthians, &c.--Beginning with the farthest east, the Parthians, the enumeration proceeds farther and farther westward till it comes to Judea; next come the western countries, from Cappadocia to Pamphylia; then the southern, from Egypt to Cyrene; finally, apart from all geographical consideration, Cretes and Arabians are placed together. This enumeration is evidently designed to convey an impression of universality [BAUMGARTEN].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 6. Noised abroad—Literally, when this sound occurred; not the…
6. Noised abroad—Literally, when this sound occurred; not the rumour of the event, or the loud voices of the speakers, but the sound from heaven, in Act_2:2.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 6. Now when this was noised abroad] Rather, And…
6. Now when this was noised abroad] Rather, And when this sound was heard. Φενή though not the same word as is used for sound in Act_2:2, yet is never found in the sense of a report or rumour, as is given by the A. V. It is used for crying aloud, as in the mourning at Rama and Christ’s cry on the cross (Mat_2:18), or in John the Baptist’s preaching (Mar_1:3), and of voices from heaven frequently (Mat_17:5; Mar_1:11; Luk_3:22; Act_9:4, &c.), of the sound of the wind which is used as a figure for the gift of the Spirit in Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus (Joh_3:8), and constantly of the heavenly voices in the book of the Revelation (Act_1:10, Act_5:2; Act_6:6, &c.).
The sound which was sent forth, though heard around in the city, was evidently such as could be traced to a central spot, for to the dwelling of the Apostles, led by the sound, the multitude congregated. It would need but a brief space for a crowd to assemble, and all the new comers found among the disciples, now divinely prepared to be Christ’s heralds, some who were declaring what had come to pass, and the great things which God had wrought with them, in the different languages of the lands where the strangers had been born. This was clearly not a proclamation of the wonderful works of God in some one language, which the Spirit, acting upon the hearers, caused them to appreciate as if it were their own, for in that way the gift of the Holy Ghost ought to have been described as poured out, not on the speakers but on the listeners.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 (6) When this was noised abroad. . . .—Better…
(6) When this was noised abroad. . . .—Better When there had been this voice, or utterance. The word for “voice” is never used for rumour or report in the New Testament; always of some utterance—human (Mat_3:3; Gal_4:20), angelic (1Th_4:16; Rev_5:11), or divine (Mat_3:17; Mat_17:5). In Joh_3:7 (see Note there) we find it used, in the same connection as in this verse, for the “voice” or “utterance” of the Spirit.
Were confounded.—The word is peculiar to the Acts (Act_9:22; Act_19:32). If we were to draw a distinction between two words of cognate meaning with each other and with the Greek, confused would, perhaps, be a better rendering than confounded.
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Every man heard them speak.—The verb is in the imperfect. They went on listening in their amazement as one after another heard the accents of his own language.
In his own language.—Another word peculiar to the Acts. (See Note on Act_1:19.) It stands as an equivalent for the “tongue” in Act_2:11, but was used for a dialect, in the modern sense of the term, as well as for a distinct language.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 And when this sound (fwnh) was heard for now…
And when this sound (fwnh) was heard for now when this was noised abroad A.V., which the words cannot mean; speaking for speak, A.V. This sound. The question still remains whether the sound (fwnh) refers to the sound (hcov) of the rushing mighty wind mentioned in ver. 2, or to the voices of those who spake with tongues. If the last, we should rather have expected sounds or voices in the plural; and it is further in favor of the former that menhv thv fwnhv tauthv seems to take up the ejgeneto hcov of ver. 2. The word fwnh is applied to pneuma in Joh_3:8. Nor is it likely, at first sight, that the disciples in the house where theywere sitting should have spoken loud enough to attract the notice of people outside. Whereas the sound of a rushing mighty wind, sufficient (as in Act_3:3) to shake the house, would naturally he heard by passers-by. On the other hand, however, fwnh seems to point decisively to the human voice. (see its use, 1Co_14:7-10)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 17, 20, 21 And they were all amazed.
Act_2:12-13
And they were all amazed.
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Whit Sunday, or what our Churches need
Notice--
I. Three things immediately preceding the outpouring of the Spirit--things which if not the direct cause of a revival, always herald it--the shadows cast by the coming blessing.
1. A complete congregation. They were all in one place. No absentees. This betokened earnestness, for it was in fact an early Sunday morning prayer-meeting with every one present. Always before a great blessing there will be a revived interest in sanctuary services. The half truth, I can worship God as well at home (which is a lie when the man is able to come to the sanctuary and does not) will not be heard. Indifference to public worship is a fatal sign. Things that would never be permitted to interfere with business or pleasure are reckoned sufficient to warrant staying at home to-day. You found eleven oclock this morning too early to come to worship, but I will guarantee you catch the eight oclock excursion train to-morrow morning.
2. A congregation one in desire and motive; With one accord. No two motives had drawn them. They came to receive the promised blessing. Is not the want of this spirit of accord the weakness of the Churches of the present day? Unbelief is not the only thing that keeps Christ from doing many mighty works. It might with equal truth be said of many a Church: He did not many mighty works there because of their squabbling, petty, selfish spirit. There are men who will be nothing unless they are everything, and will without compunction sacrifice a whole Churchs prosperity upon the wretched little altar of their own unsanctified ambition. Instead of all being baptized into one spirit, it looks more as if every one had been baptized into a different spirit and every spirit an evil one. But when all differences become drowned in one overwhelming passion of saving souls, then let the Church lift up her head, for the day of her revival draweth nigh.
3. A congregation steeped in the spirit of prayer. They had a ten days prayer-meeting. Do you wonder they had a Whit Sunday? I should have wondered if they had not. The general prayerlessness of the Church is simply deplorable. Here and there the hundreds come to prayer. But take the general run of prayer-meetings. It is not an uncommon thing for Churches to have to give them up because so few come. Whilst all this is so it is of no use talking about having a revival.
II. The blessing itself.
1. It came at an appointed time. When the day of Pentecost was fully come. God has a time for everything. The disciples doubtless expected the blessing sooner. They had to learn that there is a sovereignty in revivals. Man has no power to command one. He can but cry and wait. Over one Church a cloud of blessing hangs, continually letting fall showers of refreshment. Beneath its influence all is verdant, fresh and lovely. But yonder is another Church the very contrast to this. The heavens above it seem as brass. The piety of its members seems to lack freshness and their leaf withers. Converts are almost unknown. Let not those Churches that have the blessing despise those that lack it. The only difference is that the time to favour them has come and the time to favour the others shall come.
2. It came suddenly and in a moment. Revivals very often do. With mans work the process as well as the result is visible. Is a temple to be built, the plans are exhibited, the foundations dug out, the scaffolding reared, and for months the chipping of the chisel and the clicking of the trowel are heard. God can build His temple in a night, and like Solomons, no sound of tool be heard. At any moment, without any previous warning, the revival may come.
3. It spread far and wide. From the upper room it soon flew along the streets of Jerusalem like an electric current. There is no telling where the influence of a revival in a Church may spread. It creeps into homes shut against the tract distributor. It glides into darkest places of vice. A revived Church will be certain to draw the multitude together. This is the secret of getting at the masses.
III. The question of our text. What meaneth this? Why, it means--
1. That Christ is ascended, and has received gifts for men. An ascended, glorified Christ warrants the Church in expecting any measure of blessing, any number of conversions. What meaneth this?
2. That all instrumentality is nothing without the Holy Ghost, but that the meanest instrumentality with the Spirit is mighty enough to accomplish anything. Alas, what an amount of powerless machinery we have in the so-called religious world, because it has no unction, because it is the work of man, not the working of God through the man, because it is dry and official. Instrumentality is almost worshipped, whilst the Holy Ghost is well-nigh ignored.
3. That God is pleased to work on the world through the Church. Far be it from us to call in question the good that has been accomplished by many of our societies, but we believe that half of them could be spared with ease did a greater unction but rest upon the Church.
4. That these are the seasons Gods Church is to seek at His hands. I will close with an illustration. Once upon the sea-shore, watching the getting off of a fishing smack, I saw in it a union of work and dependence that charmed me. The fishermen brought the craft clown the beach as far as they could and then left her awhile until the tide, which was flowing, neared her. Meantime two anchors had been cast out to sea, from which were ropes to a windlass in the centre of the vessel. Soon the surf (for the sea was fresh) began to run round her as she lay a dead weight upon the shore. Then the waves began to curl over and break upon her side. The men at the windlass took a turn and made the rope fast. And now every moment the tide had more power over her. She was never still. Twenty times did I say now she is off; and twenty times did she settle down again upon the shore, and twenty times did the men at the windlass put on the strain. At last one wave swept higher than any before; she shook--rose--glided down towards the deep--the men turning the handle of the windlass quickly as possible. A wave she met threatened to sweep her back upon the shore, but the anchors held her, and right through the surf the men wound her, and half an hour after she was flying away before the breeze, a very contrast to the dead weight she looked upon the beach. That vessel is the Church. The Holy Ghost is the tide. The ropes and the windlass are human agencies only to be used in dependence on the tide. The tide is coming in. The Church feels its power. She moves--she rises. Oh God send the billow that shall float her now, and send her careering on her course, with the breeze of the Spirit. (A. G. Brown.)
The multitude in amazement
I. A multitude gathered from all parts of the world.
II. A multitude gathered for religious purposes. They had come to the feast of Pentecost.
III. A multitude astonished by a miracle. The subject was one, the languages many. So--
1. In the gospel we have proof that by the foolishness of preaching God confounds the wisdom of the world.
2. Note the wonderful adaptation of the gospel to the entire world. It appeals to all natures and dispositions, and equally meets the wants of all.
IV. A multitude variously affected. All were amazed. Some inquired, some mocked. Some said (probably the devout men mentioned in Act_2:5), What meaneth this? This language betokened a desire to learn. Others (Act_2:13) said, They are full of new wine; regarding the religion of Jesus Christ as fanaticism. How does the gospel affect us? (F. Wagstaff.)
A miracle the object of derision
Of all the expressions of our distaste, a scoff is the worst. Admonition may be physic, a reproof balm, a blow ointment; but derision is as poison and a sword. It was the height of Jobs complaint that persons made jests on him; and it was the depth of Samsons calamity (Jdg_16:25). That which raises our anger presents some magnitude to our eyes; but that which we scorn is less than nothing. But now everything is not always as it appears, especially to the eye of the scoffer; for here we see things of excellency may be submitted to jests. Note
I.
the object of their derision. A. miracle. In every miracle there is the thing done, which must transcend the course of nature, and the end, which is also supernatural. In respect of the power of God there is no miracle; but in His goodness He was pleased to work wonders, not for show, but for our instruction. And as He had borne witness to His Son by miracles, so doth He here to the Holy Ghost. This was the end of this miraculous operation.
II. The persons.
1. What entertainment finds the miracle? What welcome hath the Holy Ghost? No other than what befals all extraordinary events. Every man lays hold of it and shapes it in such a form as he may please. To some it is a matter of wonder; to others, of mirth.
2. We should account it a strange stupidity in any one not to be more affected at the sight of the sun than of a taper, and to esteem the great palace of heaven but as a furnace. But when God stretcheth forth His hands to produce effects which follow not the force of secondary causes, then, not to put-on wonder, not to conclude that it is for some great end, is not folly, but infidelity, the daughter of malice and envy and affected ignorance.
3. Miracles are signs; and if they signify nothing it is evident that a stubborn heart and froward mind will not understand the meaning of them. And then what are miracles but trifles, matter of scoff and derision? Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by miracles (verse 22), a juggler; a voice from heaven, but thunder; to make the blind to see, etc., witchcraft; to be full of the Spirit, to be full of drink. When Julian had read a Defence of Christianity, he remarked, I have read, understood, and condemned it. To which St. Basil replied, Had you understood it, you would never have condemned it. The same befalls men prepossessed and too far engaged in the world, and the fathers reply will reach home to them.
4. To this day our behaviour is little better than mocking. Our lust, which waits for the twilight, mocks at Gods Omniscience (Psa_73:11); our distrust argues against His power (Psa_78:20; 2Ki_8:2); our impatience questions His truth; and those who acknowledge Him to be the Giver of life, have confined His goodness to a few. His mercy triumpheth over His justice; yet Novatian made every fall as low as hell: and what is despair but a mocking of Gods mercy?
5. The ground of all is infidelity, the proper issue of obstinate and wilful ignorance. Plato well observeth, that none can taste and judge of that sweetness which truth affords but the philosopher, because they want that instrument of judgment which he useth; and that cannot be applied by covetousness, ambition, and lust; the philosophers instrument is reason. So in Divine mysteries and miracles, we cannot reach the meaning of them without a humble, pure, and free spirit, the best instrument of a Christian.
6. Indeed, reason might have taught these men that this was a miracle. For rude and illiterate men to speak on a sudden all languages, was more than all the linguists in the world could teach. And from no other principle arose the question of verse 12. But, to read the riddle, we must plough with another heifer than reason (Jdg_14:18). To dive into the sense of the miracle can proceed from no other Spirit than that whose miracle it was, even Him wire enlightens them that sit in darkness, and who makes the humble and docile soul both His school and His scholar. Reason is a light, but obnoxious to fogs and mists, till this great light dispel and scatter them. Julian was a man as well furnished as any; yet he wounded religion more with his scoffs than with his sword. When he had received his deaths wound, he confessed it came from the power of Christ, in a phrase of scorn, The day is Thine, O Galilean! Indeed the greatest scoffers have been for the most part eminent in natural abilities, whose reason, notwithstanding, could not show them their own fluctuations, the storms and tempest of their souls, she being eclipsed with her own beams.
III. The scoff itself.
1. It was not only a scoff, but an accusation, and there be divers reasons which make men accusers, ambition, hatred, hope of reward. Ecumenius tells us it was here that perverseness which indifferently passeth censure upon any cause, or no cause at all. And this is bred by opinion, and not by truth. If they understood not what the apostles spake, how could they say they were drunk? and if they did understand, why did they scoff? They were men settled in the very dregs of error and malice; and, having taken up an opinion, they would not let it go, no not at the sight of a miracle.
2. But yet though there were no reason nor probability to justify their scoff, some show there was to countenance it. The apostles, after this gift of tongues, talked much: they were full indeed with the wine of the New Testament; and, as drunken men, they were merry and cheerful; they publish secrets, they fear no face, regard no power, regard not themselves.
3. This hath always been, and to this day is, the great error of the world--to make shadows substances, similitudes indentities, the faintest representations truth (1Sa_1:13-14; 2Sa_6:20; Mar_3:21). Upon this ground faith is called presumption because it is like it; Christianity is called madness; for when we mortify the flesh, and estrange ourselves from the world, most that behold us think us not well in our wits. At this day true devotion goes for fancy, reverence for superstition, bowing for idolatry. Our Saviours counsel is, Judge not according to the appearance (Joh_7:24). For how easy is it to paint and present things as we please! Many times an evil eye makes an evil face, puts horror upon religion itself, and, where devotion shines out in the full beauty of holiness, draws a Pope or a devil. As charity covers a multitude of sins (Jam_5:20), so doth malice cover a multitude of virtues with the black mantle of vice. (A. Farindon, D. D.)
What meaneth this? (text and verse 37).--
Two great questions
These questions are the outcome of two widely different but intimately associated states of experience--the one intellectual, the other moral. The first is an inquiry of the mind in the face of a problem which unassisted it cannot solve; the second is an inquisition of the soul in the presence of a danger from which unaided it cannot flee. An extraordinary event had taken place at which the perplexed beholders exclaimed What meaneth this? When the reply came it was found to involve such tremendous issues that they cried in despair What shall we do?
I. What meaneth this? The inquiry was--
1. Natural. The mind instinctively rebels against the unexplained. It was made for and is fed by knowledge. Just as the animal instincts are urged by thirst and hunger to search for food and drink, so the intellect is stimulated by a sense of void to inquire for the knowledge that will fill and satisfy it. These men were confronted by a mysterious fact, and were troubled in mind until it was accounted for.
2. Right. The liberty to inquire is one of the inalienable, inborn, and crown rights of humanity. That it may exercise this function, God has endowed it with the requisite faculties. The hunger of the mind for knowledge is a stamp of its Divine original, and a prophecy of its immortality. Inquiry makes all the difference between savagedom and civilisation, between weakness and strength. The feeble and superstitious shun it, and perish in darkness; the strong and wise welcome it and are rewarded by the light. We must carefully distinguish, however--
(1) between aimless inquiry, i.e., curiosity, and the search for true wisdom, and
(2) between legitimate and illegitimate inquiry. The secret things belong unto God. The present inquiry was in many respects legitimate and commendable.
3. Was addressed to the wrong persons with unsatisfactory results. Twice, we are told, they questioned one to another. They were prevented by a too hasty generalisation and by prejudice from asking those on whom these wonders were wrought what they meant.
(1) It was enough for strangers to know that they were Galileans, a name which embodied all that was ignorant and vile.
(2) The dwellers at Jerusalem would recognise them as the fanatical followers of one who was set down as a man gluttonous and winebibber. These manifestations, therefore, were treated as the ravings of men excited with enthusiasm or with drink. But Galileans as they were, drunk or mad as they considered, there was the phenomenon. They could not account for it, but they felt it must be accounted for. And instead of asking those from whom only a reply could be obtained, they engaged in a fruitless inquiry among themselves. How like modern scepticism!
4. Suggests an important line of argument in favour of Christianity. There are certain facts equally inexplicable to the human mind to-day. We do not see cloven tongues, etc., but we are witnesses of events even more wonderful.
(1) The conversion of infidels. Lord Lyttleton, Gilbert West, and some within personal knowledge.
(2) The conversion of men immoral and profane. Bunyan and John Newton, etc.
(3) The conversion of men of merely moral habits. John Wesley and William Wilberforce. Each case forces the question upon us. They are not isolated but common occurrences. How are they to be accounted for? On the score of weakness, wrought upon by terror or excitement, or on the score of ignorance? The known character of these men forbid these explanations. These wonders should set us inquiring, and the inquiry is as natural and proper in the one case as in the other, and furthermore by inquiring matters will be disclosed that seriously concern us all.
II. What shall we do? Although not invited Peter undertook to reply to the first question. The general explanation was verses 14-21; the particular application verses 22-36. So with the modern facts adduced. Does this explanation satisfy? Is this explanation taken home? Then both will now as of old lead to the second question. This inquiry--
1. Expressed a sense of utter helplessness. What shall we do? These men were convinced of the crime and mistake of a whole life, and of the human impossibility of rectification.
2. Was to the point, What shall we do? Not like the other question theoretical, but practical. They felt that they were in an unsatisfactory state, and that something must be done. What?
3. Was, like the first inquiry, answered.
(1) Repent. Change your mind, forsake your sins.
(2) Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; implying faith, union with the Church and public profession. Conclusion: Both inquiries were at length crowned with blessed results. Three thousand received forgiveness for the past, comfort for the present, hope for the future (verses 38-47). (J. W. Burn.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v14 Chapter 6
Chapter 6
ST. PETERS FIRST SERMON.
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Act_2:14
THIS verse contains the opening words of St. Peters address to the multitude who were roused to wonder arid inquiry by the miraculous manifestations of Pentecost: That address is full of interest when viewed aright, freed from all the haze which the long familiarity of ages has brought with it. In this second chapter we have the report of a sermon preached within a few days of Christs ascension, addressed to men many of whom knew Jesus Christ, all of whom had heard of His work, His life, and His death, and setting forth the apostolic estimate of Christ, His miracles, His teaching, His ascended condition and glory. We cannot realise, unless by an intellectual effort, the special worth of these apostolic reports contained in the Acts. Men are sometimes sceptical about them, asking, how did we get them at all? how were they handed down? This is, however, an easier question to answer than some think. If we take, for instance, this Pentecostal address alone, we know that St. Luke had many opportunities of personal communication with St. Peter. He may have learned from St. Peters own mouth what he said on this occasion, and he could compare this verbal report with the impressions and remembrances of hundreds who then were present. But there is another solution of the difficulty less known to the ordinary student of Holy Scripture. The ancients made a great use of shorthand, and were quite well accustomed to take down spoken discourses, transmitting them thus to future ages. Shorthand was, in fact, much more commonly used among the ancients than among ourselves. The younger Pliny, for instance, who was a contemporary of the Apostles, never travelled without a shorthand writer, whose business it was to transcribe passages which struck his master in the books he was perpetually studying. The sermons of Chrysostom were all extemporaneous effusions. In fact, the golden-mouthed patriarch of Constantinople was such an indefatigable pulpit-orator, preaching almost daily, that it would have been impossible to have made any copious preparation. The extensive reports of his sermons which have come down to us, the volumes of his expositions on the books of Scripture which we possess, prove that shorthand must have been constantly used by his hearers. Now what would we give for a few shorthand reports of sermons by Clement of Rome, by St. Luke, by Timothy, by Apollos, preached in Rome, Alexandria, or Antioch? Suppose they were discovered, like the numerous Egyptian manuscripts which have of late years come to light, deposited in the desert sands, and were found to set forth the miracles, the ministry, and the person of Christ exactly as now we preach them, what a marvellous confirmation of the faith we should esteem them! And yet what should we then possess more than we already have in the sermons and discourses of St. Peter and St. Paul, reported by an eye- and ear-witness who wrote the Acts of the Apostles?
I. The congregation assembled to listen to this first Gospel discourse preached by a human agent was a notable and representative one. There were Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judaea, - or, as an ancient expositor (Tertullian) puts it, in Armenia and Cappadocia, - in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. The enumeration of the various nationalities listening to St. Peter begins from the extremest east; it proceeds then to the north, from thence to the south, terminating with Rome, which represents the west. They were all Jews or Jewish proselytes, showing how extremely wide, at the epoch of the Incarnation, was the dispersion of Gods ancient people. St. Paul, in one profound passage of the Epistle to the Galatians, notes that "God sent forth His Son in the fulness of time," that is, at the exact moment when the world was prepared for the advent of the truth. This "fulness of time" may be noted in many directions. Roman roads, Roman law, commerce, and civilisation opened channels of communication which bore the tidings of the gospel into every land. A sweet ginger of our own time, the late Sir Samuel Ferguson, has depicted in his "Lays of the Western Gael" this diffusion of the gospel through the military organisation of Rome. He represents a Celt from Ireland as present at the crucifixion. This may seem at first somewhat improbable, as Ireland was never included within the bounds of the Roman Empire; and yet the poets song can be justified from history. Though never included formally within the Empire, Irishmen and Scotch Highlanders must often have served in the ranks of the Roman army, just as at the present day, and especially in India, men of foreign nationalities are often found serving in the ranks of the British army. In later times Irishmen most certainly formed a Roman legion all to themselves. St. Jerome tells us that he had seen them acting in that capacity at Treves, in Germany. They were noted for their bravery, which, as Jerome believes, they sustained by consuming human flesh Three hundred years earlier Irishmen may often have enlisted in the service of those British legions which the Romans withdrew from Britain and located in the East; and thus Sir Samuel Ferguson does not pass the bounds of historic credibility when he represents a certain centurion, who had been present at the crucifixion, as returning to his native land, and there proclaiming the tidings of our Lords atoning sacrifice:-
"And they say, Centurion Altus, when he to Emania came And to Rome s subjection called us, urging Caesars tribute claim, Told that half the world barbarian thrills already with the faith, Taught them by the God-like Syrian Caesar lately put to death."
The dispersion of the Jews throughout not only the Roman Empire, but far beyond its limits, served the same end, and hastened the fulness of time needed for the Messiahs appearance. We must remember, however, that the long list of varied nationalities present at this Pentecostal feast were not Gentiles, they were Jews of the dispersion scattered broadcast among the nations as far as Central Asia towards the east, as far as southern Arabia and Aden on the south, and Spain and Britain on the west. The course of modern investigation and discovery amply confirms the statement of this passage, as well as the similar statement of the eighth chapter, which represents a Jewish statesman of Abyssinia or Ethiopia as coming up to Jerusalem for the purposes of devotion. Jewish inscriptions have been found in Aden dating back long before the Christian era. A Jewish colony existed ages before Christ in the region of Southern Arabia, and continued to flourish there down to the Middle Ages. At Rome, Alexandria, and Greece the Jews at this period constituted an important factor in the total population. The dispersion of the Jews had now done its work, and brought with it the fulness of time required by the Divine purposes. The way of the Messiah had been effectually prepared by it. The Divine seed fell upon no un-ploughed and unbroken soil. Pure and noble ideas of worship and morality had been scattered broadcast throughout the world. Some years ago the Judgment of Solomon was found depicted on the ceiling of a Pompeian house, witnessing to the spread of scriptural knowledge through Jewish artists in the time of Tiberius and of Nero. A race of missionaries, too, equipped for their work, was developed through the discipline of exile. The thousands who hung upon Peters lips needed nothing but instruction in the faith of Jesus Christ, together with the baptism of the Spirit, and the finest, the most enthusiastic, and the most cosmopolitan of agencies lay ready to the Churchs hand. While, again, the organisation of synagogues, which the exigencies of the dispersion had called into existence, was just the one suited to the various purposes of charity, worship, and teaching, which the Christian Church required. Whether, indeed, we consider the persons whom St. Peter addressed, or the machinery they had elaborated, or the diffusion of pure religious ideas they had occasioned, we see in this passage a splendid illustration of the care and working of Divine Providence bringing good out of evil and real victory out of apparent defeat. Prophet and psalmist had lamented over Zions ruin and Israels exile into foreign lands, but they saw not how that God was thereby working out His own purposes of wider blessing to mankind at large, fitting Jews and Gentiles alike for that fulness of time when the Eternal Son should be manifested.
II. The brave, outspoken tone of this sermon evidences the power and influence of the Holy Spirit upon St. Peters mind. St. Chrysostom, in his famous lectures on the Acts of the Apostles, notes the courageous tone of this address as a clear evidence of the truth of the resurrection. This argument has been ever since a commonplace with apologists and expositors, and yet it is only by an effort that we can realise how very strong it is. Here were St. Peter and his fellow Apostles standing up proclaiming a glorified and ascended Messiah. Just seven weeks before, they had fled from the messengers of the High Priest sent to arrest their Master, leaving Him to His fate. They had seen Him crucified, knew of His burial, and then, feeling utterly defeated, had as much as possible withdrawn themselves from public notice. Seven weeks after, the same band, led by St. Peter, himself a short time before afraid to confess Christ to a maidservant, boldly stand up, charge upon the multitude, who knew all the circumstances of Christs execution, the crime of having thus killed the Prince of Life, and appeal to the supernatural evidence of the gift of tongues, to which they had just listened, as the best proof of the truth of their message, St. Peters courage on this occasion is one of the clearest proofs of the truth of his testimony. St. Peter was not naturally a courageous man. He was very impulsive and very sympathetic. He was the creature of his surroundings. If he found himself in the midst of Christs friends, he was the most forward to uphold Christs cause, but he had not much moral stamina. He was sadly deficient in staying power. His mind was very Celtic in its tone, to draw an illustration from national characteristics. The Celtic mind is very sympathetic, ardent, enthusiastic. It is swept along in moments of excitement, either of victory or of defeat, by the dominating power of numbers. How often has this quality been manifested by the French people, for instance? They are resistless when victorious; they collapse utterly and at once when defeated. St. Peter was just the same. He was sympathetic, ardent, enthusiastic, and fell, in later as well as in earlier age, into the perils which attend such temperaments. He denied his Master when surrounded by the menials of the high priest. He was ready to die for that Master a few hours before, when sitting surrounded by Christs disciples in the secrecy of the upper room. Divine grace and the baptism of the Spirit did not at all change his natural character in this respect. Divine grace, whether granted in ancient or in modern times, does not destroy natural character, which is Gods gift to man. It merely refines, purifies, elevates it. We find, indeed, a striking illustration of this law of the Divine life in St. Peters case.
One of the most convincing proofs of the truth of the New Testament is the identity of character we behold in the representations given of St. Peter by writers who produced their books quite independently of each other. St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians long prior to any of the Gospel narratives. Yet St. Pauls picture of St. Peter in the Epistle to the Galatians is exactly the same as that drawn by the four Evangelists alike. St. Paul depicts him as the same intensely sympathetic, and therefore the same unstable person whom the Evangelists describe. The brave scene in the upper chamber, and the scene of cowardice and disgrace in the high priests palace, were in principle re-enacted twenty years after, about the year A.D. 53, at Antioch. St. Peter was very bold in maintaining the right of Gentile freedom, and hesitated not to live like the Gentile Christians at Antioch, so long as none of the strict Jewish Christians of Jerusalem knew about it. St. Peter wished, in fact, to stand well with both parties, and therefore strove to conciliate both. He was, for the time, a type of that famous character Mr. Facing-two-ways. He lived, therefore, as a Gentile, until some of the Jerusalem brethren arrived at Antioch, when he at once quailed before them and retreated, betraying the cause of Christian freedom, and sacrificing, just as men do still, Christian principle and honesty upon the altar of self-seeking popularity. St. Peter, we therefore maintain, always remained at heart the same character. He was bold and forward for Christ so long as all went well, because he was intensely sympathetic; but he had very little of that power of standing alone which marked St. Paul, and nerved him, even though a solitary witness, when the cause of truth was involved. This somewhat lengthened argument is absolutely necessary to show the strength of our conclusion: that it must have been an overpowering sense of the awful reality of Christs resurrection and ascension which alone could have overcome this natural weakness of St. Peter, and made him on the day of Pentecost as brave in proclaiming Jesus Christ to his red-handed murderers as he was bold to propose a new Apostle in place of the hapless traitor to the assembled disciples in the upper chamber. St. Peter evidently believed, and believed with an intense, overwhelming, resistless conviction, in the truth of Christs resurrection and ascension, which thus became to him the source of personal courage and of individual power.
III. Again, the tone of St. Peters sermon was remarkable because of its enlarged and enlightened spirituality. It proved the Spirits power in illuminating the human consciousness. St. Peter was rapidly gaining a true conception of the nature of the kingdom of God. He enunciates that conception in this sermon. He proclaims Christianity, in its catholic and universal aspect, when he quotes the prophet Joel as predicting the time when the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. St. Peter does not indeed seem to have realised all at once the full significance of his own teaching. He did not see that his words applied to the Gentiles equally with the Jews, sounding the death-knell of all national exclusiveness in religion. Had he seen the full meaning of his own words, he would not have hesitated so much about the baptism of Cornelius and the admission of the Gentiles. It has been found true, not only of St. Peter, but of teachers, reformers, politicians, statesmen, that they have not at once recognised all the vast issues and undeveloped principles which lay wrapped up m their original message. The stress and trial of life alone draw them out, at times compelling their authors to regret their earlier actions, at other times leading them to follow out with intensified vigour the principles and movements which they had themselves set in operation. Luther, when he protested against indulgences; Erasmus, when he ridiculed the ignorance of the monks and advocated the study of the Greek New Testament; John Hampden, when he refused to pay ship money; or Bishop Ken, when he declined obedience to the orders of King James II; -none of them saw whereunto their principles would necessarily grow till time had thoroughly threshed their teaching and their actions, separating the husk of external circumstances, which are so variable, from the kernel of principle, which is eternally the same, stern, severe, inexorable, in its operations. So it was with St. Peter, and still earlier with the prophets. They sang of and preached a universal religion, as in this passage, but yet none of them realised the full scope and meaning of the words they had used, till a special revelation upon the housetop at Joppa compelled St. Peter to grasp and understand and apply the principles he had been already proclaiming.
In this respect, indeed, we recognise the greatness, the divinity of the Master Himself towering above the noblest of His followers; above even Peter himself, upon whom He pronounced such an eulogium, and bestowed such privleges. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught this universality of Christianity, and expressly recognised it. St. Peter indeed taught it in this sermon, but he did not recognise the force of his own words. Jesus Christ not only taught it, but realised the meaning of His teaching. It was indeed no part of Christs earthly ministry to preach to the Gentiles. He came to the house of Israel alone. Yet how clearly He witnesses, how distinctly He prophesies of the future universality of His kingdom. He heals a centurions servant, proclaiming at the same time that many shall come from the east and west, and sit down in the kingdom, while the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. He risks His life among the inhabitants of the city where He had been brought up, in order that He may deliver this truth. He repeats it to the woman of Samaria, in order that He may chase away her national superstition. He embodies it in His great eucharistic prayer for His Apostles and for His Church at large. The more carefully and the more devoutly we study Christs words, the more lofty will be our conception of His personality and character, who from the very beginning recognised the full force of His message, the true extent of that Divine society He was about to establish. The avowed catholicity of Christs teaching is one of the surest proofs of Christs divinity. He had not to wait as Peter waited, till events explained the meaning of His words; from the beginning He knew all things which should happen.
Still the tone of St. Peters sermon proved that the Spirit had supernaturally enlightened him. He had already risen to spiritual heights undreamt-of hitherto, even by himself. A comparison of a few passages proves this. In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew we have narrated for us the scene where our Lord extracts from St. Peter his celebrated confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and then soon after bestows upon him the equally celebrated rebuke, "Get thee behind Me, Satan! thou art a stumbling-block unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men." St. Peter, with his horror-struck opposition to the very idea of Christs death and suffering, evidently cherished the same notions of the kingdom of God, which Christ had come to establish, as James and John did when they petitioned for the highest place in the Masters kingdom. This carnal conception of a temporal kingdom and earthly forces and human weapons St. Peter retained when he armed himself with a sword and prepared to defend his Master in the Garden of Gethsemane; and even later still when, after the resurrection, the Apostles, acting doubtless through Peter as their spokesman, demanded, "Dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" But the Spirit was vouchsafed, and new power, of which the Master had spoken, was granted, and that power raised Peter above all such low Jewish ideas, and the kingdom announced to the Jews is no longer a kingdom of earth, with its carnal weapons and its dignities. He now understood what the Master had taught when He witnessed before Pontius Pilate His good confession, "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence." The carnal conception passes away under the influence of the heavenly solvent, and St. Peter proclaimed a kingdom which was a purely spiritual dominion, dealing with remission of sins and a purified interior life, through the operation and indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Holy Ghost was shown in St. Peters case by the vast and complete change which passed at once over his spiritual ideas and outlook. The thoughts and expectations of the pious Jews of Galilee-the very class from whom St. Peter sprang-were just then shaped and formed by the popular apocalyptic literature of the period, as we have already pointed out in the second chapter. The Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle of Jude prove that the Galileans of that time were careful students of works like the Assumption of Moses, the Book of Enoch, and the Ascension of Isaiah, which agree in representing the kingdom of God and the reign of the Messiah as equivalent to the triumph of the Jewish nation over all foreign dominion and bondage. St. Peter and the other eleven Apostles shared these natural ideas and expectations till the Spirit was poured out, when they learned in a profounder spiritual comprehension to estimate aright the scope and meaning of our blessed Lords teaching. St. Peter dwells, therefore, in his sermon on Christs person, His sufferings, His resurrection, His ascension, no longer indeed for the purpose of exalting the Jewish nation, or predicting its triumph, but to point a purely spiritual lesson. "Repent ye, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive"-not honour, riches, temporal freedom, but "ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The subject-matter of St. Peters sermon, the change in his tone of teaching, is another great proof of a supernatural force and power imparted on the Day of Pentecost.
IV. Let us look somewhat farther into the matter of this earliest Christian sermon, that we may learn the apostolic view of the Christian scheme. Some persons have asserted that the earliest Christians were Ebionites, and taught a system of doctrine akin to modern Unitarianism. This theory can best be tested by an appeal to the Acts of the Apostles. What, for instance, was the conception of Christs life, work, and ascended state, which St. Peter presented to the astonished multitude? We must not expect, indeed, to find in this sermon a formulated and scientific system of Christian doctrine. St. Peter was as yet far too near the great events he declared, far too close to the superhuman personality of Christ, to co-ordinate his ideas and arrange his views. It is a matter of every-day experience that when a new discovery is suddenly made, when a new revelation takes place in the region of nature, men do not grasp at once all the new relations thereby involved, all the novel applications whereof it is capable. The human mind is so limited in its power that it is not till we get some distance away from a great object that we are enabled to survey it in the fulness of its outline. Inspiration assisted St. Peter, elevated his mind, raised his tone of thought to a higher level, but it did not reverse this fundamental law under which the human mind works. Yet St. Peters discourse contains all the great principles of Catholic Christianity as opposed to that low view which would represent the earliest Christians as preaching the purely humanitarian scheme of modern Unitarianism. St. Peter taught boldly the miraculous element of Christs life, describing Him as "a man approved of God by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by Him." Yet he did not dwell as much as we might have expected upon the miraculous side of Christs ministry. In fact, the earliest heralds of the Cross did not make as much use of the argument from miracles as we might have expected them to have done. And that for a very simple reason. The inhabitants of the East were so accustomed to the practices of magic that they simply classed the Christian missionaries with magicians. The Jewish explanation of the miracles of our Lord is of this description. The Talmudists do not deny that He worked miracles, but assert that He achieved them by a special use of the Tetragammaton, or the sacred name of Jehovah, which was known only to Himself. The sacred writers and preachers refer, therefore, again and again to the miracles of our Saviour, as St. Peter does in the second chapter, as well-known and admitted facts, whatever explanation may be offered of them, and then turn to other aspects of the question. The Apostles had, however, a more powerful argument in reserve. They preached a spiritual religion, a present peace with God, a present forgiveness of sins; they point forward to a future life of which even here below believers possess the earnest and the pledge. We, with our minds steeped in ages of Christian thought and teaching, can have no idea of the convincing self-evidencing force of teaching like that, to a Jew reared up in a system of barren formalism, and still more to a Gentile, with spiritual instincts longing for satisfaction, and which he was expected to satisfy with the bloodstained shows of the amphitheatre or with the immoralities and impure banquetings of the pagan temples. To persons in that condition, an argument derived from a mere wonderful work brought little conviction, for they were well accustomed to behold very marvellous and apparently miraculous actions, such as to this day the wandering jugglers of India exhibit. But when they beheld lives transfused by the love of God, and heard pure spiritual teaching such as responded to the profoundest depths of their own hearts, then deep answered unto deep. The preaching of the Cross became indeed the power of God unto salvation, because the human soul instinctively felt that the Cross was the medicine fittest for its spiritual maladies.
V. Again, this sermon shows the method of interpreting the Psalms and Prophets popular among the pious Jews of St. Peters time. St. Peters method of interpretation is identical with that of our Lord, of St. Paul, and of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. He beholds in the Psalms hints and types of the profoundest doctrines of the Creed. We can see this in both the quotations which he makes. St. Peter finds in the sixteenth Psalm a prophecy of the intermediate state of souls and of the resurrection of our Lord. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades" is a text which has furnished the basis of the article in the Apostles Creed which teaches that Christ descended into hell. It is a pity indeed that the translation which the last revisers have adopted, "Hades" instead of "Hell," was not used in the English translation of the Apostles Creed; for the ordinary reading has misled many a thoughtful and serious soul, as if the Creed taught that the pure and sinless spirit of the Saviour had been made partaker of the horrors of eternal misery. Whereas, in truth, the doctrine of Scripture and of the Creed alike merely asserts that our Lords spirit, when separated from the body, entered and thereby sanctified and prepared the place or state where Christian souls, while separated from their bodies, await the general resurrection of the just and the completion of their happiness. The doctrine of the intermediate state, as taught by Bishop Pearson and other great divines, is primarily based on two texts, the passage before us and the words of our Saviour to the penitent thief, "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise". {Luk_23:43} This doctrine accurately corresponds with the catholic doctrine of our Lords Person. The Arian heresy denied the true deity of our Lord. The second great heresy was the Apollinarian, which denied His true and perfect humanity. The orthodox doctrine taught the tripartite nature of man, that is, that there was in man, first, a body, secondly, the animal soul which man possesses in common with the beasts, and which perishes at death, and, lastly, the human spirit which is immortal and by which he maintains communion with God. Now the Apollinarian heresy asserted that Jesus Christ possessed a body and a soul, but denied His possession of a spirit. Its theory was that the Divine nature took the place of a true human spirit in Christ, so that Christ was unlike His brethren in this respect, that when the body died, and the animal soul perished, He had no human spirit by which He might enter into Hades, or dwell in Paradise. The Divine nature was the only portion of the Incarnate Lord which then survived. Against this view the words of St. Peter testified beforehand, teaching, by his adaptation of Davids prophecy, that our Lord possessed the fulness of humanity in its threefold division, whereby He was enabled to share the experience and lot of His brethren, not only in this life, but also in the intermediate state of Hades, wherein the spirits of the blessed dead await re-union with their bodies, and expect in hope the second advent of their Lord.
St. Peters interpretation again of the Psalms recognised in Davids words a prophecy of the resurrection: "Neither wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption,"-a rendering of the New Testament revisers which, however literal, is not nearly as vigorous or suggestive as the old translation, "Neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption." St. Peter then proceeds to point out how impossible it was that this prediction could have been fulfilled in David. Davids flesh undoubtedly did see corruption, because every one knew where his tomb was. St. Peters speech here touches upon a point where we can confirm his accuracy out of ancient historians. David was buried, according to ancient writers, in the city of David. {2Ki_2:10} The Rabbis went even further, they determined the time of his death. According to a writer quoted by that great seventeenth-century teacher, Dr. John Lightfoot, "David died at Pentecost, and all Israel bewailed him, and offered their sacrifices the day following." After the return from Babylon the site of the sepulchre was known, as Neh_3:16 reports, telling us that Nehemiah the son Of Azbuk repaired the wall over against the sepulchre of David; while still later Josephus tells us that Hyrcanus, the high priest, and Herod the Great opened Davids tomb, and removed vast treasures from it. St. Peters words on this occasion possess an important evidential aspect, and suggest one of the gravest difficulties which the assailants of the resurrection have to face. St. Peter appealed to the evidence of Davids tomb as demonstrating the fact that he was dead, and that death still held him in its power. Why did not his opponents appeal to the testimony of Christs tomb? It is evident from St. Peters argument that Christs tomb was empty, and was known to be empty. The first witnesses to the resurrection insisted, within a few weeks of our Lords crucifixion, upon this fact, proclaimed it everywhere, and the Jews made no attempt to dispute their assertions. Our opponents may indeed say, we acknowledge the fact of the emptiness of the tomb, but the body of Christ was removed by St. Peter and his associates. How then, we reply, do you account for St. Peters action? Did conscious guilt and hypocrisy make him brave and enthusiastic? If they say, indeed, Peter did not remove the body, but that his associates did, then how are we to account for the conversations St. Peter thought he had held with his risen Master, the appearances vouchsafed to him, the close converse, "eating and drinking with him after He was risen from the dead"? St. Peter, by his appeal to Davids tomb, and its bearing on the sixteenth Psalm, proves that he believed in no ideal resurrection, no phantasm, -no ghost story, to put it plainly; but that he taught the doctrine of the resurrection as the Church now accepts it.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 6. The multitude came together. Led by the sound…
6. The multitude came together. Led by the sound (Revised Version) and the marvellous events. Speak in his own language. Of the foreign country in which he had been reared.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v14 Act_2:14. Men of Judæa.—Natives of Jerusalem. Ye that dwell…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_2:14. Men of Judæa.—Natives of Jerusalem. Ye that dwell at Jerusalem.—Foreign Jews, sojourners in the city from other parts.
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Act_2:15. These.—Not the eleven with Peter merely, but all who had been heard speaking (Act_2:7). The third hour.—Nine a.m. in our time; the hour of morning prayer (Schürer considers this doubtful), before which no respectable Jew allowed himself to become intoxicated (Isa_5:11).
Act_2:16. Through the prophet.—Joe_2:28-32. διὰ since he was not the author but the medium of the message.
Act_2:17. The last days.—The LXX. read μετὰ ταῦτα, after these things. The Hebrew “afterwards,” expounded by Peter as referring to Messianic times. Saith God indicates the source of the prophecy. Young men … old men.—The order of the clauses in Joel is transposed.
Act_2:20. That great and notable day of the Lord.—Notable = clear, far shining. (Compare Luk_17:21.) The Hebrew prophets used “the day of the Lord” to signify any remarkable interposition of Jehovah for the punishment of His enemies (Isa_2:12; Jer_46:10; Zep_1:7). Joel used it to describe the Messianic coming, both first and second.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_2:14-21
Peter’s Sermon.
1. The First Christian Apology; or, the Pentecostal Mystery explained
I. The attention of the people summoned.—
1. By a courageous attitude. Peter’s standing up with the eleven signified that they did not intend to shirk investigation, be overborne by clamour, or hurried away with excitement. A reasonable amount of fortitude is requisite for all who would bespeak the attention of their fellows on any subject, but especially on religion. This fortitude ought never to be wanting when the interests of Christ’s kingdom are at stake, or anything about the behaviour of Christ’s ambassadors requires to be investigated.
2. By an earnest utterance. As Peter’s manner was unshrinking, so were his words fervent. Like the multitude around, he, too, was under strong excitement, only different from theirs. Besides, he perceived a crisis had arisen in the history of His Master’s cause—the time had passed for keeping silence, and the hour struck for speech (Ecc_3:7).
3. By a frank appeal. Intending to hide nothing from his auditors, he invited the attention of all who could understand him, the men of Judæa, and of those who could only reach his meaning through translation, the foreign dwellers at Jerusalem.
II. The charge of drunkenness repelled.—
1. As mistaken. Founded on a hasty generalisation, and grounded on appearance, which is seldom reliable as a basis for judgment (Joh_7:24), it was an altogether unwarranted inference.
2. As impossible. Not because wine was not obtainable before 9 a.m., the third hour of the Jewish day, but because during festal seasons it was unlawful to take food, and much more to drink wine earlier than the hour of morning prayer, and because the characters of the accused rendered the charge absurd. “These men,” said the Apostle, “whom ye all see and know, and who like yourselves have come up to worship at the feast, are not likely to be drunk at 9 a.m.”
3. As ridiculous. Drunken men, he might have added, have commonly a difficulty in speaking their own tongues, let alone making use of foreign languages.
III. The mystery of the tongues explained.—As a fulfilment of prophecy.
1. Of the effusion of the Holy Spirit.
(1) By God, whose the Spirit was, and who had engaged to pour it forth in the last times, or in the closing dispensation of the world.
(2) Upon all flesh, without distinction of sex—“Upon your sons and your daughters”; or age—upon “young men and old”; or condition—upon “bondmen” and “bondmaidens,” as well as upon free persons.
(3) With inward illumination, so that they who received it should “prophesy” or utter divine communications of religious truth, as the apostles and other Christians who had the gift of prophecy did (see 1Co_14:3), should “see visions,” or possess insight into spiritual and unseen realities, as Stephen did in the judgment hall (Act_7:55), Peter on the housetop (Act_10:10), and Paul on the Damascus road (Act_9:3), and in the Temple (Act_22:17), and should “dream dreams,” as perhaps John did in Patmos on the Lord’s day (Rev_1:10).
2. Of the Second Coming of Christ. Characterised as a “great and notable” day.
(1) In comparison with His first advent, which was lowly and obscure, whereas this was to be conspicuous and glorious (Mat_25:31).
(2) Because of the portents which should attend it, “the wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth beneath,” etc.—language descriptive of the woes and horrors that should overtake such as refused to acknowledge Christ—which received its first and partial fulfilment in the Destruction of Jerusalem, and will attain its complete realisation at the Last Day, when those who decline to believe and obey Christ will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of God, and from the glory of His power (2Th_1:9).
3. Of the free publication of the Gospel. This also, according to the prophet, should distinguish Messianic times. Under the dispensation of the Spirit, whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord, not merely evoking but accepting Him and trusting in Him for all that His name should imply, should be saved. (Compare Rom_10:13.)
Learn.—
1. It is no disparagement to a Christian to be found fault with by the world.
2. It is better to be drunk with the Spirit than to be intoxicated with wine:
3. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
4. The gospel has two outlooks—one of mercy for the believer, another of wrath for the unbeliever.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_2:15. Drunkenness and Spiritual Influence.
I. Compared.—
1. Both accompanied by bodily manifestations.
2. Both frequently attended by mental excitement.
3. Both, as a rule, followed by corresponding prostration.
II. Contrasted.—
1. The one is a carnal excitement; the other is a spiritual ravishment.
2. The one, a degrading sin; the other, an elevating grace.
2. The one leads to moral and spiritual ruin, the other terminates in salvation and eternal life.
Act_2:17-18. The Dispensation of the Spirit.
I. The age to which it belongs.—The last days—i.e., all the days of the New Testament era.
II. The author from whom it proceeds.—Jehovah, the God of the ancient Church and the founder of the new, the God and Father of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
III. The persons on whom it descends.—“All flesh,” without distinction of sex or age, provided they be “servants and handmaidens” of the Lord.
IV. The measure in which it is given.—Not in drops but in streams. “I will pour out.”
V. The effects by which it is followed.—The highest forms of spiritual illumination—prophesying, seeing visions, and having dreams.
Act_2:17. Visions for Young Men.
I. The vision of the Saviour Christ.—Such as Saul of Tarsus received in the hour of his conversion (Act_22:14)—a vision of Christ as the Righteous One, “as the greatest, the wisest, the dearest, and the best—all one’s salvation and all one’s desire.”
II. The vision of a better self.—Such as every young man obtains when he gets his vision of Christ. In this vision of a better self are included two spiritual experiences:
1. An immediate and an intense self-depreciation, as if the first outcome of the vision of the divine ideal of goodness were “to send down into the dust and break all to pieces”; as with Simon Peter (Luk_5:8) and the Publican (Luk_18:13).
2. The springing up of an intense aspiration. “There is a gradual emptying of self, and a gradual abandonment to the ideal in Christ, so much so that the motto of Paul becomes that of every Christian, ‘To me to live is Christ.’ ”
III. The vision of a better society.—“A common vision with the saints of God is to see the kingdom of God established on the earth.” “A modern preacher of righteousness—the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes—specifies no less than a round dozen of devils which must be cast out of modern society—drunkenness, lust, slavery, ignorance, gambling, pauperism, disease, crime, war, the opium trade, the torture of dumb animals the sale of spirits and gunpowder to savages.”
IV. The vision of a better Church.—“Of a Church free, united, and energetic”—i.e., free to recognise the Lord Jesus Christ alone as its head, and neither pope nor prelate, Queen nor State; united, in the sense that all unnecessary separations shall have ceased; and energetic in doing its God-appointed work amongst men.
V. The vision of a heavenly inheritance.—“On the wall of the house in Hamburgh, where the poet Klopstock lived and died, was a board with this inscription—‘Immortality is a great thought’; but the thought of Eternal Life in an eternal Home is greater still.” A vision of this will defy all the negations of science, and lift the soul higher than all the guesses of philosophers and all the dreams of poets.” “Hopeful saw the gates of the city, and that was enough. He looked, and from that happy peace (the Delectable Mountains) God’s glory smote him on the face. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ ”—P. Wilson, M.A.
Act_2:20. The Day of the Lord.—Great and notable.
I. As regards the splendour of Christ’s manifestation.—On that day the Son of man will appear in the glory of His Father and with His holy angels.
II. As regards the blessedness of Christ’s people.—Then this will reach its highest point. They will appear with Him in glory.
III. As regards the destruction of Christ’s foes.—This will then be sudden, complete, and final.
Act_2:21. The Messianic Salvation.
I. Its import.—Deliverance from the guilt and power of sin—victory over death and the grave—Resurrection and Eternal Life.
II. Its foundation.—The Name of the Lord. The merciful and gracious character of God in Christ, the only plea of a sinner’s justification.
III. Its condition.—Calling on that Name, which implies faith and earnestness on the part of the caller, as well as an acknowledgment of his need of salvation and utter helplessness to procure it for himself.
IV. Its universality.—It is offered to every one who chooses to comply with the aforesaid condition. “Whosoever shall call shall be saved.”
V. Its certainty.—“It shall be,” of a verity, without any peradventure. The believer’s salvation is guaranteed by the oath and promise of God, both of which are Yea and Amen in Christ.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 13, 15, 19, 21 8. E. g., while Peter was preaching in Greek…
8. E. g., while Peter was preaching in Greek the Parthian heard him in his native Chaldaic tongue, the Median, the Elamite and the Mesopotamian each heard in his own native dialect. And regardless of the language spoken by any One, every auditor heard in his own language. To human apprehension this was miraculous superfluity, as either of these miracles covered all the ground, and to our diagnosis precluded the necessity of the other. But in this double miracle we have a wonderful manifestation of the divine beneficence and the superabundance of redeeming grace (Rom 5:20). This double miracle largely accounts for the paradoxical efficiency of the gospel on that wonderful occasion when the world saw a brilliant prelude, adumbrating the ineffable glories of the coming kingdom.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v17 Act 2:2 - Act 2:3, Act 2:17. - 1Jn…
Acts
THE FOURFOLD SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT
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Act 2:2 - Act 2:3, Act 2:17. - 1Jn 2:20.
Wind, fire, water, oil,-these four are constant Scriptural symbols for the Spirit of God. We have them all in these fragments of verses which I have taken for my text now, and which I have isolated from their context for the purpose of bringing out simply these symbolical references. I think that perhaps we may get some force and freshness to the thoughts proper to this day [Footnote: Whit Sunday.] by looking at these rather than by treating the subject in some more abstract form. We have then the Breath of the Spirit, the Fire of the Spirit, the Water of the Spirit, and the Anointing Oil of the Spirit. And the consideration of these four will bring out a great many of the principal Scriptural ideas about the gift of the Spirit of God which belongs to all Christian souls.
I. First, ‘a rushing mighty wind.’
Of course, the symbol is but the putting into picturesque form of the idea that lies in the name. ‘Spirit’ is ‘breath.’ Wind is but air in motion. Breath is the synonym for life. ‘Spirit’ and ‘life’ are two words for one thing. So then, in the symbol, the ‘rushing mighty wind,’ we have set forth the highest work of the Spirit-the communication of a new and supernatural life.
We are carried hack to that grand vision of the prophet who saw the bones lying, very many and very dry, sapless and disintegrated, a heap dead and ready to rot. The question comes to him: ‘Son of man! Can these bones live?’ The only possible answer, if he consult experience, is, ‘O Lord God! Thou knowest.’ Then follows the great invocation: ‘Come from the four winds, O Breath! and breathe upon these slain that they may live.’ And the Breath comes and ‘they stand up, an exceeding great army.’ ‘It is the Spirit that quickeneth.’ The Scripture treats us all as dead, being separated from God, unless we are united to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. According to the saying of the Evangelist, ‘They which believe on Him receive’ the Spirit, and thereby receive the life which He gives, or, as our Lord Himself speaks, are ‘born of the Spirit.’ The highest and most characteristic office of the Spirit of God is to enkindle this new life, and hence His noblest name, among the many by which He is called, is the Spirit of life.
Again, remember, ‘that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ If there be life given it must be kindred with the life which is its source. Reflect upon those profound words of our Lord: ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.’ They describe first the operation of the life-giving Spirit, but they describe also the characteristics of the resulting life.
‘The wind bloweth where it listeth.’ That spiritual life, both in the divine source and in the human recipient, is its own law. Of course the wind has its laws, as every physical agent has; but these are so complicated and undiscovered that it has always been the very symbol of freedom, and poets have spoken of these ‘chartered libertines,’ the winds, and ‘free as the air’ has become a proverb. So that Divine Spirit is limited by no human conditions or laws, but dispenses His gifts in superb disregard of conventionalities and externalisms. Just as the lower gift of what we call ‘genius’ is above all limits of culture or education or position, and falls on a wool-stapler in Stratford-on-Avon, or on a ploughman in Ayrshire, so, in a similar manner, the altogether different gift of the divine, life-giving Spirit follows no lines that Churches or institutions draw. It falls upon an Augustinian monk in a convent, and he shakes Europe. It falls upon a tinker in Bedford gaol, and he writes Pilgrim’s Progress. It falls upon a cobbler in Kettering, and he founds modern Christian missions. It blows ‘where it listeth,’ sovereignly indifferent to the expectations and limitations and the externalisms, even of organised Christianity, and touching this man and that man, not arbitrarily but according to ‘the good pleasure’ that is a law to itself, because it is perfect in wisdom and in goodness.
And as thus the life-giving Spirit imparts Himself according to higher laws than we can grasp, so in like manner the life that is derived from it is a life which is its own law. The Christian conscience, touched by the Spirit of God, owes allegiance to no regulations or external commandments laid down by man. The Christian conscience, enlightened by the Spirit of God, at its peril will take its beliefs from any other than from that Divine Spirit. All authority over conduct, all authority over belief is burnt up and disappears in the presence of the grand democracy of the true Christian principle: ‘Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’; and every one of you possesses the Spirit which teaches, the Spirit which inspires, the Spirit which enlightens, the Spirit which is the guide to all truth. So ‘the wind bloweth where it listeth,’ and the voice of that Divine Quickener is,
‘Myself shall to My darling be
Both law and impulse.’
Under the impulse derived from the Divine Spirit, the human spirit ‘listeth’ what is right, and is bound to follow the promptings of its highest desires. Those men only are free as the air we breathe, who are vitalised by the Spirit of the Lord, for ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there,’ and there alone, ‘is liberty.’
In this symbol there lies not only the thought of a life derived, kindred with the life bestowed, and free like the life which is given, but there lies also the idea of power. The wind which filled the house was not only mighty but ‘borne onward’-fitting type of the strong impulse by which in olden times ‘holy men spake as they were “borne onward”‘ {the word is the same} ‘by the Holy Ghost.’ There are diversities of operations, but it is the same breath of God, which sometimes blows in the softest pianissimo that scarcely rustles the summer woods in the leafy month of June, and sometimes storms in wild tempest that dashes the seas against the rocks. So this mighty lif-giving Agent moves in gentleness and yet in power, and sometimes swells and rises almost to tempest, but is ever the impelling force of all that is strong and true and fair in Christian hearts and lives.
The history of the world, since that day of Pentecost, has been a commentary upon the words of my text. With viewless, impalpable energy, the mighty breath of God swept across the ancient world and ‘laid the lofty city’ of paganism ‘low; even to the ground, and brought it even to the dust.’ A breath passed over the whole civilised world, like the breath of the west wind upon the glaciers in the spring, melting the thick-ribbed ice, and wooing forth the flowers, and the world was made over again. In our own hearts and lives this is the one Power that will make us strong and good. The question is all-important for each of us, ‘Have I this life, and does it move me, as the ships are borne along by the wind?’ ‘As many as are impelled by the Spirit of God, they’-they-’are the sons of God.’ Is that the breath that swells all the sails of your lives, and drives you upon your course? If it be, you are Christians; if it be not, you are not.
II. And now a word as to the second of these symbols-’Cloven tongues as of fire’-the fire of the Spirit.
I need not do more than remind you how frequently that emblem is employed both in the Old and in the New Testament. John the Baptist contrasted the cold negative efficiency of his baptism, which at its best, was but a baptism of repentance, with the quickening power of the baptism of Him who was to follow him; when he said, ‘I indeed baptise you with water, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I. He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ The two words mean but one thing, the fire being the emblem of the Spirit.
You will remember, too, how our Lord Himself employs the same metaphor when He speaks about His coming to bring fire on the earth, and His longing to see it kindled into a beneficent blaze. In this connection the fire is a symbol of a quick, triumphant energy, which will transform us into its own likeness. There are two sides to that emblem: one destructive, one creative; one wrathful, one loving. There are the fire of love, and the fire of anger. There is the fire of the sunshine which is the condition of life, as well as the fire of the lightning which burns and consumes. The emblem of fire is selected to express the work of the Spirit of God, by reason of its leaping, triumphant, transforming energy. See, for instance, how, when you kindle a pile of dead green-wood, the tongues of fire spring from point to point until they have conquered the whole mass, and turned it all into a ruddy likeness of the parent flame. And so here, this fire of God, if it fall upon you, will burn up all your coldness, and will make you glow with enthusiasm, working your intellectual convictions in fire not in frost, making your creed a living power in your lives, and kindling you into a flame of earnest consecration.
The same idea is expressed by the common phrases of every language. We speak of the fervour of love, the warmth of affection, the blaze of enthusiasm, the fire of emotion, the coldness of indifference. Christians are to be set on fire of God. If the Spirit dwell in us, He will make us fiery like Himself, even as fire turns the wettest green-wood into fire. We have more than enough of cold Christians who are afraid of nothing so much as of being betrayed into warm emotion.
I believe, dear brethren, and I am bound to express the belief, that one of the chief wants of the Christian Church of this generation, the Christian Church of this city, the Christian Church of this chapel, is more of the fire of God! We are all icebergs compared with what we ought to be. Look at yourselves; never mind about your brethren. Let each of us look at his own heart, and say whether there is any trace in his Christianity of the power of that Spirit who is fire. Is our religion flame or ice? Where among us are to be found lives blazing with enthusiastic devotion and earnest love? Do not such words sound like mockery when applied to us? Have we not to listen to that solemn old warning that never loses its power, and, alas! seems never to lose its appropriateness: ‘Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.’ We ought to be like the burning beings before God’s throne, the seraphim, the spirits that blaze and serve. We ought to be like God Himself, all aflame with love. Let us seek penitently for that Spirit of fire who will dwell in us all if we will.
The metaphor of fire suggests also-purifying. ‘The Spirit of burning’ will burn the filth out of us. That is the only way by which a man can ever be made clean. You may wash and wash and wash with the cold water of moral reformation, you will never get the dirt out with it. No washing and no rubbing will ever cleanse sin. The way to purge a soul is to do with it as they do with foul clay-thrust it into the fire and that will burn all the blackness out of it. Get the love of God into your hearts, and the fire of His Divine Spirit into your spirits to melt you down, as it were, and then the scum and the dross will come to the top, and you can skim them off. Two powers conquer my sin: the one is the blood of Jesus Christ, which washes me from all the guilt of the past; the other is the fiery influence of that Divine Spirit which makes me pure and clean for all the time to come. Pray to be kindled with the fire of God.
III. Then once more, take that other metaphor, ‘I will pour out of My Spirit.’
That implies an emblem which is very frequently used, both in the Old and in the New Testament, viz., the Spirit as water. As our Lord said to Nicodemus: ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’ The ‘water’ stands in the same relation to the ‘Spirit’ as the ‘fire’ does in the saying of John the Baptist already referred to-that is to say, it is simply a symbol or material emblem of the Spirit. I suppose nobody would say that there were two baptisms spoken of by John, one of the Holy Ghost and one of fire,-and I suppose that just in the same way, there are not two agents of regeneration pointed at in our Lord’s words, nor even two conditions, but that the Spirit is the sole agent, and ‘water’ is but a figure to express some aspect of His operations. So that there is no reference to the water of baptism in the words, and to see such a reference is to be led astray by sound, and out of a metaphor to manufacture a miracle.
There are other passages where, in like manner, the Spirit is compared to a flowing stream, such as, for instance, when our Lord said, ‘He that believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,’ and when John saw a ‘river of water of life proceeding from the throne.’ The expressions, too, of ‘pouring out’ and ‘shedding forth’ the Spirit, point in the same direction, and are drawn from more than one passage of Old Testament prophecy. What, then, is the significance of comparing that Divine Spirit with a river of water? First, cleansing, of which I need not say any more, because I have dealt with It in the previous part of my sermon. Then, further, refreshing, and satisfying. Ah! dear brethren, there is only one thing that will slake the immortal thirst in your souls. The world will never do it; love or ambition gratified and wealth possessed, will never do it. You will be as thirsty after you have drunk of these streams as ever you were before. There is one spring ‘of which if a man drink, he shall never thirst’ with unsatisfied, painful longings, but shall never cease to thirst with the longing which is blessedness, because it is fruition. Our thirst can be slaked by the deep draught of ‘the river of the Water of Life, which proceeds from the Throne of God and the Lamb.’ The Spirit of God, drunk in by my spirit, will still and satisfy my whole nature, and with it I shall be glad. Drink of this. ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!’
The Spirit is not only refreshing and satisfying, but also productive and fertilising. In Eastern lands a rill of water is all that is needed to make the wilderness rejoice. Turn that stream on to the barrenness of your hearts, and fair flowers will grow that would never grow without it. The one means of lofty and fruitful Christian living is a deep, inward possession of the Spirit of God. The one way to fertilise barren souls is to let that stream flood them all over, and then the flush of green will soon come, and that which is else a desert will ‘rejoice and blossom as the rose.’
So this water will cleanse, it will satisfy and refresh, it will be productive and will fertilise, and ‘everything shall live whithersoever that river cometh.’
IV. Then, lastly, we have the oil of the Spirit.
‘Ye have an unction,’ says St. John in our last text, ‘from the Holy One.’ I need not remind you, I suppose, of how in the old system, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with consecrating oil, as a symbol of their calling, and of their fitness for their special offices. The reason for the use of such a symbol, I presume, would lie in the invigorating and in the supposed, and possibly real, health-giving effect of the use of oil in those climates. Whatever may have been the reason for the use of oil in official anointings, the meaning of the act was plain. It was a preparation for a specific and distinct service. And so, when we read of the oil of the Spirit, we are to think that it is that which fits us for being prophets, priests, and kings, and which calls us to, because it fits us for, these functions.
You are anointed to be prophets that you may make known Him who has loved and saved you, and may go about the world evidently inspired to show forth His praise, and make His name glorious. That anointing calls and fits you to be priests, mediators between God and man, bringing God to men, and by pleading and persuasion, and the presentation of the truth, drawing men to God. That unction calls and fits you to be kings, exercising authority over the little monarchy of your own natures, and over the men round you, who will bow in submission whenever they come in contact with a man all evidently aflame with the love of Jesus Christ, and filled with His Spirit. The world is hard and rude; the world is blind and stupid; the world often fails to know its best friends and its truest benefactors; but there is no crust of stupidity so crass and dense but that through it there will pass the penetrating shafts of light that ray from the face of a man who walks in fellowship with Jesus. The whole nation of old was honoured with these sacred names. They were a kingdom of priests; and the divine Voice said of the nation, ‘Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm!’ How much more are all Christian men, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, made prophets, priests, and kings to God! Alas for the difference between what they ought to be and what they are!
And then, do not forget also that when the Scriptures speak of Christian men as being anointed, it really speaks of them as being Messiahs. ‘Christ’ means anointed, does it not? ‘Messiah’ means anointed. And when we read in such a passage as that of my text, ‘Ye have an unction from the Holy One,’ we cannot but feel that the words point in the same direction as the great words of our Master Himself, ‘As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.’ By authority derived, no doubt, and in a subordinate and secondary sense, of course, we are Messiahs, anointed with that Spirit which was given to Him, not by measure, and which has passed from Him to us. ‘If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.’
So, dear brethren, all these things being certainly so, what are we to say about the present state of Christendom? What are we to say about the present state of English Christianity, Church and Dissent alike? Is Pentecost a vanished glory, then? Has that ‘rushing mighty wind’ blown itself out, and a dead calm followed? Has that leaping fire died down into grey ashes? Has the great river that burst out then, like the stream from the foot of the glaciers of Mont Blanc, full-grown in its birth, been all swallowed up in the sand, like some of those rivers in the East? Has the oil dried in the cruse? People tell us that Christianity is on its death-bed; and the aspect of a great many professing Christians seems to confirm the statement. But let us thankfully recognise that ‘we are not straitened in God, but in ourselves.’ To how many of us the question might be put: ‘Did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed?’ And how many of us by our lives answer: ‘We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.’ Let us go where we can receive Him; and remember the blessed words: ‘If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him’!
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv6–21 6-12. " And when this sword occurred, the multitude…
6-12. " And when this sword occurred, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own dialect. " The historian here seems to exhaust his vocabulary of terms to express the confusion of the multitude upon witnessing the scene. Not content with saying they were confounded, he adds, (7) " And all were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Behold, are not all these are speaking Galileans? (8) And how do we hear, each one in our own dialect in which we were born? (9) Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites; and those inhabiting Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene; and Roman strangers, both Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretes and Arabians; we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. " Not yet satisfied with his attempts to express their feelings, Luke adds, (12) " And they were all amazed, and perplexed, saying one to another, What does this mean? "
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv8, 11, 14, 17, 21
tongue
language.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v14 The Sermon of Peter and Its Effect.
The Sermon of Peter and Its Effect.
The introduction of the sermon:
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v. 14. But Peter, standing up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words;
v. 15. for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
v. 16. But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel,
v. 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams
v. 18, and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy;
v. 19. And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
v. 20. the sun shall be turned In to darkness, and the moon In to blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come;
v. 21. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
While the gift of tongues was being transmitted to the apostles, it was not that they were in a state of ecstasy, making them detached from the affairs going on about them. They were perfectly sane and rational. And Peter heard the remark of the scoffers. Up to this time the apostles had been sitting down; but now Peter arose, and the Eleven with him, to enter an emphatic protest against this blasphemous insinuation, which, incidentally, was very foolish. As spokesman of the Twelve, Peter purposely raised his voice in order to make himself understood by the entire audience, and then spoke solemnly and impressively, In the name of God. He addresses the assembled multitude very respectfully as "men of Judea and dwellers in Jerusalem," thus distinguishing between the inhabitants and the sojourners for the period of the festival. He wanted to make something known to them, he wanted to bring a fact to their attention, and therefore he asks them all to give ear, to listen closely to his words, his sayings, his informal talk. He brings out, first of all, the meaning of the Pentecost miracle. First of all, he refutes the charge that these men might be intoxicated. It was now only the third hour of the day, nine o’clock in the morning, and therefore the time itself made it highly improbable that these men should be drunken. But the real refutation of the insinuation came with the explanation of the miracle. The manifestation which they had witnessed was one due to the Spirit of God, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, chap. 2:28-32. God Himself had promised through this prophet that in the latter days of the world He would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh, that as the result of this miracle both the sons and the daughters of the people would prophesy, would be able to unfold the future, that the young men would see visions and the old men would receive revelations in dreams. And still more was included in this miraculous occurrence. For even the bonded servants, the slaves, both male and female, would receive the same gift of the Holy Ghost, so that they, too, would be enabled to prophesy. Persons of all nationalities and of every rank and station in life would thus become partakers of the Spirit and His wonderful gifts. And this phenomenon would not be confined to a single occasion, but would continue until the day when God would show and give miracles in the heaven or sky above and signs of His majesty on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and smoky vapor. The sun would be changed entirely, losing his brightness and turning into darkness, and the moon likewise would be changed into a bloody mass. Bloodshed and devastation of war would precede that last great day of the Lord, whose purpose will clearly be visible as soon as it dawns over the demoralized world. See 1Th 5:2; 1Co 1:8; 2Co 1:14; 2Th 2:8. The awful aspects of the end of the world are here held up to the startled gaze of the multitude, as a warning cry to repentance. But, in the meantime, there is also a glorious promise held out to all that turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and fervently call upon His name as that of the only Savior. Note: We Christians live in the time of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, in the time of the New Testament Pentecost. The preaching of Christ, which was begun by the lowly fishermen of Galilee, has gone out into all the world. And through this Gospel the exalted Christ, God Himself, is sending, pouring out His Spirit. The crucified Christ, now exalted to the right hand of God, is the almighty God. He is gathering unto Himself His Church out of all nations of the world. Sons and daughters, old and young, servants and maids, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And though the working of the Spirit is not manifested in the same way as in the early days of the Church, in visions, in dreams, in prophecy, yet the Spirit lives in the hearts of the believers, gives them the knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Savior, and urges them to speak of that which they believe so firmly, and to call upon the name of the Lord. The pouring out of the Spirit is the last of the great miracles of God until the great day of His returning to Judgment, In the meantime, we have the comfort that our salvation is secure in Him. "What does it mean ’to save’? It means to deliver from sin and death. For he that wants to be saved must not be under the Law, but under grace. But if he should not be under the Law, but under grace, then he must not be under sin. If he is under, in the power of, sin, then he is under the Law, that is, under the wrath of God, under eternal death and damnation, and under the power of the devil. But if he is to be saved, then all these enemies, sin, death, devil, must be removed. Therefore to save means nothing else than to deliver and make free from sin and death, from the wrath of God and the power of the devil, from the Law and from a bad conscience. Now Peter says, from the Prophet Joel: The Lord that pours out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh will save all that call upon His name, that is, by faith in Him He will deliver from sin and death."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 Why is it that we are hearing them, each…
Why is it that we are hearing them, each in our own language in which we were born?
Possible meanings are 1) this is a rhetorical question that expresses how amazed they were or 2) this is a real question for which the people wanted an answer. (See: Rhetorical Question)
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in our own language in which we were born
"in our own languages that we have learned from birth"
Parthians ... Arabians
This lists some of the many nations, regions, and cities from which they came. (See: How to Translate Names)
proselytes
converts to the Jewish religion
translationWords
Medes
Elam
Mesopotamia
Judea
Pontus
Asia
Egypt
Cyrene
Rome
Crete
Arabia
might
works
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 10, 14, 17 2:9-11 Parthians came from the region stretching from the…
2:9-11 Parthians came from the region stretching from the Tigris River eastward to India. Medes (now called Kurds) were from Media, east of Mesopotamia and north of the Persian Gulf. Elamites were from Elam (now in Iran), north of the Persian Gulf and just east of the Tigris River. Mesopotamia lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Judea was well known as the Jewish homeland. Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia were Roman provinces in Asia Minor (now in Turkey; see 1 Pet 1:1); Paul later taught and preached in some of these areas (see Acts 16:6; 19:10, 26). Phrygia and Pamphylia were districts of Asia Minor later visited by Paul (13:13; 18:23). Egypt had a large Jewish population, particularly in the city of Alexandria (see 18:24). North Africa was also represented by Libya and Cyrene. Rome was the imperial capital and the home of thousands of Jews. The Cretans came from the island of Crete, located south-southeast of Greece, and the Arabs from the area south and east of Jerusalem. • The inclusion of all of these nations suggests how the Good News was going to go out to the ends of the earth (1:8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.