Acts 3:17-26

CRITICAL REMARKS

Acts 3:18. All His holy prophets.—Best taken as a collective phrase for the prophets as a whole. Most of the Books of the Old Testament foretell distinctly the sufferings and death of the Messiah (Hackett).

Acts 3:19. That your sins may be blotted out.—According to Isaiah 53:12, Christ’s death was to be the meritorious cause of forgiveness. When the times of refreshing shall come, should be in order that times or seasons of refreshing may come. These “seasons of refreshing” have been interpreted as equivalent to “the times of the restitution of all things” of Acts 3:21. Both seasons considered as identical have been explained differently:

1. as referring to the Second Coming of Christ (according to this view spoken of in Acts 3:20), which will be (subjectively considered) a season of refreshment, peace, and repose, after the toils and tribulations of life, but objectively regarded a season of the restoration of all things (Alford, Hackett, Spence, Gloag, Holtzmann); 2, as alluding to the inward refreshment of soul which follows after the blotting out of sins consequent on conversion, which refreshment is also a fulfilment of all those gracious promises God had before spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began (Stier, Zöckler). A third, and in our judgment, a better interpretation distinguishes the “seasons of refreshing” and “times of restitution,” making the former the inward quickening which should follow on sincere repentance and experience of forgiveness, and the latter the restoration of all things which should accompany the Second Coming of the Saviour (Plumptre).

Acts 3:21. Whom the heaven must receive.—Decidedly preferable to who must possess the heaven (Bengel, Luther, Olshausen, Stier).

Acts 3:22. For and unto the fathers should be omitted as a gloss. £ prophet, etc.—Partly cited from the LXX. (Deuteronomy 18:18), and partly new. Stephen (Acts 7:37) as well as Peter ascribes this prophecy to Moses, and interprets it of Christ, Raise up.—Not “from the dead,” but in the sense of causing to appear. Like unto me.—Or as He raised up Me.

Acts 3:23. Shall be destroyed from among the people, should be, shall be utterly destroyed. Peter here interprets the Deuteronomic phrase, “I will require it of him,” which meant that he would be excluded from the congregation.

Acts 3:24. Samuel.—Though nothing remains from him which can be construed into a prediction of the latter times, he may nevertheless have uttered such; or his name may be introduced simply because he was the “father of the prophets.”

Acts 3:25. Children of the prophets and of the covenant.—Not “sons” in the sense of “descendants,” which would be incongruous with the clause “of the covenant,” but sons in the sense of participants of what the prophets and the covenant held out (compare Matthew 8:12; John 4:22; Romans 9:4, etc.).

Acts 3:26. Raised up, as in Acts 3:22. From your iniquities.—A conclusion similar to Acts 2:40. “Aculeus in fine orationis” (Bengel)—A sting in the tail of his address.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 3:17

Solomon’s Porch; Peter’s Second Sermon.

2. The People comforted and counselled

I. The people’s alarm soothed.—That such an appalling charge, pressed home upon the consciences of the auditors, awakened in their bosoms guilty fears is what one would naturally suppose. Possibly this is why Peter so dexterously wove into his discourse words that were fitted to administer comfort to those among them who might be troubled.

1. The disastrous results of their wickedness had been undone. The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of their fathers, had glorified His servant Jesus, whom they had delivered up (Acts 3:13). Observe the tenderness with which he leads back their thoughts to their glorious ancestry and up to their covenant God, as if he meant to suggest to their troubled hearts that the merciful Jehovah had not yet cast them off. Then note the kindness with which he places in the foreground the fact that their appalling crimes had been, as it were, rendered harmless before he mentions the crimes themselves. It was not without a purpose of love that, both before and after the recital of these, Peter speaks of the resurrection of the Crucified One.

2. Their wickedness had been the result of ignorance. If not total, yet partial; which, though not an excuse, was still an extenuation of their fault (Acts 3:21). Peter’s verdict as to the knowledge concerning Christ which was possessed by the rulers and the people is confirmed by the opinion of Paul (1 Corinthians 2:8). Both apostles seem to imply that neither the people nor their rulers had an adequate idea of the divinity of the Saviour when they demanded His crucifixion. Nor need this be wondered at, when it is remembered that the crowning demonstration of Christ’s Godhead was only furnished by the Resurrection, and that before this event occurred the conceptions of the apostles themselves as to Christ’s true personality were but dim.

3. Their wickedness had been the means of fulfilling the Divine predictions concerning Christ recorded in Scripture. “The things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18). Though this did not relieve them from blame, it nevertheless tended to mitigate their grief, by showing that Christ suffered in accordance with the Eternal purpose of God Himself (Acts 2:23). The like comforts belong to sinners of to-day who, through their connection with the first Adam, are more or less responsible for the death of Jesus; and yet because of their ignorance and want of actual participation in the crime of Christ’s death are not left in a condition of despair (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

II. The people’s duty set forth. In two particulars.

1. To repent and be converted (or turn again). Always insisted on in Scripture as a condition of forgiveness and salvation (Isaiah 55:7; Jeremiah 3:12; Ezekiel 14:6; Joel 2:12; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 4:17; Mark 6:12; Luke 13:3; Luke 24:47), repentance signifies a change of mind, heart, and conduct (see on Acts 2:38). For this four reasons are assigned by the Apostle:

(1) That their sins might be blotted out and their guilt removed; since without heartfelt repentance, meaning sincere godly sorrow on account of sin, acknowledgment of guilt and desire as well as resolution after new obedience, pardon is impossible.
(2) That times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord, seasons of gracious quickening for them, Israel, and through them for the world at large—eras of spiritual awakening, epochs of revival, when men’s souls being refreshed and stirred would manifest an interest in heavenly things, as parched ground, when moistened with showers of rain, puts forth herbs and flowers. Moreover, every such season of refreshing would prove a prelude of, and preparation for, the grand culmination of the future, “the times of the restitution of all things.”

(3) That Jesus Christ (or the Christ) might be sent unto them, that same Christ who had been appointed for (R.V.), and in the days of His flesh preached unto (A.V.) them, but whom they had rejected and the heavens had received, no more to be manifested till the close of time (1 Timothy 6:14). It is clear that Peter meant by this that in answer to every such “season of refreshing” in which longings after heavenly gifts would be awakened in renewed hearts, there would be a sending forth of the Christ, the Risen and Ascended Lord, not visibly, but spiritually, in the plenitude of His power and grace to bless men’s souls by deepening in them the feeling of repentance and turning them away from their iniquities (Acts 3:26; compare Hebrews 6:7).

(4) That finally the times of the restitution of all things might come. This should be the goal of that stupendous restoration movement which was heralded by John the Baptist (Matthew 17:11), and initiated by Jesus in the days of His flash. Of which so far as they were concerned their repentance would be the first step (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the revelation of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Peter 3:13) the last—the summing up of all things in one under Christ (Ephesians 1:10), the subjection of all powers and things to His authority and rule (1 Corinthians 15:27)—not necessarily the salvation of all intelligent beings, but the subordination of the universe, each part in its place, beneath His sway.

2. To hearken in all things to Christ. And that for a variety of reasons.

(1) That Christ was a prophet whom the Lord God, their own covenant Jehovah, had raised up, and was therefore as much entitled to their obedience as had been Moses himself or any of the prophets from Samuel downwards.

(2) That Christ was a prophet raised up from among themselves, again as Moses and Samuel had been—one of their own flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14; Hebrews 2:17), and therefore one who might be supposed to have their best interests at heart—their emancipation from the guilt and power of sin—and therefore as much entitled as Moses had been to receive their confidence.

(3) That Christ was a prophet like unto Moses, their renowned lawgiver, in respect of the authority He bore; yea, better than he in respect of the announcements He made (John 1:17), and on this account more entitled than even he to their respectful attention.

(4) That the soul which would not hearken to Christ would be cut off from amongst the people, exactly as the disobedient Israelite who refused to obey Moses was excluded from the congregation.
(5) That Christ had been fore-announced as their Messiah by the whole race of prophets from Samuel downwards, so that in refusing to hear Christ they were rejecting the voices of the prophets (compare Acts 7:51, Acts 13:27; Acts 13:40).

(6) That Christ had a claim on their submission because of their covenant relation to Jehovah, the God of Abraham their father, to whom He, Christ, had been promised (Acts 3:25). If Christ was the seed of Abraham (compare Galatians 3:16), they could not reject Him without sin.

(7) That Christ had been offered to them first, so that their responsibility for accepting Him was greater than it would otherwise have been, while their guilt would be more heinous if they declined to receive Him (Acts 3:26).

Learn.—

1. That it is dangerous to sin against the light.
2. That all true preaching aims at convicting of sin.
3. That the prime blessing of the gospel is the blotting out of sin.
4. That unforgiven sin blocks the way to higher gifts of grace.
5. That disobedience to Christ is pre-eminently inexcusable.
6. That Christ’s supreme desire is to turn men away from their iniquities.
7. That Christ’s triumph, though long delayed, is absolutely sure.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Acts 3:17. Sins of Ignorance.

I. A man may sin through ignorance.

II. Ignorance is not a valid plea in extenuation of sin.

III. Sins of ignorance require an atonement quite as much as sins of knowledge.

IV. Sins of ignorance require to be repented of as sincerely as sins of presumption.

Acts 3:18. The Sufferings of Christ.

I. The character and dignity of the Sufferer.—

1. The Son of God (Acts 3:13).

2. The Holy and Righteous one (Acts 3:14).

3. The Prince of Life (Acts 3:15).

II. The form and severity of His sufferings.—

1. As to form. He suffered

(1) in His reputation (Acts 3:14),

(2) in His soul (Matthew 26:37), and

(3) in His body (John 17:12).

2. As to severity. They were aggravated by the fact that they were all foretold and so known to Him beforehand.

III. The reason and purpose of His sufferings.—

1. To glorify God (John 17:1).

2. To save sinners (Isaiah 53:5; John 3:16).

I. Foreordained by the Father.

II. Foretold by prophets.

III. Inflicted by men.

IV. Endured with patience.

V. Rewarded with glory.

VI. Recorded in Scripture.

VII. Proclaimed by evangelists.

VIII. Believed on by sinful men.

IX. Studied by angels (1 Peter 1:11).

Acts 3:19. The Blotting out of Sin.

I. What it implies.—

1. The liability of men to condemnation on account of sin.
2. The exercise of grace on God’s part towards the condemned.
3. The complete release from condemnation of all who experience such grace.

II. What it presupposes.—

1. On God’s part that no obstacle exists to the outflow of grace and exercise of forgiveness; in other words, the removal of antecedent obstacles by the work of Christ.
2. On man’s part the frank acknowledgment of guilt conjoined with repentance of sin.

III. What it secures.—

1. Times of refreshing, or the joy of forgiveness.
2. Times of restoration, or the ultimate attainment of perfect holiness, felicity, and glory.

Times of Refreshing.

I. What they mean.—Seasons of soul quickening, when, the inward life reviving, the soul begins to manifest desires after heavenly things.

II. Whence they come.—From the Presence of the Lord. Such seasons can never be got up, but must always be fetched down.

III. What must precede.—

1. Pardon. Spiritual quickening can belong only to those whose sins have been forgiven; though all may enjoy this heavenly gift who will comply with the second condition.

2. Repentance. Change of mind, heart, will, concerning Jesus Christ and the things of salvation.

IV. What will follow.—Christ with the fulness of His joy and salvation will be sent into the soul that repents and is forgiven.

Acts 3:21. Times of Restoration.

I. When they shall arrive.—

1. At the end of Time.
2. With the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ.
3. On the completion of the present world plan.

II. What they shall introduce.—

1. Not the re-erection of the monarchy of Israel, and far less the bringing about of universal salvation. But

2. The delivering up of all things, now in the Mediator’s hand, to God that He may be all and in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). Which will imply—

3. The glorification of the Church. And
4. The subjection also of the wicked to the rule of God.

III. How they should be waited for.—

1. By the children of God, with faith, patience, holy living, and eager expectation.
2. By the unbelieving world, with assurance of their certain coming, with apprehension of the peril they will bring with repentance and turning to God and Jesus Christ.

Acts 3:12. The Prince of Life.

I. Jesus presented.—Jesus did not need to be brought forward. There was no necessity of going up to heaven to bring Christ down. He was there—there in their midst, there in all the perfection of the God-man, in all the majesty of the Godhead, in all the plenitude of His Messiahship, and in all the kindness and helpfulness of the Friend. He was there, but unseen by the multitude. Two obstacles stand in the way of His being seen. First, the disciples, Peter and John. They perceived this. The miracle was being ascribed to them. How promptly they remove this obstacle! how promptly and emphatically they step aside! “Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power and holiness we had made this man to walk?” Thus they stand aside that Jesus may be seen. But blind men cannot see the most conspicuous object. Those whose eyes are thickly veiled are the same as blind. This was the condition of these Jews. Hence the second thing necessary that Jesus might be seen was to remove the veil, to snatch the thick covering of moral and intellectual ignorance and prejudice from their eyes. This the disciples proceed to do with characteristic promptness and energy, “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers”—thus they seize the veil at its farthest extremes; there the lift must begin if the uncovering would be successful and complete—“You believe in God, the God of our fathers; this miracle was wrought by His power; it was performed in honour of His Servant, His Messiah. That Messiah, that Servant, is Jesus. He is the Prince of life. He is the Messiah of prophecy. He was crucified in exact fulfilment of the writings of all the holy prophets. He is exalted, has passed into the heavens, has there His dwelling-place—there for a purpose, a purpose sublime and eternal, to bring in the final, complete, and glorious restoration of all things. Behold, then, in the miracle that fills you all with amazement so profound, behold, not the power of men, but of God. Ascribe the glory of this miracle not to us, but to Jesus, your Messiah.” Thus Peter presented Jesus to the multitude. This is preaching Christ, and Him crucified.

II. Sinners condemned.—The Spirit by which the disciples witnessed made no mistakes; a different spirit, I fear, guides not a little of the witness-bearing of the present. That Spirit did not allow the disciples to make the miserable mistake of preaching Christ to those who could get along very well without him. And what a condemnation! How the astonished thousands must have shuddered as Peter passed from one count to another of his fearful indictment! Note these terrible counts: First, he charges upon them the infamy of betrayal: “Whom ye delivered up.” But, second, betrayal, infamous as it is, was not the extent—nay, it was but the first act—of your wickedness, for after ye had betrayed Him, when natural justice demanded His release, when Pilate, the Roman governor, who was neither scrupulous nor tender-hearted, was about to let Him go, ye denied the Holy One and the Just. Third, but betrayal, denial, and rejection, damning as these charges are when in the rejection ye must take a murderer to your bosoms, are not the weightiest counts of this indictment nor the extent of your infamy and wickedness. Ye are guilty of the awful crime of killing the Prince of life. There is no shifting the guilt and responsibility of that death. Thus with firm and steady hand does Peter thrust the iron of a terrible accusation into their guilty breasts.

III. Pardon proclaimed.—Peter was severe in his indictment, but he was wounding to heal. He thrust the keen lance of conviction into their souls, that he might open the way to pour into their hearts the grace of pardon and peace. Hence, the moment he saw that the truth had done its work of conviction, he hastened to apply the balm of Gilead.

1. He softens the indictment by referring their murderous deed partly to their ignorance: “I know that through ignorance ye did it.” Ignorance is no excuse for wrongdoing, especially such criminal ignorance as theirs; still, there is a distinction between a crime committed by one fully informed and the same crime by one largely ignorant of the real character of the act. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” said Jesus. “But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief,” wrote Paul.

2. He urges upon them the consideration that God had overruled their murdorous work to the accomplishment of His eternal purpose. All the suffering which, through their cruelty, Jesus had endured was, in the wise ordering of God, endured on their behalf. While this did not lessen their guilt, it did hold out to them a good hope of mercy and pardon.
3. He calls them to repentance and a different life: “Ye are guilty of the blackest crime, but it is mitigated by your ignorance of what ye were doing, and it has been overruled to the fulfilment of God’s purposes; and the very sufferings that ye caused Messiah prepared the way, in the eternal purpose of God, for the pardon of your sin in crucifying Him. Now, if ye are truly sorry for your sin, and will but turn from it unto God with all your heart, God will blot out your transgressions.” He urges all this upon them by a glorious consideration. This consideration was the fact that the times spoken of by all the holy prophets, the glorious times of deliverance, rest, refreshment, and joy which Messiah was to introduce, had come. Let us now attend to a few of the important lessons suggested.
1. We are reminded that it is strong faith, on the part of the disciples, in the name of Jesus, that works wonders. No one engaged in any way in the Master’s service can afford to be unmindful of this fact. To be faithless is to be helpless and useless, so far as spiritual matters are concerned. You can do nothing for your own or another’s welfare without faith. The faith of the humblest disciple may yet work wonders that will startle and amaze the world. Let this be the first inquiry in every work we undertake, “In whose name?”
2. The wise and true teacher always puts Jesus forward and hides self. How easy would it have been for these disciples to have secured for themselves the fame of that miracle! Is there not a profound lesson here for us all? Are we always careful to bring Jesus forward when our works of kindness and acts of faith turn the eyes of unbelievers toward us?
3. The true gospel-teacher tells men the truth, however severe or distasteful it may be. What a contrast between Peter’s method and that of not a few so-called teachers in our day!—men standing before the godless and guilty with cringing, shuffling, apologetic words and manner, aiming to excuse Moses and David and Isaiah, and all the inspired teachers, and prophets, and apostles, for their hard sayings against sin and sinners, “Oh, you know the race was not enlightened in the time of David”; or “Paul, being a Jew, could not, of course, get entirely rid of his Jewish ideas and prejudices.” Miserable gospel-tinkers!
4. The true gospel-teacher calls to repentance and faith, and offers pardon to the worst of sinners.
5. We learn to encourage, in every legitimate way, those to whom we preach the gospel.—T. J. McCrory.

Acts 3:22. A Prophet like unto Moses.

I. Moses a prophetic type of Christ.—

1. In being of the same race with those he delivered.
2. In delivering his brethren from a state of captivity.
3. In acting as mediator between his brethren and Jehovah.
4. In promulgating a system of divine laws to his brethren.
5. In leading them through the wilderness towards the borders of Canaan.

II. Christ though an antitype of, yet greater than Moses.—

1. In being one with his brethren, yet of superior nature to them.
2. In delivering His brethren from a sadder than temporal bondage, and at a greater cost to himself than Moses incurred.
3. In being the mediator of a better covenant than that formed at Sinai.
4. In revealing to men not the laws only, but the grace and truth of Jehovah.
5. In conducting all who obey Him, not to the borders merely, but to the interior also of the Promised Land.

Moses and Christ. Related to each other as—

I. Prophecy and fulfilment.

II. Law and gospel.

III. Servant and Son.—Leonhard and Spiegel.

The World’s True Prophet.—The world needs a prophet—

1. Perfect, well-instructed, filled with true Wisdom

2. Authoritative, one who speaks, not from conjecture or in virtue of superior talent or position, but from authority, “as one having authority.”

3. Divine, a teacher sent direct from God. So must be the world’s true teacher. God has given us such an one; not for Israel only, but for the world. He has sent His Son as the world’s Prophet. He is all that is described in the passage before us.

I. He is of our brethren.

II. He is raised up to God.—Not self-called, nor man-called.

III. He is like unto Moses.

1. Because God speaks with Him face to face (Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 34:10).

2. Because. He is Mediator and Intercessor.

3. He is like unto Moses, because He is Israel’s King. Moses was the only prophet who was also king,—“he was king in Jeshurun,” he was Israel’s captain.

4. He is like unto Moses because He is a worker of miracles.

5. He is like Moses because He is Israel’s great Teacher.

6. He is like Moses because of His meekness.

7. He is like Moses because rejected of men. As Moses was rejected of his brethren (Acts 7:35), so was Jesus despised and rejected of men.—H. Bonar, D.D.

Acts 3:24. Christ in the Prophets.

I. His incarnation (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 9:6).

II. His humanity (Genesis 3:15; Psalms 89:19; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 32:2).

III. His divinity (Psalms 2:6; Psalms 110:1).

IV. His sufferings (Genesis 3:15; Psalms 20:6; Psalms 69:7; Psalms 20-26; Isaiah 1:6; Isaiah 52:14; Isaiah 53:2; Zechariah 13:7).

V. His death (Isaiah 53:8; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 13:1).

VI. His resurrection (Psalms 2:7; Psalms 16:9).

VII. His ascension (Psalms 24:7; Psalms 68:18).

Acts 3:25. The Abrahamic Covenant.

I. The parties.—God and Abraham.

II. The promise.—“In Thee and in Thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

1. A promise of salvation.
2. To all the families of the earth.
3. Through a descendant of Abraham.

III. The performance.—Seen in Christ.

1. A descendant of Abraham.
2. The Author of Salvation.
3. To as many as obey Him.

Lessons.—

1. That salvation is all of grace.
2. That it should be offered to all.
3. That the New Testament Church is a continuation and development of the Old.

Acts 3:26. The Mission of Christ.

I. By whom He was sent.—God.

1. To whom He stood in the twofold relation of son and servant; and
2. By whom He was raised up first, by His incarnation, and secondly, at His Resurrection.

II. To whom He was sent.—

1. To the Jews, who were God’s ancient people, to whom pertained the adoption and the glory, etc. (Romans 9:4).

2. To the Gentiles, who, no less than the Jews, were included in the Abrahamic covenant.

III. For what He was sent.—For blessing.

1. Of a spiritual sort, the turning away of sinful men from their iniquities, which meant more than the turning away from them of (the consequences of) their iniquities.
2. To every one—i.e., who was willing to be blessed—this condition, though not expressed, being manifestly and necessarily implied, since no one can be turned from his iniquities without the concurrence of his will.

Lessons.—

1. The grace of God.
2. The power of Christ.
3. The responsibility of Man.

The Names of Christ.

I. Jesus, Joshua or Saviour, the personal name of Our Lord.

II. Christ, Messiah, His prophetic designation.

III. The son of God, indicating His relation to the first person in the Godhead.

IV. The servant of Jehovah, an official title expressive of His economical subordination to the Father.

V. The Holy and Righteous One, descriptive of His character as a man, and as servant of Jehovah.

VI. The Prince of Life, depicting Him as either the possessor or giver of life or as both.

VII. A prophet like unto Moses, setting forth the character of His work as mediatorial and legislative.

Acts 3:12. Peter’s Threefold Testimony concerning Christ. As—

I. The substance of all miracles (Acts 3:12).

II. The Redeemer of all souls (Acts 3:18).

III. The accomplisher of all prophecies (Acts 3:22).—Lisco.

The Speech of Peter may be regarded in four aspects:—

I. As showing the false method of looking at human affairs.—“As though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk.”

1. The visible is not the final.

2. Second causes do not explain life. There is a false method of looking at the results

(1) of preaching;

(2) of business;

(3) of thinking. The man who does not look beyond second causes lives in distraction—in chaos!

II. As showing the true method of regarding the most extraordinary events.—“God hath glorified His Son Jesus.” “Faith in His name hath made this man strong.” That is the sublime explanation of all recovery, all progress, all abiding strength and comfort. Forget God, and society in every phase and movement becomes a riddle without an answer; its happiness is but a lucky chance, its misery an unexpected cloud. Regard human life as controlled and blessed by the mediation of Jesus Christ, then:

1. There is discipline in every event,—design, meaning, however untoward and unmanageable the event.

2. A purpose of restoration runs through all human training.

III. As showing the only method of setting man right with God.—“Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” The men who worked Christian miracles spoke plain words about men’s souls. There is no ambiguity here! Are the old rousing words “repent,” “be converted,” being allowed to slip out of Christian teaching, and are we now trifling with the character and destiny of men?

1. Every man must repent, because every man has sinned.

2. Every man must be converted, because every man is in a false moral condition.

IV. As showing the sublime object of Jesus Christ’s Incarnation.—“To bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”

1. Where iniquity is, there is no blessing.

2. Physical restoration is but the type of spiritual completeness. Two practical lessons arise out of the subject.
(1) It is not enough to wonder at the mighty works of God.

(2) God’s glory is ever identified with the well-being of man. “Restitution,” “refreshing,” “blessing.” Peter’s appeal rested upon a solid biblical basis—Moses, Samuel, all the prophets. God’s message is the summing up of all the voices of holy history.—J. Parker, D.D.

Acts 3:25. Prophets and Sons of the Prophets.—Therefore whatsoever the prophets did you may do. God is as near to you as He ever was to them. He may inspire you for the work of the hour—to understand its problems and to fight its battles—just as He inspired them for the problems and battles of their day. God did not speak to men for the last time nineteen hundred years ago. Poetry was not buried in Tennyson’s grave, and, given the “eye to see,” we may have Raphaels and Murillos yet, who shall find their subjects in the romance of these commonplace days. Romance! Ay, life still teems with romance. And so here. We may be sons not only of the scientists and poets, of the critics and painters: we may be “sons of the prophets”; we may receive messages as direct as any message they ever received, and do work as distinctly divine as they ever did. That, then, is my subject—the prophet, the prophet of the present hour, of to-day.

I. England as well as Judæa has had its prophets; and it is of the English prophet I want to speak. The prophet has always been the same man, whether in England or in Judæa. The form which his work has taken may be different in England from what it was in Judæa, but it has been essentially the same work. And, to start with—

1. The prophet is, first of all, the good man; the witness for truth and righteousness; the witness, not by his genius, not by the work he is able to do, but by what he is. That in the Old Testament is always the sign that a man is a genuine prophet—his soul burnt with a passion for goodness, for purity, for religion. The prophet would sometimes be a herdsman, sometimes a statesman; but he was always a noble man. You have noticed that in the Old Testament story there were “schools of the prophets,” what we to-day would call theological colleges; but it did not follow that because a man had had a theological education he was a prophet. To-day there are “schools” of art, but every one who has been trained in the school is not an artist. The first thing the artist has often to do is to emancipate his own soul, and shake off every sign of the school. If a man have the soul of music in him the school may do him good; but the school cannot make him a musician. So there were “schools of the prophets,” which turned out a prophet now and then, but turned out many who were not prophets. They had gone through all the drill, were perfect masters of the technicalities of their calling; they had a high sense, I have no doubt, of what was due to their order, of the respect that ought to be paid to them; but the fire that burns in the prophet’s soul—the passion for truth, for goodness, for purity, the courage that would fight any battle for God—that burnt but feebly in them. They were no prophets. The prophet before everything was a good man, consumed with a passion for righteousness.

2. Then, secondly, the prophet was the man moved by what he saw and felt to act; to whom to do was the first necessity. Not only a man who understood the times, but who rose up to do the things which the times demanded; who not only saw, but who dared not be silent. Elijah the Tishbite was not the only man in Israel who saw the curse that Ahab was to the land. There were “seven thousand,” so we read, “who had not bowed the knee to Baal”; but he was the only man who dared to confront the man who had really troubled Israel. Three things in this respect make the prophet, and the man is never a prophet unless the three be in him. First, he has the “eye to see.” Nothing tortures you more than a man who tries to console you, but does not understand you; who imagines he is soothing you, when every word he utters cuts your soul until it bleeds. How many good people you have known who have been a terror to you! They wanted to help, but they did not know where the problems of life hurt you—good, tenderhearted souls, brimming over with concern and sympathy; but your soul shuts itself up, and you could die rather than talk of your difficulties to them. Others read you at their first glance; their first word proves that they have plumbed your soul’s deepest depths. Like the physician who has the “eye to see,” they lay their finger upon your soul and say, “Thou ailest here, and here.” Then, secondly, the prophet feels. What he sees moves him, haunts him, draws a veil of sadness over his face. Many who imagine they are sitting at the feet of Jesus are calmly indifferent to the sorrows and woes of the world. What do hosts who “sit down to the feast” in our churches every Sunday care for the heathen London over which you fret? The prophet is the moved man, the man who has made the sorrows and problems of his generation his own; the throes of his hour beat in him. Every shock of the French Revolution broke through Carlyle’s heart. Carlyle was not a spectator, but he tasted the bliss and the horrors of it. Carlyle in this also was a prophet. Once again: The prophet descries the remedy. He is the “seer.” But even that is not all. He is not prophet merely because he is “seer.” The prophet embodies his vision—works out what he sees.

3. The prophets are of many orders. I will mention a few. The great preachers. That goes without saying. England has had a noble line of them. No truth is established until it comes into the pulpit; the man who sets the hall-mark upon it and gives it currency is always the preacher. The great poets; and England has had a grand succession of them. We are only slowly getting to understand the poet’s mission. The poet is not the mere reciter of the deeds of the past, the mere romancist or troubadour, though we do not despise him. The world will never grow weary of Homer. Shakespeare has brightened hosts in every generation for three hundred years; broken the clouds of their despair and moodiness. Spring breaks wherever he comes. The great reformers—creators of new eras. And these are always the world’s great saints. Tyranny was buried in the grave of Charles. And the men that did it—Cromwell, Milton, Pym—did they no hard things? Nay, we cannot say that; stern times demand stern deeds, stern weapons. But these men were made out of the stuff of which prophets are made. And now—

II. You are in the succession of these prophets.—“Ye are the sons of the prophets.”

1. That is your incalculable advantage. There are truths which the prophets have established that will never need to be opened up again. That is a great gain. The law of gravitation has been settled for ever. We shall not need to discuss that again. So there are social, political, and religious battles that will never have to be fought again. We shall never need another Magna Charta. So also of the great questions of theology. The hideous doctrines which tortured our fathers, once swept out of the Church, will never re-invade it. And now you stand upon the threshold of life—“sons of the prophets.” What will you make of it? Solomon, when he came to build the temple, found all but everything ready to his hand. It was for Solomon to see that the temple should be worthy of the preparation that had been made for it. So you, who are just stepping out into life. The generations that have preceded you—I will venture to say, the generation that has immediately preceded you—has been hard at work; but we sometimes feel that we have been doing nothing but preparing material, making ready for YOU. And now it is for you to build. It is for you to determine the design into which the temple is to grow. Christian enthusiasm shall express itself. Will you remember this? “Ye are the sons of the prophets.”

2. It is more than an advantage—it is an inspiration. I know a man at the present moment whom I revere—a noble specimen of an English man of business. I have often found him busy studying the story of his own family, tracing the line back through father, grandfather, great-grandfather—honourable men of business every one of them. And when I have come upon him so engaged, he has said, “I often go over the story of my forefathers’ lives; I remind myself of what they were, for I must live to be worthy of them.” Young men and women, ministers’ children many of you, listen. I remind you of the homes in which you were nurtured. I would not be a rake, or an idler, or a spendthrift; I would be a man. I would not be frivolous, or shallow-souled and empty-headed, if I were you; I would be a godly woman. “Ye are the sons” and daughters “of the prophets.”

3. Once again: That you inherit these memories is a great responsibility. Will you forget who you are? You are Englishmen. The blood of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, is in you. You are Protestants. The hand of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, John Rogers, is upon you. You are Puritans. Greenwood, Barrow, Penry, were your forefathers. That is the succession in which you stand. Shall your lives be small, narrow, wicked, mean? I leave you with one sentence: “Ye are the sons of the prophets.”—J. Morlais Jones.

Acts 3:25. Israel beloved of God.—“To the Jew first”; “beginning at Jerusalem.” This was God’s order, and it is so still. The designations of honour, and the intimations of privilege as still possessed by the sons of Abraham (as given in these two verses), are worthy of notice.

I. They are the children of the prophets.

II. They are the children of the covenant.

III. They are they to whom God first sends His risen Son.—

1. God’s love to Israel. He looks down on them, yearns over them, pities them, says, “How shall I give thee up?”

2. God’s purpose concerning Israel. God’s desire that we should feel towards Israel as He does.—H. Bonar, D.D.