THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT IS FULFILLED TO THE DISCIPLES. Acts 2:1. Fifty days after Easter, ten days after the Ascension, the promise of Acts 1:4; Acts 1:8 is fulfilled and the Church starts into action. The statements of time, however, appear to be independent of each other, and are not to be const... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EFFECT ON OUTSIDERS. The visitation has taken place in a house, but the noise is heard, not the speaking with tongues, all over the town; a crowd collects, made up of pious and thoughtful men, Jews of various lands, now dwelling at Jerusalem. Guided to the spot they stayed there in wonder, becau... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER EXPLAINS THE OCCURRENCE. Peter is, as before, the mouthpiece of the community. His speech is not addressed to foreigners but to the people of Jerusalem, and shows us, as his other speeches do, the style of argument used by Christians in their first great controversy, that with their Jewish nei... [ Continue Reading ]
EFFECT OF THE SERMON. A rapid and lively narrative succeeds. The hearers feel the sting of their position, and say (_cf_. Luke 3:10), What shall we do? Peter's requirements are repentance and baptism, the first being the original requirement of the Gospel (Mark 1:4; Mark 1:15). The reason is still t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE BRETHREN. The four items in Acts 2:42 should be taken in two pairs; (_a)_ the believers adhered steadfastly to the apostles as their teachers and to their common life with each other, the formal manifestations of which were (_b)_ their common meals and their common prayers... [ Continue Reading ]