WE NOW COME TO THE APOSTLE'S PROOF SPEAKING BY THE HOLY GHOST, THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST.— "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man borne witness te by God to you by works of power and wonders and signs, which God wrought by Him in your midst, as ye yourselves know—Him, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, by [the] hand of lawless [men] have crucified and slain" (verses 22, 23).
1. HIS LIFE ON EARTH.— "Men of Israel," while it takes in the general of the nation, proves their common guilt. "The whole nation of the Jews," is here charged with slaying their Messiah, "Jesus the Nazaræan." Peter had just finished his quotation from Joel with "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." But what Lord is referred to? Just the very Jesus whom they had slain, and whom he goes on to prove to be their Messiah, and who is now alive, and has been made both Lord and Christ at the right hand of God. There is a beautiful continuity and unity running through his discourse on till is exalted to the right hand of God, and constituted both Lord and Christ, and from this Anointed One is shed down the Holy Ghost, producing the effects which they now see and hear. The Holy Ghost, like a thread of gold, is continually seen in connection with Christ, so that the great occurrence of the day, the gift of the Holy Ghost, is kept prominently before the minds of the listeners in connection with the object He is come to bear witness to—the risen Lord and Christ in the glory of God. God does not again commit His witness-bearing to man's agency. His one agent in Christian testimony in testifying to Christ is the Holy Ghost, and Peter and his brethren are taken possession of by Mm and employed to express it as His instruments. "Jesus the Nazaræan" is the first word of Peter's discourse after rebutting the charge of the scoffers and explaining the strange occurrence. Jesus is the ever-beginning and never-ending theme of all the discourses of all the apostles as well as of other Spirit-filled men. “They preached Him without variation, and they always won souls" (3:6, 13; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 26:9).
In this verse we have God's witness to Jesus in His life, in the next verse in His death, then the following in His resurrection,) and onwards to His exaltation.
"A man." "Hear these words," respecting "the man Christ Jesus." "The Word was made flesh." "God was manifest in the flesh." By the power and action of the Holy Ghost Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin, and of her substance, and was born holy; not made innocent and upright only like Adam, still less like Adam's sons conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity. He is designated (in Luke, that displays Him specifically as man), "That Holy Thing," when the question is not about His divinity but His humanity: "That Holy Thing which, shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)). "God sent forth His Son made of a woman" (Gal. 4:44But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)). From His conception and all through, the Holy Ghost bears witness that Christ's was real but "holy" humanity in a sense not said of any other; not merely that the Holy Ghost was poured out upon Him, but that He was that Holy Thing born of His mother, and called the Son of God. When "error pours abroad" on this vital subject, it is necessary to state this clearly and definitely. And it is also of all importance to get hold of the simple but weighty difference of the Spirit's work in rendering the humanity holy for its union with the person of the Son; and then in due time anointing Him as man with power for His service on earth.
"Jesus the Nazaræan, a man borne witness to by God," refers to His life as the Anointed One rather than to His birth as the Holy One. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed with the devil" (Acts 10:3838How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)). He carne to destroy the works of the devil, and this anointing with the Holy Ghost was for the testimony and display in man of God's power over Satan and His works. Peter refers to this when he says, "A man borne witness to by God by works of power, and wonders and signs which God wrought by Him in your midst, as ye yourselves know." The witness was borne to them subjectively, objectively to Jesus as its subject. This, if gone into, would lead us into the consideration of all our Lord's miracles, detailed and undetailed.
Peter goes on to show the confounded multitude, that although they slew their Messiah, God had raised Him from the dead and exalted Him by His right hand, and that, as the Ascended Man, God was still to continue to work in their midst by His Spirit, displaying His power through His disciples as they now see and hear.
“A man from, God" is the way some read the Greek, and refer it to the divine origin or divine mission of Jesus; but Peter would never have barely named Him "a man from God." “The whole connection of the passage would, besides, be broken by this rendering—that connection being, that the Man Jesus of Nazareth was by God demonstrated, by God wrought in among you by God's counsel delivered to death, by God raised up (which raising up is argued on till v. 32, then, taken up again), by God (v. 36) finally made Lord and Christ. This was the process of argument then with the Jews—proceeding on the identity of a man whom they had seen and known, and then mounting up from His works, His death, and His resurrection, to His glorification,—ALL THE PURPOSE AND DOING OF GOD. But if His divine origin, or even divine mission, be stated at the outset, we break this climaterical sequence, and lose the power of the argument" (Alford).
We have here the progress of our Lord through humiliation to glory, and this is "the ordinance and doing of the GOD OF ISRAEL." It is all God's doing throughout.
"In the midst of you," appeals to the publicity of the Son of Man amongst men, who had shown Himself, according to Moses, to be a prophet "before all the people" (Luke 24:1919And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: (Luke 24:19)). "As yourselves know," is a direct appeal to themselves as "men of Israel.”
2. JESUS CRUCIFIED AND SLAIN. — "Him given up.” Him God raised up" (Acts 10:4040Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly; (Acts 10:40)). "Him hath God exalted (v. 31). Peter always keeps “Him” in the foreground. This attests the presence of the Comforter, for Jesus said," When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, He shall testify of Me. And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with Me from the beginning" (John 15:26, 2726But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26‑27)).
“Him given up or surrendered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." His counsel is His defined Plan, His Will; His Foreknowledge is His omniscient acquaintance with all the things about Jesus which His counsel had settled, and His will permitted. Foreknowledge is His foreknowledge of the evil of man (elect according to the foreknowledge of God (1 Pet. 1:11Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1)), i.e. of man's utter evil), for in the cross man shows himself wholly and hopelessly evil. God knew of His people's rejection of their Messiah, of Judas' treachery and surrender of His Master to the chief priests, and of their giving Mm over and forcing Him on the hand of such lawless ones (heathens "without law") as Pilate and the Gentile soldiery (4:27), and His counsel determined all accordingly; and when man was doing his worst against His Son, He was doing His best for man through the death of His Son, so that what was only heartless lawless murder on the part of His nation and of men was on God's part, and on Jesus' part, propitiation for their sins.
This comes out further on: here all is for conviction by proof against them (as "re-prove" means, John 16:88And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (John 16:8)); "Him... having nailed, ye slew." He charges them "who knew the law" with dispatching or making away with their Messiah, even though it was done "by the hand of the lawless," i.e. heathen men, and by their mode of punishing their malefactors—crucifixion. There had been a "counsel and deed of them," (Luke 23:5151(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. (Luke 23:51)), as well as a "counsel and foreknowledge of God." God counseled and acted sovereignly for His own glory and man's redemption: the Jews counseled and acted under responsibility, and for the gratification of their malice and hatred, and God is without blame, while they are without excuse. Their guilt was neither caused nor nullified by God's determinate counsel and foreknowledge. "Even Chrysostom refers to the analogy of Joseph's case (comparing Gen. 45:88So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:8) with 1:20), as showing how consistent, both in Scripture and experience, are the doctrines of God's sovereignty and that of human freedom and responsibility." There was a human as well as a divine decree carried into execution when Jesus suffered and died, and for that "counsel and deed of them" the Holy Ghost by Peter holds the "men of Israel" responsible. The witness of man to Jesus is borne in nailing of Him up: the naked harshness and unworthiness of the deed being expressed in a word, expressing the mere mechanical act; in strong contrast to the witness borne by God in grace to them by powers, wonders, and signs, wrought in their midst in Jesus.
Although not all those persons who mocked the apostles on the day of Pentecost at the third hour may have, at the same hour on Good Friday, exclaimed "Crucify Him!" (Mark 15:13, 2513And they cried out again, Crucify him. (Mark 15:13)
25And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. (Mark 15:25)); nevertheless the blood-guiltiness of the whole nation continued to cling to all who had not truly repented, yea, even we ourselves have abundant reason to make the confession "I have, Blessed Jesus, by my sins which are as the sand of the sea, been the cause of all Thy pains, Thy misery, and Thy shame" (Besser).
3. JESUS THE RISEN ONE—" Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, inasmuch, as it was not possible He should be held by its power" (verse 26).
“By the hand of lawless ones," the "men of Israel" had crucified and made away with Jesus the Nazaræan. We are now to hear what has been done for Him by the "hand of God:" "Whom God hath raised up." This shows God's approval of the man whom the nation had rejected. Peter shows himself a true "witness of the resurrection." He uniformly gives this testimony: "Whom God hath raised from the dead" (3:15); "whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead" (4:10); "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree" (5:40); "Him God raised up the third day" (10:40). Hitherto the apostles had not spoken publicly of the resurrection of Jesus; now that the Holy Ghost in power rests on them, Peter stands forth the first public witness of His resurrection. This is the theme which he now elaborately, argumentatively, historically, and Scripturally treats of, on to verse 32. First the fact of the resurrection is borne witness to by him in name of all the rest (24-32); second, he views it in the light of prophecy: "The Lord is risen indeed" (Luke 24:3434Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. (Luke 24:34)); the fact is incontestable; He hath appeared unto Simon and others, and the prophetic testimony showed "it behooved Christ to rise" (Luke 24:4444And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (Luke 24:44))—it was absolutely necessary; for it was not possible He should be holden of death.”
"Having loosed the pains of death." Loosing pains is an unusual combination, perhaps arising from pains in the Septuagint, meaning both cord and sorrow (comp. Isa. 13:88And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. (Isaiah 13:8); Ps. 18:5). The word pains refers to pains of parturition, used often in the. Scripture for intense but temporary suffering (Isa. 26:1717Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. (Isaiah 26:17); John 16:2121A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. (John 16:21), etc.). The sufferings of Christ on Calvary were most intense—labor-pangs of soul, when He said, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" This however does not seem to be the force of labor-pangs of death—for this was of dying or going out of life—but pains of death or labor-pangs of death means the pains of death in the bringing from death the birth into life; and surely the figurative language is easily understood to mean Christ coming into "newness of life" from death—"the firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:1818And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)); "the first-begotten of the dead" (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)).
It is a mistake in Stier, and the Germans gene-rally, to take it literally, and say "To every ordinary undeveloped soul hades is in general a place for regeneration in bitter labor-pangs." This does not mean that Christ entered the kingdom of the dead as a conqueror, and His" soul living in the spirit, burst asunder for itself, and hence for all, the fetters of the great prison-house; and the kingdom of those who were under the earth received the glad tidings of the gospel earlier, and more directly even, than for the upper world!”
Stier says further, "This is the great loosing which took place; this is Christ's descent to hell, the secret turning-point of His history, the root and actual starting-point of His resurrection.”
But it is quite a mistaken view. It is certainly not "the great loosing which took place" of "the pains of death;" for he makes Christ loose those pains for Himself and all others, whereas Peter speaks of God "loosing the pains of death" in connection with Christ. "Loosing the pains of death" is figurative language, descriptive of the act of God "according to the working of His mighty power which, He wrought in Christ when he raised Him from the dead" (Eph. 1:19, 2019And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:19‑20)). The pains of death were loosed by God when the "first-born from the dead" was taken out of death and raised. "He was put to death in the flesh and quickened by the Spirit:" and we are now "begotten, again to a living hope by His resurrection" (1 Peter 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3)).
"Inasmuch as it was not possible that He should be held by its power." The "not possible" depends for its proof on the "for" of the next verse, leading on to the necessity that the prophetic word containing the reasons of the impossibility should be fulfilled; that the purpose of God should be accomplished; that the Son (to whom it was given to have life in Himself) should, in the power of life in victory, come out from the dark womb of death. It was not possible that the Resurrection and the Life" should be permanently held in captivity ' by Death. Hence we find the expression once, once-for-all, so often used as to the death of Christ (Rom. 6:1010For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (Romans 6:10)). "In that He died, He died unto sin once, i.e. once-for-all." "CHRIST, having been raised from among the dead, dieth no more: death hath dominion over Him no more" (Rom. 6:99Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)).
4. THE TESTIMONY OF DAVID—" For David says as concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord continually before me, because He is at my right hand that I may not be moved. Therefore has my heart rejoiced, and my tongue exulted; yea more, my flesh also shall dwell in hope [or free of care]; for Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, nor wilt Thou suffer Thy Gracious One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the paths of life, Thou wilt fill me with, joy with, Thy countenance" (verses 25-28).
This is quoted from Ps. 16:8-11. "For David says in allusion to Him." Foresaw refers to place, not time: I saw Him before me. "If any trouble come, /will stand before you," said a Mohammedan to a Christian teacher in Beyrout the other day. She had been kind to his children, whom she taught, and he would be her protector in the time of trouble— "I will stand before you." "At my right hand" is expressive of nearness for security and protection (Ps. 73:23; 121:5). "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "The Lord is at hand" (Philip. 4:5); nothing can move me (Ps. 16:8). I am quite secure; I will not and cannot alter; I cannot yield and be overthrown.... This was indeed "the path of life," though as yet unmanifested in possible power (Rom. 1:44And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4)). "Those who have the Lord always before their face in this world shall stand before His face in the other; they on whose right hand the Lord now is shall then be placed on His right hand" (Starke).
"Heart—tongue—flesh" are expressive of the whole nature. There is no passage of Scripture that so nearly resembles this as 1 Thess. 5:2323And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The preserving blameless which the apostle desires for his readers in respect of all three parts of their being, David here (or Christ rather) expresses as a confident expectation. This is the ground of His security, that it is impossible for Him, who is the obedient and dependent One, to fall a prey to death.
Joy and hopeful confidence in God are cherished and pervade the whole nature, and there is complete assurance that the soul should not be abandoned to Hades (the place of the departed, without reference to happiness or misery), nor the Holy Gracious One see corruption (ver. 27). Christ is the One in whom all the Father's good pleasure rests. Soul and body should not be left separated; nor should the Holy One—said of Him as to the body—experience dissolution. "As when on the cross not one of his bones was to be broken, so in the grave no fiber of His body was to perish.”
Thou hast made known to me the paths of life; thou wilt fill me with joy with Thy countenance (Heb. 5: 7; 9:12, 2412Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)). "Made known to me;" no one had trodden it before. The Jehovah, guided path of the trusting, obedient, dependent man was first made known to His "Holy One." "Jehovah would show Mm the path of life through death and beyond death. How blessedly He did so! It led up to brighter joys than Israel's blessing, among whom He had come to sojourn. There indeed the excellent of the earth could not follow
Him (John 13:33, 36; 21:1933Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. (John 13:33)
36Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. (John 13:36)
19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (John 21:19)). He must first dry up the water of Jordan for them, and make it the path of life for them also after He was gone. For that path, since it led through death, must lead, if it was indeed the path of life, to what was beyond it—the presence of Him in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand pleasures for evermore. Such is the blessed issue and result of the Lord's path across the would, where He took His place among the saints, and trod in confidence in Jehovah (into whose hands He committed His Spirit)—the path which if He took us up, must lead through death—and then found the path again in resurrection, and so, as man, up to Him with whom is fullness of joy. The Spirit of holiness marked the life of the Son of God all through. He was declared to be such with power by resurrection; but, being man passed up into the presence of God, the holy confiding life found its perfect joy—there He is (blessed be God, and the name of that Blessed One who has trod this path) our forerunner.”
"Men-brethren, let it be allowed to speak with, freedom, to you concerning the patriarch David, that he has both, died and been buried, and his monument is amongst us unto this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an, oath of the fruit of his loins to set upon his throne; he seeing [it] before spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that neither has he been left in Hades, nor his, flesh seen corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof all we are witnesses" (verses 29-32).
The 16th Psalm, part of which has been quoted, is, as we have seen, "the Psalm of confidence in God that goes right through life, death, and resurrection. It was seen in Jesus, and clearly not applicable to David. Of all whom a Jew could have put forward to claim the language of such a psalm, David would perhaps have been the uppermost one in their hearts." But Peter now argues that it was far beyond David. He could speak with confidence of David, for they all admitted his death and burial, and that his sepulcher was still among them, containing the very body of David which had been abandoned to corruption (1 Kings 2:1010So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. (1 Kings 2:10); 2 Sam. 5:77Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. (2 Samuel 5:7)). (So also Paul in chapter 13:35-37.) He being a prophet (this 16th Psalm being therefore prophetical), and knowing God's promise with an oath (2 Sam. 7:12, 1312And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2 Samuel 7:12‑13)) that He would set the fruit of his loins upon his throne (Ps. 32:11),—seeing this before, spake this in Ps. 16. of the resurrection of the Messias. Then Peter applies this to JESUS, the facts regarding whom applied to Him and to no one else; and declares that he and the other Apostles were all witnesses that this Messias, of whom the patriarch-prophet spoke, was none other than Jesus of Nazareth whom they had crucified. "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof all we are witnesses" (see also 5:32; 10:41; 1 Cor. 15:1515Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. (1 Corinthians 15:15)). Thus powerfully did the Apostles bear witness to his resurrection in the power of the Holy Ghost come upon them. The Messiah, according to the patriarch-prophet, was to be raised from the dead without seeing corruption. Jesus was thus raised by God, and all we are His witnesses.
5. THE CULMINATING POINT OF PETER'S ARGUMENT.—"Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which ye behold and hear" (verse 33).
The man of the 16th Psalm having been proved not to be the writer but the Messiah, and identified with Jesus the Nazaræan, His exaltation is mentioned and the results flowing from it. The sure mercies of David are in the hands of his illustrious descendant now exalted by God's right hand to God's right hand in the heavens (1 Peter 3:2222Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. (1 Peter 3:22); Eph. 1:20-2220Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:20‑22)). We have here—
1. Jesus, exalted by the right hand of God,
2. Having received of the Father the promised Holy Ghost,
3. Has poured the Holy Spirit out on this day of Pentecost.
The scene they have witnessed, and all they have heard, so strange, new, and startling, can be accounted for only by the ascension of Jesus and the consequent descent of the Holy Ghost. It had been said, John 7., "The Holy Ghost was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified:" but, now that He has been glorified, the Holy Ghost has come and is manifesting His presence and power. Man has gone up into the glory of God in righteousness, and been glorified at God's right hand; and God has come down in power to testify to the glory of God accomplished in Christ in the cross, every question of man's evil and Satan's power having been settled. The entire question is forever closed, and it is no longer man on his responsibility—like Adam who had to be tested—but Man, already tested and seen to be absolutely obedient and absolutely loving the Father, takes his place in the person of Jesus in the glory of God, and the Holy Ghost comes down to reveal all this: and all the gracious consequences of redemption accomplished flow out to us in the grace and power of the Spirit.
"Having received of the Father the promise of the Spirit." This tells us that the ascended Man, Jesus Christ, received the Holy Ghost in a new place and in an altogether new manner. "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated lawlessness: therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows" (Heb. 1:99Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Hebrews 1:9)). The promised Spirit has been received by Christ as Man on high when He fills all things with the power of redemption. Heaven has been prepared for His saints by His blood with which He has entered there; and by the same blood a dwelling-place has been prepared for God on earth, which the Holy Ghost, as sent by Christ, now comes in His stead to fill. When the Son carne down, a body was prepared for Him, and that body was filled with the Holy Ghost; and so the Holy Ghost now fills the saints—the Church the body prepared—the suited dwelling-place on earth. He is true to the redemption of Christ, and He comes down and dwells where the blood has cleansed. He also acts in power and shows Himself present; and in this place it is more as acting in accordance with John 16:77Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)— reproving the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, because of their wickedly rejecting and crucifying Christ. "He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." All is ac counted for by the fact of Christ having poured out the Holy Spirit.
"For David has not ascended into the heavens. But he says himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I have put Thine enemies [to be] the footstool of my feet" (34, 35; Josh. 10:2424And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. (Joshua 10:24)). Peter now quotes the 110th Psalm, to show that it was as necessary that Messiah should sit at the right hand of God as to be raised from the dead. David is not ascended into the heavens, but he speaks of One whom he calls his Lord, to whom Jehovah assigns this high privilege, the Messiah, David's Son, whom they had seen ascending to the heavens. By God's right hand raised, He is set down as the glorified Man at God's right hand in the heavens—the place of honor, power, and glory.
"Let the whole house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made Him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (verse 36).
The last word carrying conviction to them reads thus: “That both Lord and Christ hath God made Him— this Jesus whom, ye have crucified.” The sting of the speech is put at the end" (Benge) This was the hook with which, as a true fisher of men, he reached their hearts. The decision is left to the whole house of Israel (for all has gone upon proofs and sayings belonging to Israel and to all Israel); let it know for certain that this is the only possible conclusion, and there can be no avoiding the acceptance of it. And "God has made" is the ground-tone of the discourse. God has conferred on the Crucified One, Lordship and Messiahship in the Heavens, and He owns Him there as invested with both dignities after having been rejected of His nation and crucified.
Thus the proof was complete. Their psalms found their counterpart in the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. God had made Mm "both Lord and Christ;" for the testimony is very gradual, and the wisdom of God in this we may well admire and profit by. In meeting the Jews God condescended to put forth the glory of His own Son in the way that most of all attached itself to their ancient testimonies and their expectations. They looked for a Messiah. But apparently all was lost; for they had refused Him; and they might have supposed that the loss was irretrievable. Not so: God had raised Mm from the dead. He had shown Himself therefore against what they had done; but their hope itself was secure in the risen Jesus whom God had made to be Lord and Christ. Jesus, spite of all they had done, had in nowise given up His title as the CHRIST: God had made Him such. After they had done their worst, and He had suffered His worst, God owned Him thus according to His own word at His own right hand. Other glories will open there too; but "JESUS CHRIST of the seed of David," as Paul says, was to be raised from the dead according to His gospel. Timothy was to remember this (2 Tim. 2.); and Paul can descend to show the connection of the glorious per-son of the Lord Jesus with the Jew on earth as he loved for his own relationship to behold Him in heavenly glory. Thus the link with the expectations of the earthly people, though brokers by death, is reset forever by resurrection.
6. THE PEOPLE'S QUESTION AND THE APOSTLE'S ANSWER.—And having heard it, they were pricked in heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, What shall we do, men-brethren?" (verse 37).
They were stung with compunction, surprised, grieved, and seized with alarm at the personal application of Peter's discourse. If God has raised and set on His right hand in the heavens their Messiah whom they crucified, and made Him Lord as well as Christ, what shall become of them? shall they not be crushed as "enemies" beneath His feet? They have been guilty of murder, blasphemy, and treason, and they express their conviction, compunction, and perplexity by the urgent question, "What shall we do?"— both as a matter of duty and means of safety. "The beginning of true conversion is made when men have come to this question." This was the first genuine Christian inquiry-meeting, and the intense eagerness of the convicted multitude is evinced by their crowd ing around and speaking to all the apostles. There was no need to urge them to remain to be spoken with about their souls—no forcing them to stay, or pressing them to tell their condition or state their difficulties; they thrust themselves and their sad state on the attention of the apostles, and compel them to undertake the function of directors of their spiritual inquiry. Says Bengel truly, "If; the hearers in our day were to signify on the spot what were their feelings at heart, the edification of all would be much more sure and abundant." There is a real work of grace when the people stay spontaneously to inquire under conviction and alarm. "What meaneth this" now? Ah! the Exalted One has poured out this which ye now see and hear.
The question, "What shall we do?" being urged, gives the apostle the opportunity to set out in the wisdom of God a very weighty application of the truth for the soul that hears the gospel. "Repent," says he, a far deeper thing than mere compunction or alarm of conscience—this they had already, and it leads to that which he desired for them.
"And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized each, one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (verse 38).
He does not call on them simply to believe, although without faith there will be no real repentance Godward. But he says, "Repent;" and it is remarkable that John the Baptist, JESUS, and Peter, should begin their ministry saying "Repent" (Matt. 3:2; 4:172And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2)
17From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)). Repentance as well as baptism are here enjoined; and remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost are assured to them. And it is also noteworthy that repentance is enjoined on those very men who seem almost frantic with conviction and terror, seeing their guilt as to Jesus in the presence of the God of Israel, who had exalted Him to His own right hand. Hence compunction or alarm about sin's consequences is not repentance: still less is repentance a mere, change of mind. It is remarkable that repentance and not faith should be here demanded (although we may say that where there is one, by the power of God there must be the other). It was not so with the heathen jailer— "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" is the word to him. Why the difference? May it not be that the Jews had had not only the law but the gospel and Christ Himself in His living personal ministry, and they had abused their privileges, refused the gospel, rejected and crucified their Messiah; and there must, in their circumstances, be a judging of all this as distinctly wrong, and a judging of themselves as utterly depraved, guilty, and lost, that they could have done such enormous wickedness, sinning as they had done against such an amazing amount of light, love, grace, and privileges? On account of the peculiar circumstances, as another well says, "the apostle lets them know that there is a judgment of self that goes far below any outburst of grief—any consciousness and hatred even of the deepest act of evil, as undoubtedly the crucifying of Jesus was. Repentance is the abandonment of self altogether, the judgment of what we are in the light of God. And this was to be marked, therefore, not only by the negative sign of giving themselves up as altogether evil before God, but by receiving the rejected and crucified Man the Lord Jesus. Hence to be baptized each one of them in His name for the remission of sins follows—and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
What was needed here was the thorough humbling of those proud Jews: hence repentance, or that which treats man as utterly good-for-nothing, is put forward and urgently pressed. "Repent, and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus"—the very Man you rejected and crucified. There is no blessing for any outside of Him—no hope for your souls. Grace reigns; their hearts are touched; they are brought down and made willing to receive and endorse God's testimony and sentence against themselves, and to bow to His Christ. He spares not for their crying out, but sends in the plowshare still deeper, knowing that "the deeper the furrow, the stronger the stock;" and also the "abundance of grace" in Christ; for he can say from his own experience of that grace, "Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." The more grace is proclaimed the more we can afford to urge; and the more those who hear us can afford to bear a thoroughgoing sound repentance. It is always a great blessing if souls see themselves at their conversion as evil, vile, and lost in the sight of God, especially if a full gospel be given: for the greater the sense of the Lord's grace, if there be not also a commensurate sounding of the conscience before God, the greater the danger, and more particularly for the young; for whom a most painful process of humbling remains another day.
“Be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." When we believe in Christ we have the forgiveness of sins as an eternal thing before God; but the administrative washing away of sins as for the Church on the earth is by baptism. Ananias said to Saul, "Arise, and get baptized, and have thy sins washed away, calling on His name" (Acts 22:1616And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16)). Then again Peter, in his first Epistle, ch. 3:21, shows that it is in figure the thing is done—"Which figure also now saves you [even] baptism, not a putting away of filth of flesh, but the demand as before God of a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." To this agrees Paul (Col. 2:12, 1312Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:12‑13)): "Buried with Him by baptism," "raised with Him," "quickened together with Him, having forgiven us all trespasses." Baptism means death going on to resurrection. As connected with forgiveness, it is the means outward and administrative—the mark of all sheep entering Christ's flock since Pentecost. Paul washed off his sins there and then when baptized: so when those Jews confessed the name of Jesus in their baptism, believing, they had by the very act of baptism God's outward symbolic sign of the whole old sinner-state done with, and a new state as quickened together with Christ begun.
Alford says—"The Apostles and early Chris, tians were not thus baptized, because (ch. 1:5) they had received the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST, the thing signified, which superseded that by water, the outward and visible" (?) Though this explanation be more than doubtful, yet it is remarkable that the Twelve Apostles and pre-Pentecost believers were not baptized at Pentecost with Christian baptism. But the Jews being now treated as the nations on the ground of mercy alone (Rom. 11:3131Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. (Romans 11:31)), they must come into the Church by Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins. They must thereby give a public witness that all their rest and confidence for their souls lay in Jesus whom they had crucified! And when thus manifestly made the object of their trust, they were to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; "and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The receiving of the Holy Ghost is thus distinct from faith and repentance, and in point of fact follows both.
“Surely," says one,” when they repented, it was not without the Holy Ghost. When they received the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and found in Him remission, and were baptized thereon—baptized in
His name—which of course would be altogether worthless in these souls now before the Apostle unless they believed in His name, it will not be doubted that the Holy Ghost must have given them repentance and faith in His name. Therefore it is evident that the reception of the Holy Ghost, as here spoken of, has nothing whatever to do with the bringing men to believe and to repent. It is subsequent operation; it is an additional separate blessing. It is a privilege founded on faith already actively working in the heart. The gift of the Holy Ghost thus follows faith, and is in no way at the same instant, still less is it the same act. It supposes faith already existing, not unbelief; for the Holy Ghost, though He may quicken (and He does most surely), is never given to an unbeliever. The Holy Ghost is said to seal the believer; but He is the seal of faith, not of unbelief." The waiting company of apostles and saints at Pentecost were for years believers in Christ, previous to the coming of the Holy Ghost to seal them and be in them, so that it could be said," They were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:44And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)); and Peter assures the awakened thousands of the same gift of the Spirit on their repenting, believing on the name of Christ, and confessing Mm in baptism. Repentance and faith are invariably found together; but the gift of the Holy Ghost—Himself coming to dwell in us—is consequent on them both.
"For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off even as many as the LORD your God shall call" (verse 39). The promise of the Holy Ghost in Joel is for you and for your children (Rom. 9:44Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (Romans 9:4)). The promise of the Spirit was specially given to the Jews and their offspring, and also to as many as the Lord should call—not of the dispersion, but of the nations. The Jews and their immediate children were reckoned one, and the children were circumcised; but this may also refer to children in the sense of posterity (Acts 13:53). We incline to this large view, because the promise looks onwards to "the world to come." The contrast to "His blood be on us and on our children" is striking (Matt. 27:2525Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25)). The promise is also to those afar off, and those defined by as many as Jehovah our God shall call.
It is very certain Peter did not yet know the application of this to the called Gentiles—saved as Gentiles without becoming Jews—viz., "that [they who are of] the nations should be joint-heirs, and a joint-body, and a joint-partaker of His promise in Christ Jesus by the glad tidings (Eph. 3:66That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (Ephesians 3:6)); for when Peter was sent to Corneas (Acts 28:34), he would not have gone but for the vision of the sheet let down from heaven. In the called Church of God peculiar to this dispensation there is neither Jew nor Gentile, for both Jew and Gentile are baptized by the Holy Ghost into one body in Christ.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." The amount and nature of Peter's discourse is hereby indicated. He used many more words, besides the summary of his discourse already given; and he testified, using argument and solemn affirmation (as in Acts 8:25, 10:42, 18:8, 20:21, 23:24, 24:11, 28:23); and he exhorted them, summoned, commanded, and persuaded.
They testified as to what their hearers should believe, and exhorted them to believe it. The truth must be given again and again, and pressed home until the desired effect is produced. The purport was, Be saved from this untoward, or crooked, or intractable generation (Deut. 32:55They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. (Deuteronomy 32:5); Luke 3:55Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; (Luke 3:5); Philip. 11:15; 1 Peter 2:1818Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. (1 Peter 2:18); Eph. 2:55Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5)). It is not "save yourselves," as Luke 23:35, 3735And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. (Luke 23:35)
37And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. (Luke 23:37), and 39, but be saved —to wit, in the way just indicated in verse 38, "Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This separation was founded on a real moral work in individual souls. There was the real work, "repent," publicly demonstrated by reception into the new household of God. This is a following up of Joel (ver. 21), "Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be saved." Calling is not prayer to be saved, but confession of and trust in that saving name. It follows preaching, hearing, and faith (Rom. 10:1414How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)). There is in it no such idea as wrestling with God in prayer for salvation.