the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word. were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."* The next chapter begins with the account of the miraculous healing of the man forty years old, who was publicly known, and a cripple from his birth : 1 "And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the *Acts ii. 22 to 42 inclusive. F F times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”* After this miracle, the number of believers being already increased to five thousand, the rulers of the city gathered a council, and summoned the apostles : "And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. (Psalm cxviii. 22.) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them *Acts iii. 11 to 26 inclusive. is: who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.—(Psalm ii.) "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."* may PROPHETIC PSALMS. PSALM II. WHY do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. vens shall laugh: the LORD 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree : the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine in4 He that sitteth in the hea-heritance, and the uttermost *Acts iv. 7 to 12, and 23 to 31. parts of the earth for thy pos session. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt angry, and ye perish from dash them in pieces like a pot-the way, when his wrath is ter's vessel. kindled but a little. Blessed 10 Be wise now therefore, O are all they that put their trust ye kings be instructed, ye in him.* judges of the earth. * Psalm ii.—If the prophetic subject of this Psalm had not been declared by the apostles in the foregoing passage from Acts iv. still it would have been perfectly evident by a comparison of the 6th, 7th, and 8th verses, with what has already taken place in the world and is still in progress. Do we desire to be eyewitnesses of a miracle to prove that the Christian religion is from God? We may see one in the strictest sense of the word, as great as any recorded in the New Testament, whenever we choose to turn our attention to it. No person who has given the requisite time and attention to such matters, can doubt that the words of this Psalm were written, as we now have them, many centuries before Christianity began: we have only then to take up a map of the world, and look at the little spot (comparatively) over which the dominions of David or Solomon extended in their most flourishing condition, (remembering that at no other period, for ten centuries after the Psalm was written, were the affairs of " Sion" equally flourishing,) and then compute the number, the extent, and the rank in civilization and power, of those nations which at this day, by their professed national religion, acknowledge as their "Lord and master," and as "the only begotten Son of God," One, of whom they also acknowledge that these words were spoken by an angel from God, "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David," (the throne of Sion) " and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." He that can contemplate this, and compare it with the 6th and following verses of the second Psalm, and then attribute the agreement between the words of PSALM VIII. In all nine verses.** * the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou LORD our Lord, how ex-art mindful of him? or the son cellent is thy name in all of man, that thou visitest him? the earth who hast set thy 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. glory above the heavens. 6 Thou madest him to have 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest dominion over the works of thy still the enemy and the avenger. hands; thou has 3 When I consider thy hea- under his feet:* vens, the work of thy fingers, put all things "up this ancient oracle, and the present state of the world, to chance, or to any other cause but "the decree" of Him who " holdeth all things," might also, (and with fully equal reason) call it a lucky coincidence if he were to witness the sudden change from a storm to a calm, instantly following the utterance of the words," Peace, be still." If the infidel chooses to say, that the "Anointed"-the "King set upon the holy hill of Sion"-was nothing but a name, let him so have it; still the miracle remains the same: that name, in exact accordance with the prediction, has received (and is progressively receiving) the heathen for its inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for its possession;" that name did suddenly appear, above thousand years after it was thus announced, "breaking" the power of heathenism (or idolatry) as "with a rod of iron,” (with some "weapon," however, "mighty to the pulling down of strong holds,") "dashing it to pieces like a potter's vessel." * Psalm viii.-Our Saviour's application of the second verse of this Psalm is given us, Matt. xxi. 16, in his answer to the chief priests and scribes that would have stopped "the mouths" When the last verse in any of the selections from the Psalms and Prophets is not the last of the Psalm or chapter from which the selection s made, the number of verses in the whole of such psalm or chapter will be stated at the head of it, as in this instance. |