The document discusses the events surrounding Pentecost, a Jewish feast celebrated fifty days after Passover, during which the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus who were united in prayer. This event marked the beginning of the Christian mission as the apostles received the ability to speak in various tongues, enabling them to spread the gospel to a large number of Jews present in Jerusalem. The narrative emphasizes the connection between the giving of the law at Sinai and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, illustrating a transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in Christianity.

1. ACTS 2 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Acts 2
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all
together in one place.
BARNES, "And when the day of Pentecost - The word “Pentecost” is a Greek
word signifying the 50th part of a thing, or the 50th in order. Among the Jews it was a
applied to one of their three great feasts which began on the 50th day after the Passover.
This feast was reckoned from the 16th day of the month Abib, or April, or the second day
of the Passover. The paschal lamb was slain on the 14th of the month at evening, Lev_
23:5; on the 15th day of the month was a holy convocation - the proper beginning of the
feast; on the 16th day was the offering of the firstfruits of harvest, and from that day they
were to reckon seven weeks, that is, 49 days, to the feast called the Feast of Pentecost, so
that it occurred 50 days after the first day of the Feast of the Passover. This feast was
also called the Feast of Weeks, from the circumstance that it followed a succession of
weeks, Exo_34:22; Num_28:26; Deu_16:10. It was also a harvest festival, and was
accordingly called the Feast of Harvest; and it was for this reason that two loaves made
of new meal were offered on this occasion as first-fruits, Lev_23:17, Lev_23:20; Num_
28:27-31.
Was fully come - When the day had arrived. The word used here means literally “to
be completed,” and as employed here refers, not to the day itself, but to the completion
of the interval which was to pass before its arrival (Olshausen). See Luk_9:51. Compare
Mar_1:15; Luk_1:57. This fact is mentioned, that the time of the Pentecost had come, or
fully arrived, to account for what is related afterward, that there were so many strangers
and foreigners present. The promised influences of the Spirit were withheld until the
greatest possible number of Jews should be present at Jerusalem at the same time, and
thus an opportunity be afforded of preaching the gospel to vast multitudes in the very
place where the Lord Jesus was crucified, and also an opportunity be afforded of sending
the gospel by them into distant parts of the earth.
They were all - Probably not only the apostles, but also the 120 people mentioned in
Act_1:15.
With one accord - See Act_1:14. It is probable that they had continued together
until this time, and given themselves entirely to the business of devotion.
In one place - Where this was cannot be known. Commentators have been much
divided in their conjectures about it. Some have supposed that it was in the upper room
mentioned in Act_1:13; others that it was a room in the temple; others that it was in a
synagogue; others that it was among the promiscuous multitude that assembled for

2. devotion in the courts of the temple. See Act_2:2. It has been supposed by many that
this took place on the first day of the week; that is, on the Christian Sabbath. But there is
a difficulty in establishing this. There was probably a difference among the Jews
themselves as to the time of observing this festival: The Law said that they should reckon
seven sabbaths; that is seven weeks, “from the morrow after the sabbath,” Lev_23:15. By
this Sabbath the Pharisees understood the second day of the Passover, on whatever day
of the week it occurred, which was kept as a day of holy convocation, and which might be
called a Sabbath. But the Karaite Jews, or those who insisted on a literal interpretation
of the Scriptures, maintained that by the Sabbath here was meant the usual Sabbath, the
seventh day of the week. Consequently, with them, the day of Pentecost always occurred
on the first day of the week; and if the apostles fell in with their views, the day was fully
come on what is now the Christian Sunday. But if the views of the Pharisees were
followed, and the Lord Jesus had with them kept the Passover on Thursday, as many
have supposed, then the day of Pentecost would have occurred on the Jewish Sabbath,
that is, on Saturday (Kuinoel; Lightfoot). It is impossible to determine the truth on this
subject. Nor is it of much importance. According to the later Jews, the day of Pentecost
was kept also as a festival to commemorate the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai; but no
trace of this custom is to be found in the Old Testament.
CLARKE, "When the day of pentecost was fully come - The feast of pentecost
was celebrated fifty days after the passover, and has its name πεντηκοστη from
πεντηκοντα, fifty, which is compounded of πεντε, five, and ηκοντα, the decimal
termination. It commenced on the fiftieth day reckoned from the first day of unleavened
bread, i.e. on the morrow after the paschal lamb was offered. The law relative to this
feast is found in Lev_23:15, Lev_23:16, in these words: And ye shall count unto you
from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-
offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath shall ye number fifty days. This feast was instituted in commemoration of the
giving the law on Mount Sinai; and is therefore sometimes called by the Jews, ‫תורה‬ ‫שמחת‬
shimchath torah, the joy of the law, and frequently the feast of weeks. There is a
correspondence between the giving of the law, which is celebrated by this feast of
pentecost, together with the crucifixion of our Lord, which took place at the passover,
and this descent of the Holy Spirit, which happened at this pentecost.
1. At the passover, the Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage: this was a
type of the thraldom in which the human race were to Satan and sin.
2. At the passover Jesus Christ, who was typified by the paschal lamb, was sacrificed
for the sin of the world, and by this sacrifice redemption from sin and Satan is now
procured and proclaimed.
3. On the pentecost, God gave his law on Mount Sinai, accompanied with
thunderings and lightnings. On the pentecost, God sent down his Holy Spirit, like
a rushing mighty wind; and tongues of fire sat upon each disciple, in order that, by
his influence, that new law of light and life might be promulgated and established.
Thus, the analogy between the Egyptian bondage and the thraldom occasioned by
sin - the deliverance from Egypt, and the redemption from sin - the giving of the
law, with all its emblematic accompaniments, and the sending down the Holy
Spirit, with its symbols of light, life, and power, has been exactly preserved.
4. At the Jewish passover, Christ was degraded, humbled, and ignominiously put to

3. death: at the following festival, the pentecost, he was highly glorified; and the all
conquering and ever during might of his kingdom then commenced. The Holy
Spirit seems to have designed all these analogies, to show that, through all
preceding ages, God had the dispensation of the Gospel continually in view; and
that the old law and its ordinances were only designed as preparatives for the new.
They were all with one accord in one place - It is probable that the All here
mentioned means the one hundred and twenty spoken of Act_1:15, who were all together
at the election of Matthias. With one accord, ᆇµοθυµαδον; this word is very expressive: it
signifies that all their minds, affections, desires, and wishes, were concentred in one
object, every man having the same end in view; and, having but one desire, they had but
one prayer to God, and every heart uttered it. There was no person uninterested - none
unconcerned - none lukewarm; all were in earnest; and the Spirit of God came down to
meet their united faith and prayer. When any assembly of God’s people meet in the same
spirit they may expect every blessing they need.
In one place. - Where this place was we cannot tell: it was probably in the temple, as
seems to be intimated in Act_2:46, where it is said they were daily ᆇµοθυµαδον εν τሩ
ᅷερሩ, with one accord in the temple; and as this was the third hour of the day, Act_2:15,
which was the Jewish hour of morning prayer, as the ninth hour was the hour of evening
prayer, Act_3:1, it is most probable that the temple was the place in which they were
assembled.
GILL Verse 1. R. Sol Jarchi {p} calls this day, Myvymx Mwy, "the fiftieth day": on this
day, the Jews say {q}, the law was given; and observe {r}, that "from the day that Israel
went out of Egypt, unto the day that the law was given, were fifty days." And on this day,
and which was the first day of the week, the Spirit was poured forth upon the disciples;
the Gospel began to be preached to all nations, and a harvest of souls was gathered in:
they were all with one accord in one place; in two ancient copies of Beza's, and in some
others it is read, "all the apostles"; Matthias, and the eleven, with whom he was
numbered, who are last spoken of, in Acts 1:26. Though this need not be restrained to the
twelve apostles, but may be understood of the hundred and twenty, on whom, as well as
on the apostles, the Holy Ghost might be poured forth, that so they might speak with
tongues; since among these were many ministers of the Gospel, as the seventy disciples,
and it may be more; and that his extraordinary gifts should be bestowed on others, is but
what was afterwards done; see Acts 8:17 and though there were so many of them
together, they were very unanimous and peaceable; there were no jars nor contentions
among them; they were of the same mind and judgment in faith and practice, and of one
heart and soul, and had a cordial affection for one another; and were all in one place,
which seems to be the temple; see Acts 2:46. And indeed, no other place or house could
hold so many as came to hear them, of which number three thousand were converted.
Unknown, "V. 1 - Pentecost - Normally occurred 50 days after Passover. See Exodus
23:16; 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31; Deuteronomy 16:9-12.

4. they - The nearest grammatical antecedent is "apostles" in 1:26. This does not prove
"they" to have been the apostles. The remainder of the chapter treats the apostles,
however, and not any others who were with them. The ministry of Jesus to the apostles,
the events in chapter one, the subsequent events in Acts which show the unique place the
apostles held in the church: all combine to argue for the apostles and against any others.
Those who hold that the "120" are the group which received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 do
so without any basis in fact, rather upon poor exegesis and wishful thinking. Such a
position makes it possible for everyone to be "baptized" in the Holy Spirit as the apostles
were, a strictly non-scriptural point of view.
HENRY, "We have here an account of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the
disciples of Christ. Observe,
I. When, and where, this was done, which are particularly noted, for the greater
certainty of the thing.
1. It was when the day of pentecost was fully come, in which there seems to be a
reference to the manner of the expression in the institution of this feast, where it is said
(Lev_23:15), You shall count unto you seven sabbaths complete, from the day of the
offering of the first-fruits, which was the next day but one after the passover, the
sixteenth day of the month Abib, which was the day that Christ arose. This day was fully
come, that is, the night preceding, with a part of the day, was fully past. (1.) The Holy
Ghost came down at the time of a solemn feast, because there was then a great concourse
of people to Jerusalem from all parts of the country, and the proselytes from other
countries, which would make it the more public, and the fame of it to be spread the
sooner and further, which would contribute much to the propagating of the gospel into
all nations. Thus now, as before at the passover, the Jewish feasts served to toll the bell
for gospel services and entertainments. (2.) This feast of pentecost was kept in
remembrance of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, whence the incorporating of the
Jewish church was to be dated, which Dr. Lightfoot reckons to be just one thousand four
hundred and forty-seven years before this. Fitly, therefore, is the Holy Ghost given at
that feast, in fire and in tongues, for the promulgation of the evangelical law, not as that
to one nation, but to every creature. (3.) This feast of pentecost happened on the first
day of the week, which was an additional honour put on that day, and a confirmation of
it to be the Christian sabbath, the day which the Lord hath made, to be a standing
memorial in his church of those two great blessings - the resurrection of Christ, and the
pouring out of the Spirit, both on that day of the week. This serves not only to justify us
in observing that day under the style and title of the Lord's day, but to direct us in the
sanctifying of it to give God praise particularly for those two great blessings; every Lord's
day in the year, I think, there should be a full and particular notice taken in our prayers
and praises of these two, as there is by some churches of the one once a year, upon
Easter-day, and of the other once a year, upon Whit-sunday. Oh! that we may do it with
suitable affections!
2. It was when they were all with one accord in one place. What place it was we are
not told particularly, whether in the temple, where they attended at public times (Luk_
24:53), or whether in their own upper room, where they met at other times. But it was at
Jerusalem, because this had been the place which God chose, to put his name there, and
the prophecy was that thence the word of the Lord should go forth to all nations, Isa_
2:3. It was now the place of the general rendezvous of all devout people: here God had
promised to meet them and bless them; here therefore he meets them with this blessing
of blessings. Though Jerusalem had done the utmost dishonour imaginable to Christ, yet

5. he did this honour to Jerusalem, to teach his remnant in all places; he had this in
Jerusalem. Here the disciples were in one place, and they were not as yet so many but
that one place, and no large one, would hold them all. And here they were with one
accord. We cannot forget how often, while their Master was with them, there were
strifes among them, who should be the greatest; but now all these strifes were at an end,
we hear no more of them. What they had received already of the Holy Ghost, when
Christ breathed on them, had in a good measure rectified the mistakes upon which those
contests were grounded, and had disposed them to holy love. They had prayed more
together of late than usual (Act_1:14), and this made them love one another better. By
his grace he thus prepared them for the gift of the Holy Ghost; for that blessed dove
comes not where there is noise and clamour, but moves upon the face of the still waters,
not the rugged ones. Would we have the Spirit poured out upon us from on high? Let us
be all of one accord, and, notwithstanding variety of sentiments and interests, as no
doubt there was among those disciples, let us agree to love one another; for, where
brethren dwell together in unity, there it is that the Lord commands his blessing.
II. How, and in what manner, the Holy Ghost came upon them. We often read in the old
Testament of God's coming down in a cloud; as when he took possession first of the
tabernacle, and afterwards of the temple, which intimates the darkness of that
dispensation. And Christ went up to heaven in a cloud, to intimate how much we are
kept in the dark concerning the upper world. But the Holy Ghost did not descend in a
cloud; for he was to dispel and scatter the clouds that overspread men's minds, and to
bring light into the world.
CALVI 1 TO 4
I will not refute that high and subtle interpretation of Augustine, that like as
the law was given to the old people fifty days after Easter, being written in
tables of stone by the hand of God, so the Spirit, whose office it is to write the
same in our hearts, did fulfill that which was figured in the giving of the law
as many days after the resurrection of Christ, who is the true Passover.
Notwithstanding, whereas he urgeth this his subtle interpretation as necessary,
in his book of Questions upon Exodus, and in his Second Epistle unto
Januarius, I would wish him to be more sober and modest therein.
Notwithstanding, let him keep his own interpretation to himself. In the mean
season, I will embrace that which is more sound.
. It is a common thing for the Spirit to be signified by wind, (or a blast,) (John
20:22.) For both Christ himself, when he was about to give the Spirit to his
apostles, did breathe upon them; and in Ezekiel's vision there was a whirlwind
and wind, (Ezekiel 1:4.) Yea, the word Spirit itself is a translated word; for,
because that hypostasis, or person of the Divine essence, which is called the
Spirit, is of itself incomprehensible, the Scripture doth borrow the word of the
wind or blast, because it is the power of God which God doth pour into all
creatures as it were by breathing. The shape of tongues is restrained unto the
present circumstance. For as the figure and shape of a dove which came down
upon Christ, (John 1:32,) had a signification agreeable to the office and nature
of Christ, so God did now make choice of a sign which might be agreeable to
the thing signified, namely, that it might show such effect and working of the
Holy Ghost in the apostles as followed afterward.

6. WITNESS LEE
Acts 2:1 says, “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were
all together in the same place.” The word “Pentecost” means fiftieth. It was
the fiftieth day from the Lord’s resurrection, seven weeks in between,
counting from the second day (the first day of the week—Luke 23:54—24:1)
after the Passover on which the Lord was crucified (John 19:14). It was the
fulfillment of the feast of Weeks (Deut. 16:10), which was also called the feast
of Harvest (Exo. 23:16), counting from the day of offering a sheaf of the
firstfruits of the harvest unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath (Lev.
23:10-11, 15-16). The offering of a sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of the
resurrected Christ offered to God on the day of His resurrection (John 20:17),
which was the day after the Sabbath (John 20:1). From that day to the day of
Pentecost was exactly fifty days.
The feast of Harvest typifies the enjoyment of the rich produce brought in by
the resurrected Christ. This rich produce is the all-inclusive Spirit of the
processed Triune God given by Him to His chosen people as the blessing of
the gospel (Gal. 3:14) so that they may enjoy the all-inclusive Christ (the very
embodiment of the Triune God) as their good land. This signifies that the
believers, through receiving the bountiful Spirit on the day of Pentecost, not
only have entered into the good land, but also have participated in the
bountiful riches of the all-inclusive Christ (Eph. 3:8) in His resurrection and
ascension as God’s full allotment in His New Testament economy.
We have seen that Pentecost was the fiftieth day from the Lord’s resurrection.
The Lord’s resurrection was three days after His death. However, these were
not three full days as we count days. Regarding these three days, a small part
of a day was counted as a whole day. This means that the first of the three
days, a Friday, was the day on which the Lord Jesus was crucified. The Lord
was on the cross from nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the
afternoon. Then, in the evening, He was taken down from the cross and
buried. According to the Jewish way of reckoning days, the remaining part of
that day was counted as a whole day. Hence, the three days were counted from
the last part of the first day. Furthermore, according to the Jewish way of
counting days, a day began not in the morning but in the evening. For
example, Genesis 1:5 says, “And the evening and the morning were the first
day.”
If we count part of a day as a whole day, then from the Friday evening when
the Lord Jesus was buried to the morning of His resurrection would be three
days. The last part of Friday is one day; the whole of Saturday is the second
day; and part of what is today called Sunday is the third day. However, the
actual time the Lord was in the tomb may be less than forty hours. In the early
part of the third day, perhaps less than forty hours after He died, the Lord

7. Jesus was resurrected.
The day of the Lord’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day, was the first day after the
Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath, of course, was on Saturday. The Lord was
resurrected on the first day of the week, which was the day after the Sabbath.
If we count from the second day after the Passover on which the Lord was
crucified, Pentecost was the fiftieth day from His resurrection. Therefore,
there were seven weeks in between the Lord’s resurrection and Pentecost,
which also was on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week.
COKE, "Acts 2:1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,— It has
often been observed, that as our Lord was crucified at one of the great Jewish
feasts, it was fit that he should be glorified at another; and this of Pentecost
was chosen, with peculiar propriety, as next succeeding that of the passover at
which Christ suffered; and also as it was celebrated in commemoration of the
giving the law from mount Sinai on that day, (Exodus 19:1-11.) and as the
first-fruits were then offered and anointed, (Exodus 23:16. Leviticus 23:17.)
To these answered the fuller discovery of the gospel on this occasion, and the
anointing the first-fruits of the Christian church by the effusion of the Spirit.
The solemnity of the feast, the general expectation of the Messiah, and the
length of the days, as it was about the middle of summer, would no doubt
bring great numbers to Jerusalem at that time; who, when they returned home,
and reported this great event, would naturally make way for the better
reception of the apostles, when they came among them. The Jews used to
begin their days, as we have often observed, about six o'clock in the evening,
and reckoned till that time the next evening, according to Genesis 1:5. By
saying therefore that the day of Pentecost was fully come, St. Luke meant that
the night was past, and the light of the next morning begun. This was the first
day of the week, or the Lord's day, as it is called Revelation 1:10. On the first
day of the week our Lord arose from the dead. On that day of the week he
appeared to his apostles when they were assembled, for two weeks
successively; and, on the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit was first poured
out upon the apostles and their company. On that day of the week the apostles
and primitive Christians used toassemble for religious worship; and, from the
custom and example of those who must needs have known the mind and will
of Christ, the Christian church still continues to assemble on that day for
religious worship. St. Luke says, they were all with one accord in one place. It
is said, ch. Acts 1:14-15 of all the hundred and twenty, all these met with one
accord, to choose an apostle, &c. The history is continued, as would appear
more plainly if we had not divided it into chapters and verses;—and of the
same company it is here said again, they were all met together with one accord
in the same place, (for so it should be rendered,) when the Holy Spirit was
poured down upon them. It is probable all these hundred and twenty were
along with the apostles, when the Holy Spirit was poured down a second time,
ch. Acts 4:23-31 and it is evident from ch. Acts 6:3 that several beside the
apostles were full of the Holy Spirit, (which is the very phrase in the text, Acts
2:4.) when the Spirit was now poured out;—a phrase, which, in other places,

8. signifies that the Spirit was conferred in the most honourable manner, as well
as ina greater degree; that is, that it was given immediately from heaven, and
not by the laying on of the hands of the apostles. Again, Why might not the
Holy Spirit fall down upon all the hundred and twenty, as well as upon
Cornelius and his company? ch. Acts 10:44-46. What seems much to confirm
this account of the presence of the hundred and twenty, is St. Peter's speech,
Acts 2:16 where he asserts, that, by that effusion of the Holy Spirit, the
prophesy of Joel was accomplished in which it was foretold, that the Spirit
should be poured out upon women as well as upon men, &c. For one cannot
conceive how that prophesy could be already fulfilled, unless the Spirit was
shed upon all the hundred and twenty; among whom it is expressly said, ch.
Acts 1:14 there was Mary the mother of Jesus, and some other women, who
were Christ's disciples. It may perhaps be objected to this interpretation, that
the apostles had the highest and the most of the spiritual gifts, and are taken
notice of as the only persons who preached to the multitude which then came
together. Now it is allowed, that the apostles had the most, and the best of the
gifts of the Spirit; but, notwithstanding, the other disciples might have some
inferior gifts, and those granted at the same time, in what measure and
proportion God saw fit; for there were diversities of gifts and operations,
though they all proceeded from one and the same Spirit; and the Spirit could
easily distinguish between the apostles and others, though they were all in the
same room and company.
CONSTABLE, "The day of Pentecost was an annual spring feast at which the
Jews presented the first-fruits of their wheat harvest to God (Exodus 34:22 a).
The Jews also called Pentecost the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Weeks in
earlier times. They celebrated it at the end of seven weeks (i.e., a week of
weeks) following the Feast of Passover. God received a new crop of believers,
Christians, on this particular day of Pentecost. The Jews also celebrated
Pentecost as the anniversary of the giving of the Mosaic Law (cf. Exodus
19:1). Paul regarded the Spirit's indwelling presence as God's replacement for
the external guidance that the Mosaic Law had provided believers under that
old covenant (Galatians 3:3; Galatians 3:23-29).
"Pentecost" is a Greek word, transliterated into English, that means fiftieth.
This feast fell on the fiftieth day after Passover. It was one of the feasts at
which all the male Jews had to be present at the central sanctuary (Exodus
34:22-23). Jews who lived up to 20 miles from Jerusalem were expected to
travel to Jerusalem to attend these feasts. Pentecost usually fell in late May or
early June. Travelling conditions then made it possible for Jews who lived
farther away to visit Jerusalem too. These factors account for the large number
of Jews present in Jerusalem on this particular day.

9. ". . . by paralleling Jesus' baptism with the experience of Jesus' early followers
at Pentecost, Luke is showing that the mission of the Christian church, as was
the ministry of Jesus, is dependent upon the coming of the Holy Spirit. And by
his stress on Pentecost as the day when the miracle took place, he is also
suggesting (1) that the Spirit's coming is in continuity with God's purposes in
giving the law and yet (2) that the Spirit's coming signals the essential
difference between the Jewish faith and commitment to Jesus, for whereas the
former is Torah centered and Torah directed, the latter is Christ centered and
Spirit directed-all of which sounds very much like Paul." [Note: Longenecker,
p. 269.]
The antecedent of "they" is apparently the believers Luke mentioned in Acts
1:15. It is not possible to identify the place (lit. the house, Gr. ton oikon)
where they assembled certainly. Perhaps it was the upper room already
mentioned (Acts 1:13) or another house. Clearly the disciples were indoors
(Acts 2:2).
Verses 1-4
The descent of the Spirit 2:1-4
Luke introduced the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry with His baptism
with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). He paralleled this with the beginning of Jesus'
heavenly ministry with the Spirit baptism of His disciples (Acts 2:1-4). The
same Spirit who indwelt and empowered Jesus during His earthly ministry
would now indwell and empower His believing disciples. John the Baptist had
predicted this Pentecost baptism with the Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16) as
had Jesus (Acts 1:8). Jesus did the baptizing, and the Spirit came upon the
disciples.
Verses 1-41
5. The birth of the church 2:1-41
The Holy Spirit's descent on the day of Pentecost inaugurated a new
dispensation in God's administration of the human race. [Note: For more
information about the dispensations, see Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism
Today, or idem, Dispensationalism.] Luke featured the record of the events of
this day to explain the changes in God's dealings with humankind that
followed in the early church and to the present day. This was the birthday of

10. the church. Many non-dispensationalists, as well as most dispensationalists
(except ultradispensationalists), view the coming of the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost as the beginning of the church. [Note: E.g., James D. G. Dunn,
Baptism in the Holy Spirit, p. 49; Eduard Schweizer, Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament, s.v., "pneuma ...," 6:411; Emil Brunner, The
Misunderstanding of the Church, p. 161; Neil, p. 71; Longenecker, p. 271; and
Morgan, p. 22). For a summary of the views of ultradispensationalists, see
Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, ch. 10; or idem, Dispensationalism, ch. 11.]
"This event is a fulcrum account in Luke-Acts." [Note: Bock, Acts, p. 92.]
"The plot of a work can often be illuminated by considering the major conflict
or conflicts within it. Although Jesus' witnesses face other conflicts, the
central conflict of the plot, repeatedly emphasized and still present in the last
major scene of Acts, is a conflict within Judaism provoked by Jewish
Christian preachers (including Paul). Acts 2:1 to Acts 8:3 traces the
development of this conflict in Jerusalem." [Note: Tannehill, 2:34.]
BARCLAY, "THE DAY OF PENTECOST (Acts 2:1-13)
We may never know precisely what happened on the Day of Pentecost but we
do know that it was one of the supremely great days of the Christian Church.
for on that day the Holy Spirit came to the Christian Church in a very special
way.
Acts has been called the Gospel of the Holy Spirit; so before we turn to
detailed consideration of its second chapter let us take a general view of what
Acts has to say about the Holy Spirit.
The Coming Of The Spirit
It is perhaps unfortunate that we so often speak of the events at Pentecost as
the coming of the Holy Spirit. The danger is that we may think that the Holy
Spirit came into existence at that time. That is not so; God is eternally Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. In fact Acts makes that quite clear. The Holy Spirit was
speaking in David (Acts 1:16); the Spirit spoke through Isaiah (Acts 28:25);
Stephen accuses the Jews of having, all through their history, opposed the
Spirit (Acts 7:51). In that sense the Spirit is God in every age revealing his
truth to men. At the same time something special happened at Pentecost.
The Work Of The Spirit In Acts

11. From that moment the Holy Spirit became the dominant reality in the life of
the early Church.
For one thing, the Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance. The Spirit moves
Philip to make contact with the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:29); prepares Peter
for the coming of the emissaries of Cornelius (Acts 10:19); orders Peter to go
without hesitation with these emissaries (Acts 11:12); enables Agabus to
foretell the coming famine (Acts 11:28); orders the setting apart of Paul and
Barnabas for the momentous step of taking the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts
13:2; Acts 13:4); guides the decisions of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts
15:28); guides Paul past Asia, Mysia and Bithynia, down into Troas and
thence to Europe (Acts 16:6); tells Paul what awaits him in Jerusalem (Acts
20:23). The early Church was a Spirit-guided community.
For another thing, all the leaders of the Church were men of the Spirit. The
Seven are men of the Spirit (Acts 6:3); Stephen and Barnabas are full of the
Spirit (Acts 7:55; Acts 11:24). Paul tells the elders at Ephesus that it was the
Spirit who made them overseers over the Church of God (Acts 20:28).
For still another thing. the Spirit was the source of day-to-day courage and
power. The disciples are to receive power when the Spirit comes (Acts 1:8);
Peter's courage and eloquence before the Sanhedrin are the result of the
activity of the Spirit (Acts 4:31); Paul's conquest of Elymas is the work of the
Spirit (Acts 13:9). The Christian courage to meet the dangerous situation, the
Christian power to cope with life more than adequately, the Christian
eloquence when eloquence is needed, the Christian joy which is independent
of circumstances are all ascribed to the work of the Spirit.
For a last thing, Acts 5:32 speaks of the Spirit "whom God has given to those
who obey him." This has in it the great truth that the measure of the Spirit
which a man can possess is conditioned by the kind of man he is. It means that
the man who is honestly trying to do the will of God will experience more and
more of the wonder of the Spirit.
In Acts 1:1-26; Acts 2:1-47; Acts 3:1-26; Acts 4:1-37; Acts 5:1-42; Acts 6:1-
15; Acts 7:1-60; Acts 8:1-40; Acts 9:1-43; Acts 10:1-48; Acts 11:1-30; Acts
12:1-25; Acts 13:1-52 there are more than forty references to the Holy Spirit;
the early Church was a Spirit-filled Church and that was the source of its
power
THE BREATH OF GOD (Acts 2:1-13 continued)
2:1-13 So when the day of Pentecost came round, they were all together in one
place; and all of a sudden there came from heaven a sound like that of a
violent, rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
And tongues, like tongues of fire, appeared to them, which distributed
themselves among them and settled on each one of them. And they were all

12. filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit gave them the power of utterance.
There were staying in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from all the races under
heaven. When the news of this got abroad the crowd assembled and came
pouring together; for each one of them heard them speaking in his own
language. They were all astonished and kept saying in amazement, "Look
now! Are all these men who are speaking not Galilaeans? And how is it that
each one of us hears them speaking in our own language in which we were
born? Parthians and Medes. Elamites, those who stay in Mesopotamia, in
Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus. in Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia. in
Egypt and the parts of Libya round about Cyrene, Romans, who are staving
here, Jews and proselytes. people from Crete and Arabia--we hear these men
telling the wonders of God in our own tongues." They were all astonished and
did not know what to make of it, and they kept on saying to each other, "What
can this mean?" But others kept on saying in mockery, "They are filled with
new wine."
There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within
twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come--the Passover, Pentecost
and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost means "The Fiftieth," and another
name for Pentecost was "The Feast of Weeks." It was so called because it fell
on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. The Passover fell in
the middle of April; therefore Pentecost fell at the beginning of June. By that
time travelling conditions were at their best. At least as many came to the
Feast of Pentecost as came to the Passover. That explains the roll of countries
mentioned in this chapter; never was there a more international crowd in
Jerusalem than at the time of Pentecost.
The Feast itself had two main significances. (i) It had an historical
significance. It commemorated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount
Sinai. (ii) It had an agricultural significance. At the Passover the crop's first
omer of barley was offered to God; and at Pentecost two loaves were offered
in gratitude for the ingathered harvest. It had one other unique characteristic.
The law laid it down that on that day no servile work should be done
(Leviticus 23:21; Numbers 28:26). So it was a holiday for all and the crowds
on the streets would be greater than ever.
What happened at Pentecost we really do not know except that the disciples
had an experience of the power of the Spirit flooding their beings such as they
never had before. We must remember that for this part of Acts Luke was not
an eye-witness. He tells the story as if the disciples suddenly acquired the gift
of speaking in foreign languages. For two reasons that is not likely.
(i) There was in the early Church a phenomenon which has never completely
passed away. It was called speaking with tongues (compare Acts 10:46; Acts
19:6). The main passage which describes it is 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 . What

13. happened was that someone, in an ecstasy, began to pour out a flood of
unintelligible sounds in no known language. That was supposed to be directly
inspired by the Spirit of God and was a gift greatly coveted. Paul did not
greatly approve of it because he greatly preferred that a message should be
given in a language that could be understood. He in fact said that if a stranger
came in he might well think he had arrived in a congregation of madmen (1
Corinthians 14:23). That precisely fits Acts 2:13. Men speaking in tongues
might well appear to be drunk to someone who did not know the phenomenon.
(ii) To speak in foreign languages was unnecessary. The crowd was made up
of Jews (Acts 2:5) and proselytes (Acts 2:10). Proselytes were Gentiles who
had accepted the Jewish religion and the Jewish way of life. For a crowd like
that at most two languages were necessary. Almost all Jews spoke Aramaic;
and, even if they were Jews of the Dispersion from a foreign land, they would
speak that language which almost everyone in the world spoke at that time--
Greek.
It seems most likely that Luke, a Gentile, had confused speaking with tongues
with speaking with foreign tongues. What happened was that for the first time
in their lives this motley mob was hearing the word of God in a way that
struck straight home to their hearts and that they could understand. The power
of the Spirit was such that it had given these simple disciples a message that
could reach every heart.
COFFMAN, "This fantastic chapter records the establishment of the church of
Jesus Christ upon this earth, the same being the long promised kingdom of
God, and the fulfillment of a vast body of Old Testament prophecy. Every line
here recorded by Luke reveals truth of the most extensive dimensions. This is
not merely the best account of the beginning of this current dispensation of the
grace of God, it is the only account, the keystone that ties together the Old
Testament and the New Testament; and, regarding such question as how the
church began, and of how one becomes a member of it, and of the first
emergence of God's new creation in Christ, this chapter provides a record of
what is KNOWN, as contrasted with what is merely GUESSED about these
vital considerations.
Significantly, this account is brief, so condensed that almost every line of it
touches but does not elaborate things which tantalize human curiosity, and
concerning which things men will always DESIRE to know more than is
revealed. However, concerning things which are within the perimeter of what
men NEED to know, this chapter blazes with eternal light.
And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one
place. (Acts 2:1)

14. PENTECOST
Pentecost ... This was one of the three principal feasts of the Jews (2
Chronicles 8:12,13), the others being Passover and Tabernacles. This feast
was known by several names: "Firstfruits," "Harvest Festival," "Feast of
Weeks" (Leviticus 23:15f), and "Pentecost," as here. The last two of these
names derived from the time it was held, which was fifty days after the first
ordinary sabbath after the beginning of Passover, "Pentecost" meaning
"fiftieth." Also, since fifty days were exactly seven weeks, counting the first
and last Sundays inclusively, this led to the name "Feast of Weeks." The
historical church devised another name which came about thus: "The habit of
dressing in white and seeking baptism on Pentecost gave it the name
`Whitsunday,' by which it is popularly known all over the world."[1]
The Passover week, from which Pentecost was reckoned, usually had two
sabbaths: (1) the first full day of the feast, called a "high" sabbath (John
19:31), and (2) the ordinary sabbath, the seventh day of the ordinary week.
The first of these came on various days of the week, like any day occurring on
a fixed day of the month; the second was always a Saturday. The year our
Lord suffered (A.D. 30), the high sabbath fell on Friday, both our Lord and the
robbers being crucified on Thursday the preceding day; and, to prevent the
bodies remaining upon the cross on that high sabbath, the Pharisees requested
Pilate to break their legs. Thus there were back-to-back sabbaths during the
Passover at which Jesus died, as attested by the Greek text of Matthew 28:1.
It will be seen at once that reckoning Pentecost from Friday would give a
Saturday for Pentecost (as sabbatarians have insisted); whereas, reckoning
from the ordinary sabbath would give a Sunday. The Sadducees and Karaite
Jews counted from the sabbath ordinary; the Pharisees counted from the high
sabbath. Thus, depending upon which method of calculating was used,
Pentecost fell upon either a Saturday or a Sunday; but there is no way that the
Christians could have been persuaded to accept the Pharisees' method of
counting it, neither the judgment of the Pharisees or Sadducees having any
weight at all with the followers of Christ. The Karaite Jews, however,
accepted the Scriptures literally, insisting that Pentecost be reckoned from the
sabbath ordinary of Passover week; and it is certain that Jesus' followers
would have done the same thing. As Barnes declared:
The Caraite (the alternate spelling of Karaite) Jews, or those who insisted on a
literal interpretation of the Scriptures, maintaining that by "the sabbath" here
was meant the usual sabbath, the seventh day of the week.[2]
Thus it is immaterial whether the Pharisees' or the Sadducees' position on this
question prevailed in that year 30 A.D.; and all arguments based upon the date
of the Jews' observance of Pentecost that year are irrelevant. The Christians
would have allowed the literal, scriptural method, as did the Karaites, counting
from the ordinary sabbath, and thus assuring that Pentecost would have been

15. marked by them as falling upon the fiftieth day following the ordinary sabbath.
That, of course, was a Sunday.
The verse before us carries a strong inference that the Pentecost observed by
the followers of Jesus that year did not coincide with the Jewish observance.
Was fully come ... This is the rendition in the KJV, and there are no valid
reasons for changing this in the English Revised Version. The words "fully
come" are translated from a word of uncertain meaning; and the incomparable
Lightfoot believed that Luke used that word here "to signify that the Christian
Pentecost did not coincide with the Jewish, just as Christ's last meal with the
disciples was considered not to have coincided with the Jewish Passover."[3]
In many areas, Christian tradition may not be considered as conclusive; but in
this matter of what day of the week was Pentecost, the unbroken,
unchallenged tradition of more than nineteen centuries, plus the fact that the
first day of the week is stressed throughout the New Testament as the fixed
day of Christian assemblies, makes it certain that Pentecost fell on a Sunday.
Why would the church have clung to their assemblies upon the first day of the
week, if indeed the very beginning of the church had been upon a Saturday?
We agree with Bruce who said: "Christian tradition is therefore right in fixing
the anniversary of the descent of the Spirit upon a Sunday."[4]
It should also be noted that the complicated nature of the question in view here
is a key factor in the popular and erroneous opinion that Christ was crucified
on Friday. Note this:
According to Matthew, and Mark and Luke, the passover that year fell on
Thursday the 14th of Nisan, hence, Pentecost fell on Saturday.[5]
In view of the above, many calculators made the crucifixion to be on Friday
with a view to fixing Pentecost on Sunday; but the exegesis here demonstrates
that it is not necessary at all to do this. It is true, of course, that the Passover
fell on Thursday (after sundown), after Jesus was crucified; and the next day
(Friday) was a high sabbath from which the Pharisees would have calculated
Pentecost, making it fall on a Saturday. But in their departures from the word
of the Lord, the Pharisees were wrong in this, as they were wrong in so many
other things. It is very significant, however, that it was the Sadducees, not the
Pharisees, who were in charge of the Jewish religious affairs during that
crucial time; and they reckoned Pentecost from Sunday after the sabbath
ordinary. As Bruce explained:
This was the reckoning of the Sadducean party in the first century A.D. In the
phrase "the morrow after the sabbath" (Leviticus 23:15), they interpreted the
sabbath as the weekly sabbath. While the temple stood, their interpretation
would be normative for the public celebration of the festival.[6]
Some scholars deny this, insisting that the Pharisees' calculations were

16. followed; but take it either way: (1) If the count was from the high sabbath (as
by the Pharisees), then the Christian Pentecost came a day later (as might be
indicated by the words "fully come"); and (2) if the count was from the
sabbath ordinary, as alleged by Bruce to have been the method then in vogue,
then the Christian Pentecost coincided with it, having been most certainly
celebrated on Sunday the first day of the week, no matter what the Jews did.
To this student, it seems strongly indicated that Bruce is correct and that the
Jewish and Christian Pentecosts coincided, the immense throngs of people
mentioned in this chapter apparently proving this.
They were all together ... Who were the "they"? Scholars disagree radically
about this; but the conviction here is that the reference is to the Twelve. They
were the only ones to whom Jesus had promised such an outpouring of the
Spirit. Furthermore, Peter's words (Acts 2:32) that "we are all witnesses" of
Christ's resurrection can refer only to the Twelve, because only two disciples
were found among the whole one hundred and twenty who were eligible to
join them as "witnesses." What the word "all" surely means in Acts 2:32 must
therefore be the meaning here. "We ... all," as used by Peter, identifies the
"they ... all," as used here by Luke.
Also, "numbered with the eleven apostles," as it stands at the end of Acts 1,
requires "eleven apostles" to be understood as the antecedent of "they" in Acts
2:1. DeWelt said:
The fact that the antecedent of any pronoun is found by referring back to the
nearest noun (or pronoun) with which it agrees in number etc., clinches the
argument of the baptism of only the apostle's in the Holy Spirit.[7]
Russell also restricted the meaning of "they ... they ... all" in this verse to "the
apostles."[8] McGarvey wrote:
The persons thus assembled together and filled with the Holy Spirit were not,
as many have supposed, the one hundred and twenty disciples mentioned in a
parenthesis in the preceding chapter, but the twelve apostles. This is made
certain by the grammatical connection between the first verse of this chapter
and the last of the preceding.[9]
Another consideration is that the apostles had undergone a long preparation
for the events of Pentecost, and there is no indication that the entire one
hundred and twenty were thus prepared. The implications against
understanding "they" in this verse as inclusive of the one hundred and twenty
are too formidable to be set aside.
In one place ... Where was this? Some have supposed it was the upper room,
and others have been sure that some area of the Jewish temple, such as
Solomon's Porch, was the place of these events; and still others have
understood the action to have taken place in both, beginning in the upper room
and moving to the larger area in the temple with the progression of events. It

17. appears most likely that some large area of the temple compound was the
place, due to the large numbers of people involved. All that is certain is that it
was in Jerusalem.
In later Jerusalem, Pentecost was celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of
the Law at Sinai (based upon a deduction from Exodus 19:1); and the
occasions do have the great factors in common, of the Law having been
promulgated at Sinai, and the proclamation of the gospel having begun at
Pentecost in Jerusalem. The typical nature of the first event is further seen in
the death of three thousand souls through disobedience the day the Law came,
and in the contrast of three thousand souls having been saved through
obedience at Pentecost. John Wesley has the following comment:
At the Pentecost of Sinai in the Old Testament, and the Pentecost of Jerusalem
in the New Testament, were the two grand manifestations of God, the legal
and the evangelical; the one from the mountain and the other from heaven; the
terrible one and the merciful one.[10]
The very weightiest reasons appear for God's choice of this day for the
beginning of the church: (1) As Jesus was crucified at a great Jewish festival,
it was appropriate that he should have been glorified at another; (2) Pentecost
was the next after the Passover; (3) it was the anniversary of the giving of the
Law; (4) the firstfruits were offered on Pentecost, and it was proper that the
firstfruits of the gospel should come unto God on that occasion; (5) millions of
people were in Jerusalem for that occasion; and (6) most importantly of all,
perhaps, by its falling upon the first day of the week, it coincided in that
particular with the resurrection of Christ, and was thus of major importance in
certifying Sunday as the day of the Christian assemblies.
[1]; ISBE, p. 2319.
[2] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Baker Book House, 1953), Acts,. p. 26.
[3]; ISBE, p. 2318.
[4] F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B.
Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 53.
[5]; ISBE, p. 2318.
[6] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 53.
[7] Don DeWelt, Acts Made Actual (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1958), p.
35.
[8] John William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 286.

18. [9] J. W. McGarvey, Acts of Apostles (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing
Company, 1892), p. 21.
[10] John Wesley, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Baker Book House, n.d.), in loco.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 1-4, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come.
The day of Pentecost
I. In the occurrences of the day of Pentecost we discover evidence of a special Divine
influence. This idea is too prevalent, that the agency of the Supreme is only of a general
character—that the repentance and salvation of sinners are brought about,
independently of any direct agency on the part of God. They spake with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance. Most convincing evidence of a special Divine influence is
found also in the effects produced upon the day of Pentecost.
II. The occurrences of the day of Pentecost confirmed the Divine mission of Jesus and
the truth of Christianity. Whilst on earth the Lord Jesus gave abundant evidence that He
was from God. Jesus encouraged His disciples to expect that they would be endued with
special power from on high.
III. The occurrences of the day of Pentecost exhibit the folly of opposition to the
Kingdom of Christ. The day of Pentecost assures us that Jehovah regards the kingdom of
His Son with supreme affection, and that all His perfections are engaged for its defence
and enlargement.
IV. The occurrences of the day of Pentecost exhibit the grand means of advancing the
cause of Christ and saving sinners.
V. The occurrences of the day of Pentecost exhibit the Christian minister’s grand source
of encouragement.
VI. The occurrences of that day exhibit the reality and importance of revivals of religion.
By a revival of religion we understand an uncommon and general interest in the subject
of salvation, produced by the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of Divine truth.
Such, substantially, was the revival on the day of Pentecost. Do you say that the
excitement, denominated a revival of religion, occurs in connection with the special
efforts of Christians? We answer, that the excitement on the day of Pentecost occurred in
a similar connection. Do you say that the Divine influence to which we allude, as to the
mode of its operation, is enveloped in the darkness of mystery? So it was on the day of
Pentecost. Do you say there is enthusiasm connected with the excitement denominated a
revival of religion? Fanaticism there may have been. But does such a fact prove the entire
absence of genuine religion? Does it prove that no revival is a sober, rational work? Do
you say that in a time of general excitement there will be instances of gross imposition
on the Church? So it was in the Pentecost revival, when, in awful warning to hypocrites,
Ananias and Sapphira fell down dead. Do you say that the excitement denominated a
revival of religion, is often succeeded by instances of apostacy? We answer, that
apostacies have likewise occurred under other circumstances. The occurrences of the day
of Pentecost exhibit, likewise, the importance of revivals of religion. In a single day it
gave to the Christian Church a weight of influence more than a hundredfold greater than
it had previously possessed. It is important to individual happiness and to the

19. community at large. (Baxter Dickinson.)
Pentecost—the first-fruits
But why was the gift of the Spirit delayed until the day of Pentecost was fully come? No
man must irreverently pry into the purposes of Deity.
I. Pentecost was the feast of first-fruits; therefore symbolical of the first-fruits of the
Christian Church (Lev_23:15; Lev_23:17; Deu_16:9). The first sheaf of the Christian
harvest, the first fruit of the Christian reaping was there ingathered.
II. Pentecost was associated in the Jewish worship with the giving of the law from Sinai.
Fifty days after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites received the law from Sinai. To this
day the gift of the law is kept in view in the Jewish observance of Pentecost.
1. Conviction of sin is the prominent idea of the apostolic Pentecost. Peter’s sermon
resulted in the cry, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Conviction of sin is the prelude to a
reformed life. In our Christian families and amongst our young people, trained from
infancy in Christian virtue, we need not always look for the intense conviction of sin
which is apparent on this first day of the Christian Pentecost. No! God’s ways are
often gentle.
2. The first gift of the Paraclete on the day of Pentecost—the day which, in Jewish
thought, was specially consecrated to the giving of the law from Sinai—was specially
fitted to the mission of Him “who will convict the world in respect of sin.”
III. The first-fruits on the day of Pentecost are typical of the ingathering of all nations to
Christ. More foreign Jews attended the Pentecost than any other Jewish feast. And in the
light of Pentecost we look forward hopefully to the time when the “great multitude,
whom no man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and peoples, and
tongues” shall stand before the throne and before the Lamb, and shall cry with a great
voice, saying, “Salvation unto our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb”
(Rev_7:9-10).
IV. Pentecost teaches the union of vast spiritual power with feeble human agency.
(George Deane, D. Sc.)
Whir-Sunday
I. What the day of Pentecost gave indisputable proof of.
1. The truth of Old and New Testament prophecies (Isa_44:3; Eze_36:27; Joe_2:28;
Zec_4:6; Joh_14:16; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7; Act_1:5, etc.).
2. The reality of the Messiahship and mission of Christ. The Holy Ghost would bring
to the remembrance of the disciples the words they had heard their Master utter, and
reveal the meaning of the things of Christ unto them. The Spirit bears witness with
our spirits to-day that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
3. The person, presence, and power of the Holy Ghost.
II. What the day of Pentecost gave infallible pledge of. The success of the preaching of
Peter on that day was the earnest of the successive victories the gospel would achieve
over error in the world down to the end of time. Those victories would be won—

20. 1. In spite of the paucity of numbers on the side of the gospel.
2. In spite of the poverty of the preachers of the gospel.
3. In spite of the antagonism of the enemies of the gospel.
4. In spite of the unfaithfulness of professors of the gospel.
III. What the day of Pentecost gave irrevocable pattern of. The primitive Church had
to—
1. Wait for the day.
2. Work for the day. Human agony linked with Divine power. (F. W. Brown.)
Pentecost
I. The season when the Spirit was given.
1. In God’s appointed time. There is a set time to favour Zion, both to try our faith
and to prove God’s sovereignty. If every drop of rain has its appointed birthday,
every gleam of light its predestinated pathway, and every spark of fire its settled hour
for flying upward, certainly the will of God must have arranged and settled the
period and place of every gracious visitation.
2. After the ascension. The Spirit was not given till after Jesus had been glorified.
Various blessings are ascribable to different parts of Christ’s work. His life is our
imputed righteousness; His death brings us pardon; His resurrection confers upon
us justification; His ascension yields to us the Holy Spirit. “When He ascended up on
high,” etc. It was the wont of the Roman conqueror as he rode along to scatter large
quantities of money among the admiring crowd. So our glorified Lord scattered gifts
among men.
3. At Pentecost. Some say that at Pentecost the law was proclaimed on Sinai. If so, it
was very significant that on the day when the law was issued amid thunders and
lightnings, the gospel—God’s new and better law—should be proclaimed with mighty
wind and tongues of fire. We are clear, however, that Pentecost was a harvest-
festival. On that day the sheaf was waved before the Lord and the harvest
consecrated. The passover was to our Saviour the time of His sowing, but Pentecost
was the day of His reaping, and the fields which were ripe to the harvest when He sat
on the well, are reaped now that He sits upon the throne.
4. When there was most need. Vast crowds were gathered. What would have been
the use of the many tongues when no strangers were ready to hear? Whenever we see
unusual gatherings, whenever the spirit of hearing is poured out upon the people, we
ought to pray for and expect an unusual visitation of the Spirit.
5. Where they were all with one accord in one place. Christians cannot all now be in
one place, but they can all be of one accord. When there are no cold hearts, no
prejudices and bigotries to separate, no schism to rend the one sacred garment of
Christ, then may we expect to see the Spirit of God resting upon us.
6. When they were earnest about one grand object.
II. The manner. Each word here is suggestive.
1. Suddenly. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and so, though the Spirit may

21. have been secretly preparing men’s hearts, yet the real work of revival is done
suddenly to the surprise of all observers.
2. There was a sound. Although the Spirit of God is silent, yet His operations are not
silent in their results.
3. As of wind. In Greek and Hebrew the word used for wind and for Spirit is the
same. The wind is doubtless, chosen as an emblem because of its mysteriousness:
“Thou canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth”; because of its freeness:
“It bloweth where it listeth”; because of diversity of its operations, for the wind blows
a gentle zephyr at one moment, and anon it mounts to a howling blast. The Holy
Spirit at one time comes to comfort, and at other times to alarm, etc.
4. It was rushing. This pour-trayed the rapidity with which the Spirit’s influences
spread—rushing like a torrent. Within fifty years from Pentecost the gospel had been
preached in every country of the known world.
5. It was mighty, irresistible, and so is the Spirit of God; where He comes nothing
can stand against Him.
6. It filled all the place where they were sitting. The sound was not merely heard by
the disciples. When the Spirit of God comes, He never confines Himself to the
Church. A revival in a village penetrates even the pot-house. The Spirit of God at
work in the Church is soon felt in the farm-yard, work-room, and factory.
7. But this was not all. I must now mention what was the appearance seen—a bright
luminous cloud probably, not unlike that which once rested in the wilderness over
the tribes by night—which suddenly divided, or was cleft, and separate tongues of
fire rested upon the head of each of the disciples. They would understand that thus a
Divine power was given to them. Heathens represent beams of light or flames of fire
proceeding from their false deities, and the nimbus with which Roman Catholic
painters always adorn the heads of saints, is a relic of the same idea. It was said by
the ancients of Hesiod, the first of all the poets, that whereas he was once nothing
but a simple neat-herd, yet suddenly a Divine flame fell upon him, and he became
henceforth one of the noblest of men. We feel assured that so natural a metaphor
would be at once understood by the apostles.
(1) It was a tongue, for God has been pleased to make the tongue do mightier
deeds than either sword or pen; by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
deliver.
(2) It was a tongue of fire, to show that God’s ministers speak, not coldly as
though they had tongues of ice, nor learnedly as with tongues of gold, nor
arrogantly as with tongues of brass, nor pliantly as with tongues of willow, nor
sternly as with tongues of iron, but earnestly as with the tongue of flame; their
words consume sin, scorch falsehood, enlighten the darkness, and comfort the
poor.
(3) It sat upon them. So the Spirit of God is an abiding influence, and the saints
shall persevere.
(4) It sat upon each of them, so that while there was but one fire, yet each
believer received his portion of the one Spirit. There are diversities of operations,
but it is the same Lord.
III. The result. After all this, what are you expecting? Shall the wind blow down
dynasties—the fire consume dominions? No; Spiritual and not carnal is the kingdom of

22. God. The result lies in three things.
1. A sermon. The Spirit of God was given to help Peter preach. You turn with interest
to know what sort of a sermon a man would preach who was full to the brim of the
Holy Ghost. You expect him to be more eloquent than Robert Hall, or Chalmers;
more learned than the Puritans. You expect all the orations of Cicero and
Demosthenes to be put in the shade. No such thing! Never was there a sermon more
commonplace. It is one of the blessed effects of the Holy Spirit to make ministers
preach simply.
2. The people were pricked in the heart, and cried, “Men and brethren, what shall we
do?” What a disorderly thing! Blessed disorder which the Spirit of God gives. Men
then feel that they have heard something which has gone right into their inmost
nature and receive a wound which only God can heal.
3. Faith and the outward confession of it in baptism. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The descent of the Spirit
The circumstances connected with the event.
I. The Time. “When the day of Pentecost was fully come.” It was the fiftieth day after the
Passover, and beginning of the harvest festival. Harvest home! Surely it was no blind
chance that made this appointment for the inauguration of the dispensation of spiritual
ingathering (Rev_14:15).
II. The place. It was “a house,” the noteworthy fact being that it was not the temple. Up
to this time the temple had monopolised the formal worship of Jehovah; but to-day a
new order begins. The privileges of worship are to be everywhere and for all sorts and
conditions of men.
III. The dramatis personae. Here were a hundred and twenty feeble folk, none mighty or
noble among them, distinguished from the multitudinous rank and file of common
people only by the fact that God had chosen them to be the nucleus of the Christian
Church. Thus, kneeling together, they held the coign of vantage. They were sure of the
blessing. May it not be that, under similar conditions, the Church of our times would be
similarly blest?
IV. The onlookers. There came together to witness this strange occurrence a motley and
polyglot assemblage of “Parthians, Modes, and Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia and
in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in
the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and
Arabians.” Was ever a more representative body of people? And this was as it should
have been, for the thing about to happen was of universal importance, and the power
about to descend was, like the sceptre in Balaam’s vision, to smite even to the remotest
corners of the earth. The time had come for the propagation of a catholic gospel; and this
heterogeneous company of people was the first representative Christian congregation
that ever assembled on earth. Those who, on this occasion, were “sojourning at
Jerusalem out of every nation under heaven,” carried back to their countrymen the
announcement of the new religion; and thus the seed was sown whose full and glorious
fruition will be seen at the close of history, when “a great multitude which no man can
number,” etc. (Rev_7:9).
V. What they saw and heard. At this point everything is significant.

23. 1. The “sound as of a mighty, rushing wind.” This must instantly have recalled to the
minds of the disciples their Master’s word, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it
goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” In Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of dry
bones we have a similar association of the wind or breath (Hebrew ruach) with
spiritual influence: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these
slain, that they may live!” The symbol is appropriate, suggesting an influence so
elevating and inspiring as to mark the beginning of a new life.
2. The fire. This would instantly recall the words of John the Baptist, “He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Fire burns, subdues, purifies,
penetrates, illumines, energises. Fire is power. The heart that has received the
baptism from on high is “set on fire” with a passion for all things true and right.
3. Cloven tongues. It is to be observed that the symbol used to designate the power
of the gospel dispensation was not an iron rod, nor a sword, nor a pontifical mitre,
but a cloven tongue—the symbol of speech, of argument, of “the foolishness of
preaching.” The victory by which the world is to be subjugated to the gospel is to be a
moral victory; and the power which is to accomplish it is the simple story of the
Cross. Jehovah is not in the storm nor in the earthquake, but in the still, small voice.
VI. The significance of this event.
1. It marked the reformation and reorganisation of Judaism into the Christian
Church. In this company of a hundred and twenty persons—like-minded as to the
ruling principle of life and engaged with one accord in prayer for a specific blessing—
we behold, in seed and promise, a mighty organism which is destined to survive all
shocks and oppositions, gathering meat out of the eater and sweetness out of the
strong, until at length it shall bring the world and lay it before its Master’s feet. This
is the living mechanism that Ezekiel saw by the river Chebar, “a whirlwind out of the
north and a fire infolding itself and winged creatures going straight forward: whither
the spirit yeas to go they went, and they turned not when they went” (Eze_1:4-10).
This working Church of Jesus, inspired by a purpose above all carnal ambitions and
endued with power to accomplish it, is at this moment incomparably the greatest
force on earth.
2. The miracle of the day of Pentecost marked the beginning of a new epoch. The old
economy of types and shadows was over; the dispensation of the Spirit was at hand.
Thenceforth the Holy Ghost was to rule in human affairs. It was a transitional point
in history. Let us thank God that we live on the hither side of it. Nay, rather, let us
thank God over and over that we are permitted to take part in the splendid
achievements of these days.
3. This Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit marked the beginning of the end. At that
moment God Himself made bare His arm and said, The kingdoms of this world shall
be Mine! Those who looked on” were amazed and were in doubt, saying one to
another, What meaneth this?” In answer they were referred by Peter to the prophesy
of Joel: “It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of My
Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’” It is scarcely to
be believed that God will wait upon the slow processes which His people are using
for the conversion of the world. He has mighty forces in reserve which we in our poor
philosophies have never dreamed of; and who can tell at what moment He may bring
them into requisition? (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)

24. Pentecost
1. “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” The exact day
was not specified, and still less the precise nature of the gift. Expectation has always
been the posture of the Church. For ages the expectation was that of the Messiah’s
coming; and no sooner did the Messiah appear than a new season of expectation set
in; the expectation of His second coming. Nowhere is there, nor ought there to be,
mere retrospection or satisfaction. Many chief graces can only be exercised by
looking forward and upward.
2. The condition of the disciples between Ascension and Pentecost was one of
expectation in a double sense. They were taught by the angels to look for their Lord’s
return. But there was a near return as well as one more remote. When our Lord said
“I will see you again,” etc., He said so in three senses—in His own resurrection; in
their resurrection; but between these two there lay a spiritual but not therefore an
unreal advent.
3. The feast of Pentecost was one of the three great festivals of Israel. It was so called
from one particular point in the celebration of the Passover; the waving of the sheaf
of the first-fruits of the harvest on the morrow after the Passover-Sabbath. From that
day they were to number seven complete sabbaths, and then arrived the feast of
weeks or of Pentecost; on which occasion, as at the earlier Passover, and the later
Tabernacles, all the men were required to appear before the Lord at His sanctuary in
Jerusalem. The Passover had already found its antitype in that season at which
Christ the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed for us. The feast of Tabernacles, the
celebration of the completion of harvest and vintage, and of the rest which followed
the entrance into Canaan, is to find its antitype in that rest which remains for the
people of God in heaven. The intermediate festival of Pentecost was to have its
antitype in that gift which this chapter describes. Jewish tradition marked out the
feast as the commemoration of the giving of the law. And peculiar significance is
therefore given to the choice of the day for the giving of that new law, of the Spirit of
life, by which the commandments of God were to be written, not on tables of stone,
but on the tablets of a renewed and willing heart. At all events the festival of the first-
fruits was now to be fulfilled in the Holy Spirit as the firstfruits of the heavenly
inheritance. Two things in the narrative need to be distinguished.
I. The origin of the gift.
1. Men are slow in understanding and stubborn in disputing spiritual or
supernatural influences; resolving everything into workings of nature, chance, or
imagination. There is no spiritual influence which the philosophers and theologians
of this age would not explain away, or laugh down. It is well, perhaps, that the gospel
was established in men’s convictions in an age of greater simplicity and of less
presumption.
2. But if God would make it evident that He is at work, I know not how it can be
done without miracle. If our Lord would convince common men that He had all the
power of God, was there any mode so really decisive as that which the Gospels
describe to us? Those who had actually seen Him still a tempest, raise a corpse, etc.,
must have felt that God had given them evidence of the Messiahship of Christ. Even
thus was it with the coming of the Holy Ghost. Hearts might have been influenced,
lives might have been changed, and men might have ascribed it to natural causes;

25. but if it was to be made plain, beyond gainsaying, that the Holy Spirit had descended
to make His abode in the Church and in the hearts of men, there must be some sign
of which the senses could take cognisance, and from which but one inference could
be drawn.
3. Such a sign was that marvellous power of which we have here the first example. If
unlettered men were heard to utter sounds recognised by men of diverse nations as
their native speech, what other explanation could be given save that which Peter
gave?
4. And is there anything irrational in the supposition that God should come in direct
personal communication with man, or should make it plain whence that
communication was derived? It can be no reproach to a revelation that its utterance
is decisive and its proofs intelligible to unlettered men.
5. In the signs which accompanied the descent of the Holy Ghost we can recognise
all the emblems by which He had been foretold.
(1) The rushing mighty wind, “blowing where it listeth,” audible in its sound,
inscrutable in its source and destination.
(2) The fiery flame which had been taken from the first as the description of the
Saviour’s baptism.
(3) The voice which bore witness to the informing, instructing, and counselling
presence within.
II. The gift signified.
1. We read of it in its prediction and in its experience. Look for the one to Joh_14:-
16., and for the other to Rom_8:1-39., Gal_5:1-26. Study those and you will see how
little they can enter into the fulness of the promise, who either imagine it to have
been designed for apostles only, or as consisting principally of miraculous gifts. The
Holy Spirit was promised as the Comforter, the Remembrancer, the Teacher, the
Guide, the inward Advocate, the Representative of Christ, the Presence of God and of
Christ in the soul, whose coming was to make it a gain even that the Saviour should
depart. And what then was the experience of this great gift? How did they describe it
who had found it for their own? Hear what Paul, who was not present at Pentecost,
but only received the gift afterwards as any one of you might receive it in answer to
prayer, tells how the Holy Ghost within had set him free from the bondage of sin and
death; how He had turned his affections from things below to things above; how he
had found the Holy Spirit to be indeed a Spirit not of fear but the Spirit of adoption,
etc.
2. The gift of the Spirit is one half of the whole need of man. We need forgiveness
first. But there is a need behind, without which forgiveness would be a mockery—the
gift of the Holy Ghost pledged in baptism—promised in the Word of life. We are
ignorant, poor, weak, sad, and lonely in heart, until the Sun of Righteousness rises
upon us with that healing in His wings, which is first the joy of a free forgiveness,
and secondly the joy of an indwelling Spirit! And be we well assured that, if we are
filled with the Holy Ghost, the other words of the text will be realised in us; we shall
also speak with another tongue, the Spirit giving us the utterance. How transforming
is the influence of the Holy Spirit upon human lips! Can we live with a man in whom
God dwells and not perceive it in his words? Let us pray for the gift of that new
Divine speech, in the power of which he who once opened his lips only to trifle, to
defame, or to deceive, has begun to breathe the sounds of love and joy and peace, of

26. gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness. Thus shall men take knowledge of
us that we have been with Jesus. Thus shall we bear that testimony, not of word only
but of sign, by which minds are convinced and hearts opened, by which God’s name
is made known on earth, His saving health among all nations. (Dean Vaughan.)
Pentecost a spiritual spring feast
I. The spring breezes which blow: stormy blasts and soft zephyrs.
II. The spring voices which are heard: the inspired tongues of the apostles praising the
mighty acts of God, and the timid voices of awakened consciences inquiring after
salvation.
III. The spring blossoms which appear: childlike faith and brotherly love. (Gerok.)
The Pentecostal outpouring
I. The preparation for the gift of the spirit.
1. The ascension. Christ had taught that His going away was essential to the Spirit’s
coming.
2. The attitude of the disciples.
(1) Patient waiting.
(2) Union.
(3) Prayer.
(4) Fellowship with the risen Christ.
II. Its sensible accompaniments. The elements of nature were now, as so often,
symbolical of spiritual realities.
1. The sound like wind indicating the immediacy, secrecy and swiftness of the Divine
action.
2. The appearance like fire symbolising warming, quickening, cleansing.
III. The gift itself. The Spirit’s influence was—
1. In its nature adapted to affect men’s minds and hearts.
2. In its measure as vast as human capacities could receive.
3. In its extent universal, being designed for Christ’s whole Church.
IV. The immediate consequences.
1. The apostles were empowered to speak with other tongues, which was a sign of
Divine energy.
2. Preaching was made powerful to the conversion of many; enemies of Christ
became friends.
3. The Church was established upon a sure and lasting foundation. (Family
Churchman.)

27. The gift of Pentecost the best gift of God
In virtue of—
I. Its root—the merits of Christ, His humiliation and exaltation.
II. Its nature—the union of the Spirit of God with man.
III. Its operations—the new creation of the heart and of the world. (Gerok.)
Pentecost; or, the first Christian day
Next to the day of Christ’s death, Pentecost was the greatest day that ever dawned. It was
“the birth-day” of the Church, the first day of the new creation, in which chaos began to
be fashioned and arranged by the plastic power of the Spirit, the day of the grand and
solemn opening of the kingdom of heaven, after the completion of the Christ’s
preparatory work, the day on which the fountain was unsealed, whose waters should
flow forth for the healing and purifying of the nations. And as it was the first of Christian
days, so was it a type of Christian days. Note—
I. The history.
1. The season was the Pentecost, a Jewish festival.
2. The hour, “the hour of prayer.”
3. The place was one of the apartments of the temple. If we put these things together,
we shall have two results.
(1) They secured a large and fitting audience. Great numbers of Jews and
proselytes visited Jerusalem; and the temple was just the place where they could
most easily become parties to the introduction of the new dispensation.
(2) It was strikingly taught that the old state of things was giving place to
another, which should change its form but perfect its spirit. The shell was being
broken to yield a new life; the beautiful fly was being developed from the worm.
Judaism was to be displaced by that which should spiritualise and ennoble its
truths and principles. The temple was to become a church, and Pentecost to
witness a new celebration of harvest, the ingathering of souls.
4. The antecedents. The apostles “continued with one accord,” etc.
II. The occurrences as strikingly suggestive of important truths in relation to the
dispensation thus introduced. There was—
1. A new Spirit. Whatever spiritual influences had been shed forth in former periods,
the Holy Ghost, in the New Testament sense, was to be the gift of the glorified
Saviour, the characteristic blessing of His kingdom. We must beware of restricting
this fact to miraculous endowments. The gift of tongues, etc., were but signs and
seals of the spiritual power intended to draw attention to the inward gift, only as the
thunder and lightning of the new spiritual world, occasional and impressive
incidents of powers and processes whose constant, silent operation is the very life of
men.
(1) The world needed the Spirit. It was not a case merely for new religious
opinions, habits, or institutions; the need was of life from above; the nature

28. required to be restored and quickened. Sin had cut off the supplies of Divine
grace, had converted the temple into a tomb. It was the grand design of the
gospel to engraft humanity upon Deity, to breathe into our dead souls the breath
of life.
(2) The apostles needed the Spirit. Much as they had been with Jesus, they were
still strangers to His inner being, the deeper meaning of His acts and words, the
glory of His Cross; they were like the skeletons in the valley of vision, very dry, till
at the prophet’s bidding they became living men.
2. A new truth. “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God,”
the same as composed the subject of Peter’s discourse; the history of Christ. True,
they knew that He had died, and risen again, and ascended: but all this, though
familiar as history, was new as truth. And just as a man who has travelled in the
dark, looks back at break of day and admires the objects that he passed, aware only
of their existence, or deeming them objects of fear, so the disciples recalled the
events of their Master’s life, and rejoiced in much which had perplexed and grieved
them. The death and departure of Christ were to His followers like the fabled statue
of Memnon, which sent forth sounds, mournful in the night, but melodious at the
rising of the sun: when God’s morning light arose, how sweet the notes those facts,
once only sad, emitted! Christianity is essentially historical. It does not set men on
arduous inquiries, nor answer them by logical expositions; but it points us to the
incarnate Son of God; tells us how He lived and suffered and arose to glory; tells us
that He was, that He is: He is the object of its faith, its love, its obedience and its joy.
Such was evidently Peter’s thought when he used “the keys of the kingdom of
heaven” to open it to the Jewish world on the day of Pentecost. Such was also Paul’s
(1Co_15:3-4). This was the truth which they propounded to men of every class and in
every condition—to Greek (1Co_2:2); to Jew (Gal_6:14); to Roman (Rom_8:3-4);
and it proved, in the case of all, the power of God unto every one that believeth. The
declaration of this truth on the day of Pentecost was therefore not an exceptional
thing; it was a specimen of the kind of moral instrumentality which should be
characteristic of Christianity.
3. A new vehicle. “They began to speak with other tongues.”
(1) Had a Jew been told that God was about to introduce a new and transcendent
dispensation in a style worthy of its superior excellence, he would probably have
expected a grand ceremonial. But he was here taught that Christianity would be a
system, not of ceremonialism, but of moral agency, and that its chief means
would be uttered thought and feeling, man coming into contact with man, reason
with reason, heart with heart. No system of religion has made such use of the
voice as Christianity, and its purest forms have always been connected with the
largest use of the voice.
(2) The manner as well as the fact of the use of the tongue was instructive. In the
publicity and indiscriminateness of Pentecostal preaching there was something
different from all that had appeared in the best types of heathen wisdom. The
philosophers universally disregarded the poor; their discoveries were confined to
those who sought and could purchase them. But the gift of tongues declared not
only that speech would be the most appropriate organ of the gospel, but that it
would “speak to the people” without exception, “all the words of this life.”
4. A new world. No power on earth could have brought together, at that time, so
typical a congregation. And herein was there an expression of the catholicity of the

29. gospel. It not only declared that the world might enjoy the privileges of the true
religion, but it spoke to the world in its own language; it destroyed every “middle
wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile, and made the common possession of
every race the rich inheritance of “the gospel of the grace of God.” The confusion of
tongues (Gen_11:7) was reversed, and it was proclaimed that the effect of the gospel
would be the destruction of all that divided and alienated men; that its purpose was
to form a new “body,” into which all should be “baptized by one Spirit, whether Jews
or Gentiles, whether bond or free,” so creating a “new man,” in which there should
be “neither Greek nor Jew,” etc.
5. A new impression (verses 37, 41-42).
(1) There had been mighty religious movements among Jews and Gentiles, but
there had been no seasons similar to Pentecost. Not that we are to dissociate that
time from times preceding. “Other men had laboured, and the disciples entered
into their labours.” Christ had no Pentecost; but He was always doing that
without which no Pentecost could have been. He was breaking up the fallow-
ground, and sowing seed; the ingathering was to come. It is a far greater thing to
make a gospel than to preach a gospel. And when Peter with quickening energy
spake to the people, and thousands confessed the sovereignty of truth, he was
only the instrument of bringing to bear the virtue and power of Christ’s
redemption. “The corn of wheat had fallen into the ground and died,” but, having
died, it now “brought forth much fruit.”
(2) But however men had been moved or changed before, they had never been
moved or changed thus. The sense of guilt was not strange, but penitence had
never possessed the depth and the tenderness which belonged to theirs who
“looked on Him whom they had pierced, and mourned for Him,” Moral and
religious reformation had often rewarded the labours of the wise and good, but
never had it taken so Divine a type as in those who now “gladly received the
Word.” Men had often associated themselves together at the bidding of outward
law or inward love, but organisation and fellowship had never known their truest
life and strongest bonds till the thousands of Pentecost joined the Church at
Jerusalem.
III. Application:
1. Let us recognise the fact that this is the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. The Holy
Ghost is now given because Jesus is glorified. It is the time of spiritual life, “the day
of Christ’s power.”
2. The means whereby “the power from on high” may be obtained for ourselves and
others. These are prayer and truth. It was the supplicating Church that was filled
with the Spirit; it was the speaking Church that received the addition of three
thousand souls. This is a union that evermore prevails, and without which there can
be no realisation of Pentecostal times.
3. The pouring forth of the Spirit of Christ is the present, the universal, the urgent
necessity of men. The main misery of the world is its carnal life, its separation from
God: it will never be whole and happy till it be possessed and regenerated by the
Spirit of the living God. (A. J. Morris.)
The day of Pentecost

30. The occurrences of the day exhibit—
1. Evidence of a special Divine influence.
2. The Divine mission of Jesus and the truth of Christianity.
3. The folly of opposition to Christ’s kingdom.
4. The grand means of advancing Christ’s cause and saving sinners.
5. The Christian minister’s great source of encouragement.
6. The reality and importance of revivals of religion. (B. Dickinson, M. A.)
The day of Pentecost
The disciples—
I. Began to speak. Hitherto they had kept silence. They were learners and asked
questions. True, they were sent by Christ to try their “‘prentice hands”; but their
discourses could not have been much to boast of, or they would have been recorded. But
no sooner were they filled with the Spirit than they began to speak out. A man may have
a little of the Spirit and be able to observe silence; but if he is filled he cannot hold his
peace. “Necessity is laid upon me.” From their irrepressible desire to speak, many
concluded they were “full of new wine.” And herein there is a superficial likeness
between “being filled with wine” and “being filled with the Spirit”; in either case there is
a powerful desire to speak. A few chapters further on in reply to the magistrates, they
said, “We cannot but speak.” The Holy Spirit was fermenting within them and bursting
through all restraints (see Job_32:17-20, and Marg.).
II. With other tongues.
1. This is a power inherent in all men. Men speak with new tongues every year. Some
can converse in many languages. Here the Spirit quickened this power. The first
miracle of Christ was the turning of water into wine. There is nothing unnatural in
that. Do we not see it every year in the vintages of Europe? The supernatural
consisted in its instantaneousness. And so the first miracle of the Holy Ghost
consisted in the rapidity with which the knowledge of other tongues was acquired.
2. Some acquire knowledge with much greater rapidity than others. Who can tell
how quickly the human intellect may acquire it when inspired by the Holy Ghost? Sir
William Hamilton tells us of a servant girl who, under the excitement of fever,
repeated long and intricate passages from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew authors, which
she had occasionally overheard her old master read as he was walking up and down
in his house. If that be the ease under the excitement of fever, is it incredible that the
disciples spoke with foreign tongues under the influences of the Holy Spirit? Man is
only a degenerate specimen of what he once was. Adam could learn more in five
minutes than we can in five years. He could instinctively make language, a much
more formidable task than to learn it. Let the wound which sin has inflicted on the
mind be healed up, and man will learn a new language with as much facility as Adam
made one.
3. The Holy Spirit, it is admitted, ennobles other faculties; then why not this? He
made Bezaleel and Aholiab skilful workmen, and still endows men with the
knowledge necessary to the successful prosecution of art. When Christianity
appeared, the arts and sciences were at a very low ebb. But before long the new

31. religion poured a new spirit into society, and began to ennoble the intellect of the
race. Just as you have seen a tree, after being well manured, budding out in early
spring with fresh vitality, so Christianity enriched the human mind. Poetry revived
under it—the best poetry of the world is Christian. Painting grew under the shadow
of its wing—the grand pictures are nearly all representations of scenes in the life of
the Saviour. Music and architecture also have chiefly flourished on Christian soil and
in immediate connection with Christian worship. And so with the sciences. The
revival of learning was coincident with the revival of Christianity. Science did not
make the discovery that the sun is the centre of our system until Luther discovered
that Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, is the centre of religion. Stephenson was once
asked, What was the power that pulled the train along the rails? He answered, The
sun. The sun was not the immediate power—that was the fire under the boiler; but
he knew that science could trace back the fire of the coal to the fire of the sun. And
the power that is now working in the heart of civilization, that is pushing upward and
forward all that is good and true is the power of the Spirit of Christ.
4. As sin, which lies like an incubus on the heart of humanity, hindering free
movement, will be expunged, we may expect corresponding celerity in our
acquisition of knowledge. Possibly the lofty mental state of the apostles is the normal
state of man. Daniel was thrown to the lions’ den, and the lions hurt him not. That
we call supernatural: yet it is perhaps the true natural—the state in which man was
placed in Paradise, and in which he will find himself again by and by. The three
young men in Babylon were cast into the fiery furnace, and the flame did not singe a
hair of their heads. That we call supernatural, yet it may be the true natural. Man was
not subject to death either natural or accidental before the entrance of sin into the
world; and man redeemed will go through the fire and not be burnt. Christ walked
the sea, that we call supernatural: yet I am not sure but it is the true natural—the
state in which man found himself in the Paradise of old, and in Paradise regained he
will walk through rivers and they will not overflow him. Paul took hold of serpents,
and they did not bite him, nor did they bite man in Eden, and they will not bite him
in the future. And the disciples on the day of Pentecost spoke with other tongues.
The family of man once spoke the same language; and who knows but the partition
walls between nations as the result of the confusion of languages will be totally
removed by a vast display of intellectual power on the part of the race baptized with
the Holy Ghost? The miracle of Pentecost will gradually neutralise the miracle of
Babel. Men travel now with greater speed than of old; they correspond with greater
rapidity; and who can tell but that learning will move with greater ease, relieved to a
certain extent from the present drudgery? “There is a royal road to learning.” Let sin
be purged out, and man will learn by intuition.
III. The wonderful works of God.
1. His ordinary works are the Creation in its various ramifications. He makes the sun
to rise and to set; His wonderful works are as Peter’s sermon shows, the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The only subjects worthy of the pulpit are not the
arts and sciences, but the gospel—a thing specially lacking in the sermons of some
leading preachers.
2. It is truly remarkable that the wonderful works of God are easily translatable.
Science is not suitable for every language; it cannot speak Welsh, e.g.; but the gospel
can. A minister insisted on the importance of knowing Greek to understand the New
Testament. “I do not,” remarked an old lady, “perceive the necessity, for my Saviour
knows Welsh as well as I do. It is in Welsh that I always speak to Him, and that He

32. always speaks to me. He knew Welsh when I was a little girl, and we have talked
Welsh together ever since.”
3. But the words intimate that the disciples spoke in foreign languages with a
thorough command of their peculiar idiom and accent. Not only in their languages
but in their “tongues” they had the very twang of natives. Native tongue has very
great influence over man. The same truths uttered in another language, though well
understood, exercise not the same charm. “Can an Ethiopian change his skin?” Yes,
as soon as he can change his tongue. When St. Paul addressed the enraged multitude
in Jerusalem in Hebrew, they grew calm and attentive. Latin and Greek would only
excite them.
4. Seeing that language is the only weapon in the propagation of the gospel, it is of
great importance that its ministers should know how to use it deftly and well. The
sword of Cromwell was mighty; all Europe feared the flash of it. But the tongue and
pen of Milton did more to ensure liberty of conscience. The pen is stronger than the
sword—the tongue can drown the roar of cannon.
5. And the Church leads the van in the study of languages. Commerce and love of
learning have done a little in that direction; but they generally follow in the wake of
the gospel. Who are the first to learn the languages of distant nations, to write their
grammars, to compile their dictionaries? Missionaries of the gospel. What book is
the first to speak in the barbarous tongues of the earth? The Bible; but the moment
the Bible speaks in those tongues they forthwith cease to be barbarous. Sin has left
its deep, black marks upon language. Open your English dictionary and you will find
in the first page that three-fourths of the words owe their existence and significance
to sin. But these words must gradually grow obsolete, and language be refashioned—
the gospel will leave its mark upon the dictionary. The Church of the present day is
richly endued with the gift of tongues, every fresh effusion of the Spirit being
followed by the certain acquisition of a new language. Go to the Bible Society House,
where the Church speaks in no fewer than two hundred and fifty languages. The
disciples only began; the Church continues and will continue till all nations shall
have heard in their own tongues the wonderful works of God.
6. But we are not taught languages miraculously now. True; and for valid reasons—
(1) One is the printing press. What the gift of tongues did for the Church of
Pentecost, the printing press has done for the Church of the Reformation.
(2) Another is the abundance of the labourers. In the primitive Church there
were only a few, whereas there was a whole world to evangelise. So Goal gave
them their tools ready made—sickles sharpened for work. But the need for this
no longer exists. There are Christians enough in England alone to learn all the
languages of the earth, and to preach the gospel to every creature in less than ten
years, without in the least disturbing the ordinary course of business at home.
God, therefore, has withdrawn the miracle. To continue it would be to patronise
indolence, and do for believers what they can easily do for themselves.
7. The miracle has ceased, but the blessing enveloped in the miracle remains.
(1) The necessity for miracles arises out of the want and not of the wealth of the
age. Hence Jesus turned water into wine, multiplied loaves and fishes and healed
the sick, because there were no other means of supply and effectual medicine. It
is different now.
(2) The miraculous ages are always the most spiritually impoverished. The

33. deliverance of Israel from Egypt is marked by miracles. But the necessity for
them arose out of the moral dearth of the times. As the consciousness of God
grew, the miraculous continued to wax smaller, till in the reigns of David and
Solomon—the richest period materially, intellectually, and spiritually—it ceased
altogether. But in subsequent reigns spiritual religion rapidly declined; therefore
the gift of miracles was again revived in the persons of Elijah and Elisha. When
the Saviour appeared the epoch was the most degraded in the annals of the race.
The gift of miracles was therefore granted once more. Miraculous is always in
inverse proportion to spiritual power; where the latter grows the former declines.
Will miracles be again revived in the Christian Church? Not unless spiritual
religion be threatened with speedy extinction.
IV. To men of other nations.
1. Increased life always demands increased scope for its exercise. There was no
power to spread itself in religion under the Old Testament. The Spirit was given in
very scanty measures, just enough to preserve, but not to multiply life and replenish
the earth. That Judaism should cover only a small portion of the globe was an
absolute necessity, for it could maintain its life only by concentration. If the fire be
small, it can only be kept burning by being heaped close together. Let the coals be
scattered, and the fire will die out. And under the Old Testament only a few sparks
came down from heaven to earth; hence it was necessary to gather them together
within the narrow confines of Palestine. And in the days of the Saviour the fire was
nearly extinguished. Fire was the great need of the age. “I indeed baptize you with
water,” exclaims the Baptist; but water can only cleanse the surface, but He will
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And on the day of Pentecost the
prediction is fulfilled. The fire first burns into the hearts of the disciples, then it
begins to extend its area, and now it threatens to burn up all the stubble of the world.
2. This increased life reveals itself instinctively in a desire to enlarge its
circumference. Whenever the presence of the Spirit is powerfully felt in the Church,
it is invariably followed by a renewed effort to evangelise the world. Let the spring
impart new life to the roots of the trees, and the life will at once be transmitted to the
branches, covering them with abundant foliage. Let the warm, genial months come
round, reviving the drooping nature of the bird after the long dreary winter cold, and
the bird shows it immediately in his song. He does not sing because he thinks he
ought; he sings because he must. And it is a poor way of promoting the evangelistic
zeal of the Church to demonstrate constantly what she ought to do. It is useless to lay
down rules for the guidance of the Churches unless we supply them with motive
power.
(1) I do not cry down organisations; they are very valuable in their proper place.
But they are only cisterns, and cisterns, though of the most approved pattern, are
not of much use to quench thirst. The Pentecostal Church had few organisations;
but she had the water of life to give freely to all who were in need. The modern
Church can boast of multitudinous organisations; and so far she can claim
superiority to the early Church, for cisterns after all are serviceable. What
glorious cisterns are missionary societies! They have silver pipes connecting
them with every country under heaven; the waterworks are laid to convey the
water of life to every thirsty soul. But the results are seldom proportionate to the
expenditure. The cisterns too often run dry. How few the triumphs of
Christianity at home and abroad! How tardy its onward march! Why? Lack of
funds, answer our secretaries. Nay, lack of life, piety, the Holy Spirit of God. Had

34. the apostles funds to back their efforts?
(2) Reflection on the part of the Church is not to be discouraged. But stock-
taking will not clothe the naked. We spend too much time in surveying our
property, and meanwhile our enthusiasm considerably abates. The Greek Church
took stock of all the Christian doctrines and reduced them into carefully worded
articles. But in reflection she lost her ardour, in speculation evaporated all her
life. The most orthodox church became practically a dead church. I have not
heard of her sending out missionaries to evangelise the heathen. What then is
required to awaken within her the old life and incite her to new adventures?
What is wanting to make Roman and Protestant Churches more powerful for
good in the world? Another outpouring of the Holy Ghost. We have cisterns
enough, pray for the living water; machinery enough, pray the Spirit of the living
creature to enter the wheels, and then it will do more work and make less noise.
V. That they also might be filled with the Holy Ghost. “Repent and be baptized,” etc.
1. Truth, though it be Christian truth, cannot fill and satisfy our nature. God alone
can do that. This, of course, implies that human nature is capacious enough to take
in the Spirit. God is too great for our powers, but not for our wants; too vast for our
reason, but not for our hearts. Our abilities are limited enough, but our necessities
are verily boundless. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”; and He
made him in the similitude even of His infinitude. I have infinite wants within me,
and through the Infinite within I can know the Infinite without, and receive Him in
the ample plenitude of His power and grace into my soul. How does the infant know
his mother? By his wants. He knows not whether she is rich or poor, accomplished
or unlearned, beautiful or plain; but he thoroughly knows her when he is hungry, for
she feeds him; when he is cold, for she warms him; when he is in pain, for she
soothes him. We know God just in the same way.
2. We may be filled with Him so as to convince unbelievers, not only that we have
been with God, but that He dwells in us of a truth. There is a curious invention to fill
the human body with electricity. If you only approach the body so filled, it will shoot
forth sparks of wild lightning. But all connection between the body and the earth
must be severed; the man must stand on a non-conducting material, else the electric
fluid will flow out as fast as it flows in. In like manner we me y be recipients of the
Divine fire. And sometimes we feel as if we were getting full, we emit Divine sparks at
the approach of others they are convinced that God is in us of a truth. But ere many
days pass, the hallowed influences have all flowed out. Worldliness is the great sin of
the Church; it robs us of the Divine in Christian experience. Oh for another
Pentecostal baptism! We need the Spirit now as much as ever to convert unbelievers,
and to stir up the dormant energies of the Church. Why is it that Christian workers
see so little fruit to their labours? That the success is not commensurate with the
organisations? Some answer, The poverty of your sermons. But that cannot be the
reason for every preaching qualification met in Christ, and yet He made but
comparatively few converts. “He could not do many mighty works there, because of
their unbelief.” A cold church, an unbelieving church robs itself of the choicest
blessings of heaven. Let it not blame its ministers for its non-success—roses will not
grow in Greenland, trees will not blossom at the North Pole. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D.
D.)

35. The day of Pentecost
I. The religious history of the world has been marked by great steps or periods,
separated by striking events or epochs, and constituting dispensations or eras.
1. Thus the creation of man inaugurated an era which continued until the Flood; the
covenant with Noah inaugurated another, which continued until the Exodus; the
delivery of the law another, which continued until Christ’s ascension; and the day of
Pentecost another, in the course of which our own generation finds its place. This,
too, will be superseded by the Second Advent. And it is well for us to connect the
little day of our life with this magnificent progression. As an independent thing our
life is utterly insignificant; as a contributing item, it becomes almost sublime.
2. Up to the day of Pentecost every dispensation was preparatory. Christianity is
final; and therefore surpasses in importance every other that preceded it. All the
constituent elements of Christianity were now provided; the life of Christ had
demonstrated the practicability and holiness of God’s law; His death had constituted
an atonement for transgressors; His resurrection had attested it; His ascension had
consummated His incarnate life; and then, after seven or eight days, as if to mark by
a solemn pause the broad boundary line of Judaism and Christianity, the Holy Spirit
was palpably bestowed; and the spiritual religion of Christ inaugurated.
3. Amongst the anniversaries of the Church, therefore, the day of Pentecost must
ever occupy an august position. Christianity was a completed system stereotyped for
all men to the end of the world in a historical form.
II. The dispensational change which the day of Pentecost marked and consummated.
The dispensation of the Spirit stands in natural and logical order amongst the Divine
dispensations looked at.
1. As manifestations of God. Of these there have been three successively presented,
and corresponding with the triune distinction of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. First,
the revelation of the Father—the manifestation of those ideas of the Divine nature
which we associate with the Father—such as power, wisdom, holiness, and law.
Secondly, the revelation of the Son—the manifestation of those ideas of the Divine
nature which we associate with the Son—such as teaching, mediation, sacrifice, love.
Lastly, the revelation of the Spirit—as the Source of life, the Enlightener, the
Sanctifier, the Comforter. And these correspond in their order to the spiritual
education of men. In their ignorance and guilt they need first to be taught the idea of
God. Convinced of sin, they then need to be taught a way of reconciliation; and under
the dispensation of the Son, they have the great saving plan revealed. Under the
dispensation of the Spirit, a provision is made for the efficiency of the plan; spiritual
life is quickened; they are not only forgiven, but sanctified. So with their education in
worship. Under the dispensation of the Father, they learn the first rudiments of
worship, through material symbols and pictures; under the dispensation of the Son
they worship the spiritual God, but m connection with the living body of the
Incarnate One; under the dispensation of the Spirit, they worship without any
material medium in “spirit and in truth.” The dispensation of the Spirit on the day of
Pentecost assumed two distinct forms, and produced two distinct effects.
(1) As miraculous endowment it was peculiar to the apostles. This was indicated
by material symbols. But such endowment was incidental and subordinate. Just
as the miracles of Christ are not to be confounded with His moral mission, so the
miraculous endowments of the Spirit are not to be confounded with His moral or
sanctifying influences. The miraculous element in both cases is simply the

36. credential or attestation of the moral. It soon, therefore, ceased. As moral
evidence for Christianity accumulated, and the written records of the New
Testament were completed, miraculous testimony was withdrawn.
(2) But the deeper and abiding manifestation was that moral and regenerating
influence of it of which Christ discoursed to Nicodemus, and is known, therefore,
only by its effects. The former was an endowment of the preacher; this is an
endowment of the hearer, qualifying and disposing him to receive it in the saving
love and power of it.
2. As a saving provision for man.
(1) This dispensation of the Spirit abides with the Church for ever, and is
bestowed upon all believers. And this is the grand and transcendent
characteristic of Christianity, whereby it provides for the efficacy of its own
religious teaching. Other religions give laws, and leave men unaided with the
stern requirement; but Christianity gives dispositions as well as laws. It puts a
new spirit into those whom it calls to its discipleship.
(2) We cannot, therefore, exaggerate the importance of this provision. Without
it, all that Christ has taught or done would have been in vain; we should for lack
of spiritual discernment have failed to discern spiritual things, and for lack of
spiritual affection failed to have embraced them.
(3) Of course spiritual influence of this kind must have been in operation before.
No holy man ever became such save through the influences of the Holy Spirit,
allusions to which are very numerous in the Old Testament. But just as the work
of Christ was in efficacious operation before Christ Himself was historically
manifested, so was the work of the Spirit. Just as the first pardoned man was
justified by faith in Christ, so the first holy man was renewed by the operation of
the Holy Ghost, and just as the Nativity was the manifestation of the atoning
Christ, so the day of Pentecost was the manifestation of the renewing spirit. As
much of the character and work of the Son were revealed as the world could
receive; and as much of the influence of the Spirit was exerted as the moral
condition of the world would admit of. Hence we may understand how there
should be a greater amount of spiritual influence operating in the Christian
Church than in the Jewish Church. (H. Allon, D. D.)
The fitness of the day of Pentecost
It is natural to assume a purpose in the Divine choice of the day on which the disciples
were thus to receive the promise of the Father. That choice may have been determined, if
one may so speak, either in view of the circumstances of the feast, or of its history and
symbolic fitness.
1. Of all the feasts of the Jewish year it was that which attracted the largest number
of pilgrims from distant lands. The dangers of travel by sea or land in the early spring
or late autumn (cf. Act_27:9)
prevented their coming in any large numbers to the Passover. At no other feast
would there have been representatives of so many nations. It was Pentecost that St.
Paul went up to keep once and again, during his mission-work in Greece and Asia
(Act_18:21; Act_20:16). So there was no time on which the gift of the Spirit was
likely to produce such direct and immediate results.

37. 2. Each aspect of the old Feast of Weeks, now known as Pentecost, or the “Fiftieth-
day” Feast, presented a symbolic meaning which made it typical of the work now
about to be accomplished.
(1) It was the “feast of harvest, the feast of the first-fruits”; and so it was meet
that it should witness the first great gathering of the fields that were white to
harvest (Exo_23:16).
(2) It was one on which, more than on any other, the Israelite was to remember
that her had been a bondman in the land of Egypt, and had been led forth to
freedom (Deu_16:12), and on it, accordingly, they were to do no servile work
(Lev_23:31); and it was, therefore, a fit time for the gift of the Spirit, of whom it
was emphatically true that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Co_
3:17), and who was to guide the Church into the truth which should make men
free indeed (Joh_8:32).
(3) It was a day on which sacrifices of every kind were offered—burnt-offerings,
and sin-offerings, and meat-offerings, and peace-offerings—and so represented
the consecration of body, soul, and spirit as a spiritual sacrifice (Lev_23:17-20).
(4) As on the Passover the first ripe sheaf of corn was waved before Jehovah as
the type of the sacrifice of Christ, of the corn of wheat which is not quickened
except it die (Lev_23:10; Joh_12:24), so on Pentecost two wave-loaves of fine
flour were to be offered, the type, it may be, under the light now thrown on them,
of the Jewish and the Gentile Churches (Lev_23:17). And these loaves were to be
leavened, as a witness that the process of the contact of mind with mind, which—
as the prohibition of leaven in the Passover ritual bore witness—is naturally so
fruitful in evil, might yet, under a higher influence, become one of unspeakable
good: the new life working through the three measures of meal until the whole
was leavened (Mat_13:33).
3. The Feast of Pentecost had—traditionally, at least—also a commemorative
character. On that day—so it was computed by the later Rabbis, though the Book of
Exodus (Exo_19:1) seems to leave the matter in some uncertainty—the Israelites had
encamped round Sinai, and there had been thunders, and darkness, and voices, and
the great Laws had been proclaimed. It was, that is, an epoch-making day in the
religious history of Israel. It was fit that it should be chosen for another great epoch-
making day, which, seeming at first to be meant for Israel only, was intended
ultimately for mankind. (Dean Plumptre.)
The feast of harvest
I. The consecrated harvest of the field. It may seem somewhat singular that we should be
talking of harvest on the first of June, but in Palestine the harvest is much earlier than
where the climate is more severe. At the beginning of the barley harvest the first ripe
ears were presented to the Lord in due order, but at the fuller festival they brought into
God’s house, not the ears of wheat, but two large loaves—the fruit of the earth actually
prepared for human food. What did that mean?
1. That all came from God. We regard our bread as the fruit of our own labour; but
who gives us strength to labour,, and gives the earth the power to bring forth her
harvest? I fear in many houses bread is eaten and the Giver is forgotten. Let us by
grateful offerings to the Lord express our thankfulness for all the comforts we enjoy.

38. 2. That all our possessions need God’s blessing upon them. Without a blessing from
God His gifts become temptations, and bring with them care rather than
refreshment. It was a joyous sight to see the loaves and the fishes multiplied; but the
best part of it was that the Master looked up to heaven and blessed them. If thou hast
little, yet if God has blessed thy little there is a flavour in it which the ungodly cannot
know when they fill themselves with stalled oxen. If thou hast ample, yet if thou hast
more blessing, thy riches shall not be a snare to thee.
3. That all we have we hold under God as His stewards. These two loaves were a kind
of peppercorn rent acknowledging the superior landlord who was the true owner of
the Holy Land. We farm our portions and gather the fruit as stewards for the Most
High, and bring a part thereof to His altar in token that we would use the rest to His
glory. Have we all done this with our substance? Where is that one talent of thine, O
slothful servant? Where are those five talents, O thou man of influence and of
wealth?
4. That they were afraid they might commit sin in the using of what God had given.
The first thank-offering was of barley, fresh plucked from the field; but this second
offering of the first-fruits was not wheat as God made it. Why was it ordained that
they should present leaven to God? To show us that common life, with all its
imperfections, may yet be used for God’s glory. We may, through our Lord Jesus, be
accepted in shop-life as well as in sanctuary-life, in market-dealing as well as in
sacramental meditation. Yet do not fail to notice that they brought also a burnt-
offering: so the precious blood of Christ’s sacrifice must fall upon our leavened
loaves, or they will be sour before the Lord. “He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved.” Nay, that was not all. In consideration of the loaf being leavened, they
brought with it a sin-offering as well (Lev_23:19). Confessing, as each one of us must
do, that however hearty our dedication to God, there is still a faultiness in our lives,
we are glad to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
5. All this was done as an act of joy. A new meat-offering was offered unto the Lord
with peace-offerings, which two always signify, among other things, a quiet, happy
communion with God. In addition to all this they presented a drink-offering of wine,
which expresses the joy of the offerer. Pentecost was not a fast, but a festival. When
thou givest anything to God, give it not as though it were a tax, but freely; or it
cannot be accepted. God loveth a cheerful giver. His service is perfect freedom; to
give to Him is rapture; to live to Him is heaven.
II. The consecrated harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ, as taught by the events of the great
Christian Pentecost. Our Lord is the greatest of all sowers, for He sowed Himself.
“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground,” etc. Had He not said, “The fields are white
already to harvest”? and now, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the fruit was
seen of them, and joyfully gathered. Learn—
1. That the first harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ was through the Holy Ghost. There
were no three thousand converts till first of all was heard the rushing of mighty wind.
Till the cloven tongues had rested on the disciples there were no broken hearts
among the crowd. Until the believers were all filled with the Holy Ghost the minds of
their hearers were not filled with conviction. If you desire to save your class you must
yourselves be endowed with the power of the Holy Ghost. You cannot burn a way for
the truth into the heart of another unless the tongue of fire is given to you from on
high.
2. That day may be considered to be the ordering of the Christian dispensation. It

39. was exactly fifty days after the original Passover that the law was given on Mount
Sinai. At the commencement of the New Testament dispensation the Lord gives the
Spirit. Under the old covenant the command was given; but under the new the will
and the power to obey are bestowed by the Holy Ghost. Moses on the mount can only
tell us what to do, but Jesus ascended on high pours out the power to do it. Now we
are not under the law, but under grace, and the Spirit is our guiding force.
3. This Pentecost was also the beginning of a great harvest of Jews and Gentiles.
Were there not two loaves? Not only shall Israel be saved, but the multitude of the
Gentiles shall be turned unto the Lord. If the first-fruits were so great, what will the
ultimate harvest be?
(1) The filling of the apostles with the Holy Ghost was a part of the first-fruits. A
man full of the Holy Ghost rejoices the heart of Christ.
(2) Still, the major part of the Pentecostal first-fruits will be found in the great
number that were that day converted.
4. The Christian Pentecost is to us full of instruction.
(1) The disciples had to wait for it. “The husbandman waiteth for the precious
fruit of the earth.” Sow on: Pentecost will yet yield its loaves unto the Lord.
(2) They obtained nothing until they began preaching the gospel, and then in one
day the Church was multiplied by twenty-five.
(3) Of all those people saved it was acknowledged that they belonged unto the
Lord alone.
(4) Even if we should see three thousand converted in a day we must not reckon
that such first-fruits would be absolutely perfect. In all our successes and
additions there will sure to be a leaven. Do not wonder if some converts go back.
It will always be so; tares grow with the wheat, and bad fish are taken in the same
net with the good.
III. The consecrated harvest from each particular person. In Deu_26:1-19. you will find
there a form of service which I pray may serve your turn to-day. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A Whitsunday meditation
There is a Christian as well as a Jewish year; we ought not to be unmindful of the
changes which illustrate God’s holy counsel and tender conduct. The Author of natural
and spiritual life is one, and He gives many a hint of His gracious purpose in the changes
of the year. Christ has taught us to see in seed-sowing a symbol of the Cross, and a call to
Christian sacrifice. The “harvest,” the solemn fruitful autumn-time, reminds us of “the
end of the world,” and has its strangely blended influences of mournfulness and hope.
Spring is a type of the resurrection; life bursting out of the grave. Of all symbols of the
Christian life, this early summer-time is the most blessed. Calm as these warm and not
yet sultry days; peaceful as early June mornings; fresh as the dews and showers; rich as
the verdure of our landscape, it is given us to know that our Christian life is under the
silent energy of the Spirit.
I. The Passover and Pentecost were intimately connected.
1. The injunction to keep the feast of first-fruits concludes, “and thou shalt
remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt”; the rejoicing followed the

40. commemoration of the deliverance. The Jews call the day of Pentecost the
“concluding festival” i.e., the festival that concludes the Paschal celebration. The
association is not difficult to trace. The national life of Israel was the sequel to their
deliverance from Egypt. It was not enough for them to be set free and to be led into
the desert. God had prepared a land for them needing greater labour and more
careful cultivation than Egypt, but yielding better fruits. The feast of Pentecost was
their memorial that God had fulfilled His promise. They brought the fruits of the
land which He had given them, and remembered year by year that He blessed their
toil, and was nourishing the men He had redeemed,
2. Spiritual life is the sequel of Christian redemption; the gift of the Holy Ghost was
God’s purposed supplement of Calvary. Spiritual history begins with the Cross, but it
does not end there. It sometimes happens that the first gladness and gratitude of a
forgiven soul are followed by a strange restlessness and dissatisfaction, as was the
deliverance of Israel. But the Paschal time, of haste and scarce-quelled anxiety, of
girded loins and unleavened bread and bitter herbs, are followed by the Pentecost of
life, love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. It is not till this Divine life is formed
within us by God’s Spirit, strong as the forces that clothe the earth with summer
beauty, that we can fully commemorate the death of Christ which is our redemption.
The Holy Ghost was needed by the men who were to be preachers of the Cross. He
not only unfolded to them its meaning; He dwelt in them an energy tender, earnest,
and strong, like that of Christ the Redeemer. They had life in them; and nothing
could suppress their faith, their gladness, or their labours; and by all the genial force
of life, men were constrained by their influence, and drawn into their communion.
And so now, if Christian teaching is ineffective, it is because it lacks the force of
Christian life. Our teaching may be scrupulously orthodox, yet very repellent and
cold. Our efforts may be unnumbered, and our plans most wisely organised; yet,
without the love, the earnestness that only life can give, they will be all in vain. There
is something for us besides praying for the Divine life; it is to live it. Christians
sometimes ask that “the Spirit may be poured out.” He has been poured out.
II. Pentecost was a memorial of God’s constant presence and power. The feast was
ordained to remind the Jews who it was who gave them their corn and wine and oil.
They were not permitted to eat of the year’s harvest till the first sheaves had been waved
before the Lord, and the two loaves offered to Him; lest they should think that the earth
brought forth fruit of itself, lest they should be undevout, and gluttonous, and drunken
in their feasts. This was the consecration of the “first-fruits” which would hallow the
“whole lump” of which they were daily partaking. The Jews, like Englishmen, were prone
to practical atheism; they, like Englishmen, only recognised God in signal events of their
history, unmindful of the care that was daily mindful of them, and the bounty which
daily made them glad. All piety decays when we forget that the “Father” is “ever
working.” Body and soul, as well as spirit, have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.
Food and raiment, house-room and friends, have been given us by the same Father who
gave us His Son. The power that quickened the world from the Cross is ruling over it
still; the love that shines in the Cross gives summer flowers and autumn fruits. Men who
see nothing more than forces of nature in the power that yearly clothes the hill-sides,
and makes the valleys fruitful, see too in the Christian life nothing more than human
nature under new developments. The day of Pentecost is the witness of a Divine person
abiding near us, and working in us all the energies and influences of a Christian life. It
prevents our falling into that despondency which must be our lot if we have none to trust
in but ourselves. Where we are powerless, He imparts life; and then truth becomes plain,
and motives are felt that we could not awaken. Earnest Christian people need the

41. teaching of the day of Pentecost. There are many who connect the Holy Ghost only with
their conversion, and with periods of high-wrought emotion; but in the whole range of
Christian life, however varied to our feeling, the Spirit, the source of life, is working. Yes,
and in hearts that have not yet yielded themselves to Jesus; in children born into godly
households, and abandoned ones listening wonderingly to new words of hope and love;
in providential circumstances; by words of kindness and deeds that flow from a heart of
love; in everything that has a Christian tendency, in every influence that comes from
Christ and moves towards Him, “worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as He will.” A few weeks ago, and though ,we knew, we did not feel
that summer was nigh. The trees were bare, and the earth was hard, and we shivered
beneath the chilling blast. But God was working; the spirit of life was moving in the
sluggish sap, the sun was gathering force, and the western winds were on their way to us
with refreshing showers. And lo! the summer is hero. Let us work according to God’s
will, and we shall one day see the glad and genial life that the Divine Spirit is
accomplishing; for He is near us and is in us still. “I have planted, Apollos watered, and
God gave the increase.” (A. Mackennal, D. D.)
The White Sunday (children’s sermon)
1. Two reasons for the name.
(1) On Whitsunday people used to come to be baptized, dressed all in white.
Why? Because they wanted to feel that they were going to be made clean. And so
it came to be called “White Sunday,” or, shortened, “Whit Sunday.”
(2) If you count Easter Sunday one, and then count on to this Sunday, you will
find that this is the eighth. Now the French word for “eight” is “halt.” You know a
great many French words came into English, but people did not know how to
spell some of them, so they spelt this word “bait” as if it were “white.”
2. What happened on Whitsunday? The Holy Ghost came down. I cannot explain to
you all about the Holy Ghost. It is very deep and mysterious. Perhaps you have heard
about the monk who was trying to explain all about God. He went down to the
seaside, and found a man with a little shell in his hand scooping up the sea. He said
to the man, “What are you doing?” He replied, “I am going to put the sea into this
shell.” “You cannot do it,” said the monk. Then the man replied, “My task is easier
than yours. You are trying to put the great God into your little mind.”
3. What does “Holy Ghost” mean? Holy Spirit. Sometimes, when we cannot look at
the sun, we look at a sunbeam; or we look at the reflection of the sun in a looking-
glass. We cannot see the sun in his full lustre. Now I want to speak about the Holy
Ghost by emblems.
I. What is that you can feel, but cannot see? The Wind. You can feel the Holy Ghost, but
you cannot see Him. “The wind bloweth where it listeth,” etc. The Saviour likened Him
to that, and said, “Except a man be born,” etc. Now—
1. Nobody can go to heaven unless they are “born again.” A man was once asked,
“Where were you born?” He said, “In London, and in Salisbury.” “What! born in two
places?” he was asked. He explained, “My body was born in London, and my soul was
born in Salisbury.” Now what does it mean? Did you ever see a new-born baby? What
a new, strange world it has come into. When you become a real Christian, you enter a
new world, and all will be so new to you. Poor little baby! Somebody must feed it,

42. clothe it, carry it. So when you become a Christian you must feel, “Jesus must carry
me, clothe me, feed me.” When you are “born again” you will have new thoughts, new
feelings.
2. Does everybody know when they are “born again”? Some do; but very few. There
is a great palm-tree called the Palm Azaleum, and when the blossom comes out of
the shield, the flower breaks the shield with a noise as loud as a cannon. Everybody
can know when that flower comes out. Some conversions are like that, but most are
as quiet as when the little grain comes out of the grass, or when the flower comes out
in the bud; you can hardly tell when it happens. One day there was a wicked man
driving his cart along a road, and suddenly the wind blew a tract to his feet. Where
that tract came from he never knew. He took it up and read it, and a word there
changed the man, made him a Christian. The Holy Ghost, like the wind, turned his
heart.
3. Did you ever see an AEolian harp? It is a very wonderful thing, a little harp with a
few strings. No human fingers play upon it. If you keep it in your room it won’t play;
but if you put it just outside the window, on a windy day, it will play such sweet
music. A great writer has said, “The human heart is a harp of a thousand strings.” All
the thoughts and feelings in your heart are all strings. If the Holy Spirit comes they
will play very sweet music. But your heart won’t play without the Holy Spirit.
II. The Holy Ghost is like water When you were baptized some water was poured over
your head to tell you that the Holy Ghost can make the heart clean. There was a good
man who, when he wanted to think about holy things, put before himself three words,
“black,” “red,” and “white.” He looked at the word “black,” and he thought, “That is my
heart, which is very black.” Then he looked at the word “red,” and thought, “The blood of
Jesus can make the black thing white.” And then he looked at the word “white,” and
thought, “I hope my heart has been washed, and made white through the Holy Ghost.”
III. When the Holy Ghost came down upon the Lord Jesus He appeared as a dove. And a
dove is considered an emblem of something very gentle. The Holy Ghost comes very
gently, and He makes us gentle. I knew two little girls who were going out of a church,
and one little girl pushed by the other, and she made way for her to pass, saying,
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” That was gentle, like a dove. As a boy was once going to
throw a stone at a little bird, the bird sang so sweetly that the boy could not throw.
Another, passing, said, “Why don’t you throw? You will hit it.” “I cannot,” he said; “the
little bird is singing so sweetly.” If you know anybody who is unkind to you, you sing like
the little bird, and then see if anybody will hurt you.
IV. The Holy Spirit is like dew. “Dew” is to be seen in the morning and evening. It is very
pretty and makes everything so fresh where it comes. Now, if you wish to be good and
please God, take care that every morning and evening yon get a little of the dew of the
Holy Spirit upon you; it will make everything fresh and nice. You are in the morning of
life. Now is the time to have dew, and may it always abide in and upon you, not like the
natural dew, that soon passes away.
V. The Holy Spirit is like fire. Supposing I were to give you a piece of iron, and ask you to
make an image out of it, what would you do? If you got a hammer and chisel, and
worked ever so hard, it would not make it into an image. What, then, would you do? Put
it into the fire, then it would get soft; then you could make it into almost any shape you
like four hearts are like iron. You have tried to make them good, but you cannot do so;
but put them into “the fire,” the Holy Spirit will make them soft and make them into
right shapes. Supposing I saw two girls quarrelling, and I wanted to make them at one,

43. how can I do it? Supposing I gave you two bits of iron, and asked you to make them one,
how would you do it? You must weld them together. You could not do it till you put them
into the fire. So if I find two persons quarrelling, and I want to make them one, I should
try to do it by the Holy Spirit.
VI. The Holy Spirit is a seal now, supposing a person had got some very precious jewels,
and was going abroad, and he wanted to be quite sure that they would be safe when he
came back again. He would lock them up, and put a seal upon the lock, that nobody
might be able to break the lock. You are Christ’s jewels, and He has gone abroad. By and
by He will come back again. He has “sealed” you with the Holy Spirit. If you take care not
to break that “seal,” then you are quite safe; but if you trifle with it, i.e., if you grieve the
Holy Spirit, the “seal” will be broken; then what will become of the jewels? But keep the
Holy Spirit in your heart, then you will be safe when Christ comes back. In the time of
the Emperor Tiberius, there was a law in Rome that anybody who carried a particular
ring on his finger must never go into any dirty or wrong place. You have got the seal;
keep it holy! (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Holy Spirit: The method of His bestowment unrevealed
It is the doctrine of the interworking of the Spirit of God upon the souls of men. I have
no philosophy about it. All I say is this: that God knows what is the secret way in which
mind reaches mind. I do not—you do not. I do not know why words on my tongue wake
up thoughts corresponding to those words in you. I do not know why the soul of man,
like a complex instrument of wondrous scope, is played upon by my words, so that there
are waked up in it notes along the whole scale of being. I do not understand why things
are so, but unquestionably they are so. I do not know how the mother pours her affection
on the child’s heart, but she does. Two stars never shone into each other as two loving
souls shine into each other. I know it is so, but I do not know why it is so. I do not know
how soul touches soul, how thought touches thought, or how feeling touches feeling, but
I know it does. Now that which we see in the lower departments of life—that which exists
between you and your friends, and me and my friends—that I take, and by my
imagination I lift it up into the Divine nature, and give it depth and scope and
universality; and then I have some conception of the doctrine of God’s Spirit poured
upon the human soul. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Holy Spirit needed
It is as if you saw a locomotive engine upon a railway, and it would not go; and they put
up a driver, and they said, “Now, that driver will just do.” They try another and another.
One proposes that such and such a wheel should be altered; but still it will not go. Some
one then bursts in amongst those who are conversing, and says, “No, friends; but the
reason why it will not go is because there is no steam. You have no fire; you have no
water in the boiler: that’s why it will not go. There may be some faults about it: it may
want a bit of paint here and there: but it will go well enough with all those faults if you
do but get the steam up.” But now people are saying, “This must be altered, and that
must be altered.” But it would go he better unless God the Spirit should come to bless us.
That is the Church’s great want; and, until that want be supplied, we may reform and
reform, and stiff be lust the same. We want the Holy Spirit; and then, whatever faults
there may be in our organisation, they can never materially impede the progress of
Christianity when once the Spirit of the Lord God is in our midst. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

44. The Holy Spirit indispensable
Here is a noble ship … The forests have masted her; in many a broad yard of canvas a
hundred looms have given her wings. Her anchor has been weighed to the rude sea-
chant; the needle trembles on her deck: with his eye on that friend, unlike worldly
friends, true in storm as in calm, the helmsman stands impatient by the wheel. And
when, as men bound to a distant shore, the crew have said farewell to wives and
children, why, then, lies she there over the self-same ground, rising with the flowing and
falling with the ebbing tide? The cause is plain. They want a wind to raise that drooping
pennon and fill these empty sails. They look to heaven; and so they may; out of the skies
their help must come. At length their prayer is heard.… And now, like a steed touched by
the rider’s spur, she starts, bounds forward, plunges through the waves, and, heaven’s
wind her moving power, is off and away, amid blessings and prayers, to the land she is
chartered for. Even so, though heaven-born, heaven-called, heaven-bound, though
endowed with a new heart and new mind, we stand in the same need of celestial
influences. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Revivals—occasional things
Revivals are not constant, but occasional things; they are like the showers that water the
earth. (T. H. Skinner.)
The sending of the Holy Ghost
We are this day to celebrate the yearly memory of the sending down of a benefit, so great
and so wonderful, as there were not tongues enough upon earth to celebrate it, but there
were fain to be more sent from heaven to help to sound it out thoroughly.
I. The time. The day of Pentecost. Why that day? Pentecost was a great feast under the
law; and meet it was this coming should be at some great feast. The first dedication of
Christ’s Catholic Church on earth, the first publishing the gospel, the first proclaiming
the apostles’ commission, were so great matters, as it was not meet they should be done
in a corner.
II. Manner.
1. On their parts on whom the Holy Ghost came. It is truly said by the philosopher,
that if the patient be prepared aright, the agent will have his work both the sooner
and the better. And so, consequently, the Spirit in His coming, if the parties to whom
He cometh be made ready. And this is threefold:
(1) Unity. Can any spirit animate or give life to members dismembered? A fair
example we have in Ezekiel (Eze_37:7-9). Now the Holy Ghost is the very
essential unity, love, and love-knot, of the two Persons, the Father and the Son,
even of God with God. And He is sent to be the union, love, and loveknot of the
two Natures united in Christ, even of God with man. And can we imagine that He
will enter (essential unity) but where there is unity? There is no greater bar to His
entry than discord and disunited minds.
(2) Not only of one mind, that is, unanimity, but also in one place too, that is,

45. uniformity; both in the unity of the Spirit, that is inward, and in the bond of
peace too, that is, outward. God’s will is, we should be as upon one foundation, so
under one roof (Psa_68:6). Therefore it is expressly noted of this company where
they prayed, they prayed all together (Act_4:24). When they heard, they heard all
together (Act_8:6). When they brake bread, they did it all together (verse 46).
Division of places will not long be without division of minds.
(3) A disposition in them, whereby they held out, and stirred not, even till the
fifty days were fulfilled. That ,former, unanimity; this latter, longanimity. There
is in us a hot, hasty spirit, impatient of any delay.
2. On His part. He came sensibly, a rare coming, since the Holy Ghost, an invisible
Spirit, cometh, for the most part, invisibly. Yet here it was meet—first, that no less
honour done to this law of Zion than to that of Sinai, which was public and full of
majesty; and secondly, it pleased Him to vouchsafe to grace the Church, His queen,
with like solemn inauguration to that of His own, when the Holy Ghost descended on
Him in likeness of a Dove. This coming, then, of His thus in state, is such as it was
both to be heard and seen. To the ear, which is the sense of faith; to the eye, which is
the sense of love. The ear, that is the ground of the word, which is audible; the eye,
which is the ground of the sacraments, which are visible. To the ear in a noise; to the
eye in a show. The noise, serving as a trumpet, to awake the world, and give them
warning He was come. The fiery tongues, as so many lights, to show them and let
them see the day of that their visitation.
(1) There comes a sound. Which is to show that the spirit is no dumb spirit but
vocal. The sound thereof is gone into all lands, and hath been heard in all ages.
(2) It was the sound of a wind. For first, of all bodily things it is the least bodily,
and cometh nearest to the nature of a spirit, invisible as it is; and secondly, quick
and active, as the spirit is. Now, this wind that came and made this sound is here
described with four properties:
(a) It fell suddenly, so doth the wind. It riseth often in the midst of a calm,
giveth no warning; and even so doth the Spirit, for that cometh not by
observation, neither can you make set rules of it: you must wait for it as well
when it cometh not as when it comes. Many times it is found of them that
seek it not. It creeps not like motions that come from the serpent. And
therefore sudden, saith Gregory, because things, if they be not sudden, awake
us not, affect us not. And therefore sudden, saith he again, that men may
learn not to despise present motions of grace, though suddenly rising in
them, and though they can give no certain reason of them, but take the wind
while it bloweth as not knowing when it will or whether ever it will blow
again.
(b) It was a mighty, or vehement, wind. Although the wind is nothing else
but a puff of air, the thinnest, the poorest, and to our seeming, of the least
force of all creatures, yet groweth it to that violence which pulls up trees,
blows down huge piles of building, hath most strange and wonderful effects,
and all this but a little thin air. And surely no less observable or admirable,
nay, much more, have been and are the operations of the Spirit. Even
presently after this, this Spirit, in a few poor weak and simple instruments,
waxed so full and forcible as it cast down strongholds, brought into captivity
many an exalting thought, made a conquest of the whole world, even then,
when it was bent fully in main opposition against it.

46. (c) It came from heaven. Winds naturally come not from thence, but move
laterally from one coast or climate to another. To come directly down from
heaven, that is supernatural, and points us plainly to Him that is ascended up
into heaven, and now sendeth it down from thence that it may fill us with the
breath of heaven. To distinguish this wind from others is no hard matter. If
our motions come from above it is this wind, which came thence to make us
heavenly-minded.
(d) It filled that place where they sat. That place, not the places about. The
common wind fills all places within his circuit alike. And this is a property
very well fitting the Spirit. To blow in certain places where itself will; and
upon certain persons and they shall plainly feel it, and others about them not
a whir.
(2) This wind brought down with it tongues to be seen. Here is not only sent a
wind which serveth for their own inspiration, but tongues which serve for
elocution, that is, to impart the benefit to more than themselves. It showeth that
the Holy Ghost cometh and is given rather to do others good than to benefit
themselves. Charity poured into their hearts would serve them; grace poured into
their lips was needful to make others partakers of the benefit. This also standeth
of four parts, as did the former.
(a) There were tongues, and God can send from heaven no better thing, nor
the devil from hell no worse. The best member we have (Psa_108:1). The
worst member we have (Jas_3:6). Both, as it is employed.
(b) Cloven tongues—and that very cleaving of right necessary use to the
business intended, viz., that the knowledge of the gospel might be dispersed
to every nation under heaven. If there must be a calling of the Gentiles, they
must have the tongues of the Gentiles wherewith to call them. But with their
many tongues they spake one thing.
(c) They were tongues as of fire to show that they were not of our elementary
fire. As the wind, so the fire from heaven, of the nature of that which made
the bush burn and yet consumed it not. The tongues were as of fire to teach
that the force of fire should show forth itself in their words, both in the
splendour, which is the light of knowledge to clear the mist of their darkened
understanding, and in the fervour, which is the force of spiritual efficacy, to
quicken the dulness of their cold and dead affections. With such a tongue
spake Christ Himself, when they said of Him, “Did not our hearts burn within
us while He spake unto us by the way?” With such a tongue St. Peter, here in
this chapter; for sure there fell from Him something like fire on their hearts,
when they were pricked with it and cried, “Men and brethren, what shall we
do?” But this is not always, nor in all with us; no more was it with them, but
in those of their hearers which had some of the anointing, and that will easily
take the fire, in them good will be done; or at least, where there was some
smoking flax, some remainder of the Spirit, which without any great ado will
be kindled anew.
(d) These sat upon each of them. In which sitting is set down unto us their
last quality—of continuance and constancy. They did not light and touch and
away, after the manner of butterflies. (Bp. Andrewes.)

47. The advent of the Spirit
I. That the promise of the Holy Spirit to the Church will certainly be fulfilled.
1. The Holy Spirit is promised to the Church (Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7; Joe_2:28-29).
2. The promise is not always understood in its full meaning as it ought to be. The
disciples did not understand it, nor does the Church of our own age. It would not rest
a day without its fulfilment (Joh_4:10).
3. The promise will certainly be fulfilled. This is seen in the history of the Church at
Pentecost. There was delay, but not denial. Then as now the Holy Spirit is given to
the Church at the best and most appropriate time. We must wait, for it is determined
by infinite wisdom.
II. That the Church must put itself into a proper moral attitude in order to receive the
Holy Spirit. The Church must be—
1. Frequent in its meetings.
2. United in its spirit.
3. Prayerful in disposition (Act_1:14).
4. Patient in temper.
5. Catholic in sentiment.
Not merely the disciples were present, but many strangers. They had come to the feast,
and got a better feast than they expected. Some Churches are so narrow and sectarian in
their spirit, that the Holy Spirit is shut out from them.
III. That the advent of the Holy Spirit to the Church is accompanied by wondrous
phenomena and sublime moral results. The advent of the Holy Spirit—
1. Is set forth under appropriate emblems.
2. Affects the speaking of the Word. When men receive the Holy Spirit it is always
evident in their conversation, which is aglow with heavenly fire and feeling. True
eloquence is a spiritual gift.
3. Is designed to fill the human soul with Divine and ennobling influences. As the
wind filled the house, so the Spirit filled the men, every crevice of their being. The
heart of man must be filled with something; if God does not fill it the world will. The
Divine filling is the most ennobling and blessed. (The Study and the Pulpit.)
The coming of the Holy Spirit
I am sitting, on a summer’s day, in the shadow of a great New England elm. Its long
branches hang motionless; there is not breeze enough to move them. All at once there
comes a faint murmur; around my head the leaves are moved by a gentle current of air;
then the branches begin to sway to and fro, the leaves are all in motion, and a soft,
rushing sound fills my ear. So with every one that is born of the Spirit. I am in a state of
spiritual lethargy, and scarcely know how to think any good thought. I am heart-empty,
and there comes, I know not where or whence, a sound of the Divine presence. I am
inwardly moved with new comfort and hope, the day seems to dawn in my heart,
sunshine comes around my path, and I am able to go to my duties with patience. I am
walking in the Spirit, I am helped by the help of God, and comforted with the comfort of

48. God. And yet this is all in accordance with law. There is no violation of law when the
breezes come, stirring the tops of the trees; and there is no violation of law when God
moves in the depths of our souls, and rouses us to the love and desire of holiness.
(James Freeman Clarke.)
The descending Spirit
Notice—
I. Some features of the event here related.
1. It is interesting that the Holy Spirit should have been conferred at Jerusalem, the
capital of the old faith. It is not God’s way to inaugurate the new by any harsh
abandonments of the old. The Christian is only the Jewish Church led forth into a
new stage of development. As the two lay in Christ’s mind there was no break
between them. “I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.” It was suitable, then, that where
the old Church had matured, the new Church should germinate.
2. It is impossible to say with exactness where in Jerusalem the disciples were
gathered. It is barely possible that it was in some portion of the temple edifice. If that
were the case it would only be in the line of what has just been said.
3. This first giving of the Spirit was at Pentecost. Still another proof of this is that
God would like to have us consider Christianity as a graft upon an old stock.
4. As to the nature of the miracle. Was it a gift of “tongues,” or a gift of “ears”? The
most casual perusal is sufficient to convince that it was the disciples that were
inspired to speak. The hearers were not in a mood to be inspired. The Holy Ghost
works inspiringly upon those who are in sympathy with Him; and this these foreign
residents at Jerusalem were not.
II. The lessons connected with the event.
1. The Christian Church was born at Pentecost. The materials were already present,
but standing out of organic relation with each ether. It was the brooding of the Spirit
that produced the formless elements of things into a shapely and prolific world. It
was the inbreathing of God into the being of our first parent that developed him into
a living soul. It was the influx similarly of the Divine Spirit that composed the
disciples of Christ into an organised and living Church.
2. This was the first Christian revival of religion. The Church was born in a revival,
and the survival of the Church has been along a continuous line of revival. There is
nothing in the whole New Testament narrative more startling than the
transformation which the Twelve suddenly underwent on the fiftieth day after
Calvary. A cultivated ministry and well-appointed churches are well enough in their
way; they are suitable for the conveyance of power, but are not themselves power.
They are to positive spiritual efficacy only what riverbeds are to the floods that are
set to roll in them. The early Church, as compared with the modern, was poor in
appliances; but one sermon then converted three thousand men, and now it takes
three thousand sermons to convert one man. The difference between the times is
largely difference of power.
3. The Spirit descended upon the disciples when they were together. The full
meaning of Christianity is not exhausted in any relation in which it sets us
individually to Christ. There are blessings that accrue to Christians only by their

49. standing in fellowship with each ether. The first Christian revival was inaugurated in
a prayer-meeting. It is easy, and rather common, to treat prayer-meetings with
disparagement. But it is generally found that when a revival comes it begins in God’s
revelation of Himself to saints that draw near to one another in prayer.
4. This first revival of religion began with the spiritual replenishment of those
already Christian. It is time wasted, and runs counter to the Divine order of things,
for a Church that is not itself revived to attempt revivalistic operations among the
unconverted. Christianity, to the degree in which it extends itself, does so as a kind of
contagion. The result of “gotten-up” revivals is only man-made Christians; and man-
made Christians stand in the way of their own conversion and add to the inertia of
the Church.
6. After the Ascension the disciples simply waited for Pentecost. There was no
further work that needed to be wrought in them before its bestowment. And we shall
always receive the Divine baptism just as soon as there is nothing on our part that
hinders it. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove Me now herewith,”
etc.
6. The Holy Spirit descended upon all the disciples. So far as we are Holy Ghost
Christians, all substantial distinctions in this respect between the laity and the clergy
are erased.
7. The Holy Spirit revealed Himself outwardly in the shape of tongues. This was
prophetic of the way in which revealed truth was to be disseminated. It does not
suffice that men should simply live lives of Christian constancy. Christ not only lived,
He preached. The first revival, then, opened men’s mouths and set men talking.
There is no place for silent Christians under the administration of the Holy Ghost.
The pressure of God upon the heart inevitably finds escape at the lip. (G. H.
Parkhurst, D. D.)
“It’s no’ bilin’”
The late Dr. William Arnot, of Edinburgh, used to tell of his being at a railway station,
where he grew weary of waiting for the train to move. He inquired if the trouble was
want of water. “Plenty of water,” was the quick reply, “but it’s no’ bilin’.” We have no lack
of religious machinery in Church and Sabbath-schools and benevolent societies. The
engines are on the track, and the trainmen are in their places. If there is little or no
progress, may it not be that the water is “no’ bilin’”?
Sudden revivals explained
I looked recently at a very remarkabIe sight, the burning of a huge floorcloth
manufactury. I was just about returning home from my Master’s work when I saw a little
blaze, and in an incredibly short space a volume of fire rolled up in great masses to the
skies. Why blazed it so suddenly? Why, because for months before many men had been
busily employed in hanging up the floorcloth and in saturating the building with
combustible materials; I do not mean with the intention of making a blaze, but in the
ordinary course of their manufacture; so that when at last the spark came it grew into a
great sheet of flame all at once. So sometimes when the gospel is faithfully preached a
sinner gets present peace and pardon, and he is so full of joy his friends cannot make
him out, his progress is so rapid. But be it remembered that God has been mysteriously
at work months before in that man’s heart, preparing his soul to catch the heavenly

50. flame, so that there was only a spark needed, and then up rolled the flame to heaven. Oh
that I could be that spark to some heart in whom God has been working this morning,
but He alone can make me so! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spiritual influence from another world
The Gulf Stream in its beneficent and hidden influence may be taken as a sort of parable
of spiritual influence. This England of ours should be naturally and properly a land of
almost eternal winter. For some eight months of the year our very seas ought to be
frozen over, so that no ship could approach our shores. Our islands should be a rough
rude tract of country, where only the hardiest forms of life could survive—a land of
forests where wild beasts should roam, whose furs should give to the place almost its
only value, and where the deep snows should make agriculture almost impossible. This
should be Great Britain—a proud name for so desolate a tract. What mystery is this
which delivers us? Away in the distant southern world, in the fierce heat of the tropics,
starts the Gulf Stream. It gathers the warmth of the sun, and sends it for thousands of
miles across the seas to lave our shores. And thus the arctic winter is driven from us; and
our ports are open all the year round; over us stretch the kindlier skies; about us blow
the gentler winds; our fields are covered with grass, the valleys are thick with corn; the
pastures are covered with flocks and herds, and this favoured land is shut off from
extremes, and has the summer of the North with the winter of the South. Now think of
some shivering native of Labrador, who has heard of this Gulf Stream, and scornfully
shakes his head—“I do not believe it,” says he; “it is impossible and absurd.” Well, I
would not argue the subject. I would only invite him to come and see. “But where is this
Gulf Stream which does such wonders? Can you see it?” No, we cannot see it, but it is
there—hidden, noiseless, mingling with our waters and transforming our climate. The
parable is a many-sided illustration of the truth. Of nature, of ourselves, we do dwell in a
land of winter—frozen and well-nigh dead, without the energy to put forth any life of
God. But, lo, about us do flow gracious influences from another world. We know not
how, but by the Holy Spirit of God, there is breathed about us and within us the love of
God, softening, transforming, bringing to us a new heaven and a new earth. And now do
grow and flourish blessed things which before we knew not. (M. G. Pearse.)
The outpouring of the Spirit
(first sermon):—
I. Mark the very critical care of the Divine Head of the Church, in fixing special times for
the communication of special blessings. Here we have the largest possible opportunity
which God Himself could have secured for the communication of His supreme gift.
Pentecost was a harvest festival; about that time people could come with the least degree
of danger from various outlying countries and districts. There are opportunities even in
Divine providence. The days are not all alike to God. We bind Him down to one day,
whereas is there in reality a single day in our life that He has not a lien upon? Does He
not come in upon birthdays, days of deliverance, of surprise, of unusual sorrow and joy?
God is not the God of one day only; He takes up the one day and specially holds it before
us, but only symbolically. What He does with that He wants to do with all the others.
II. On this occasion we have the largest possible union—

51. 1. Of nationalities.
2. Of desire. Note the word “accord.” The instruments were all in tune together,
without mental distraction or moral discord. God has promised nothing to disunion;
the man that creates disunion in the Church must instantly be put away—he is worse
than an infidel.
3. They were also gathered in one place: that is the transient word. The place is
nothing, the accord is everything. Neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem will
men worship the Father, but the accord, the rhythmic fellowship—this is the eternal
quantity, and he who meddles with it is a violator within the very shadow of the altar.
Yet who thinks of this? If a poor moral cripple should be caught suddenly in some
moral fault, then is the imperfect and blind Church enraged with him, but the man
who is speaking ungracious words, making unlovely statements, breathing a spirit of
dissension in the Church—who takes note of him?
III. Then we have the largest possible bestowment of the Divine gift. The word “all”
includes the followers of Christ of every name and degree. We are not to suppose that
popes, prelates, preachers, ministers, leaders, alone have this gift of the Holy Spirit. We
must not imagine that a minister merely as such has greater spiritual privileges than a
mechanic. We are all equally priests before God, our priesthood has no standing but in
our holiness. As to the Church all meeting in one place, do not believe in a place-church.
God’s Church is everywhere. Many of you belong to God’s Church and may not know it.
What is your heart, what is your heart’s desire, what is the sovereign purpose of your
life? If you can say it is to know God’s will and do it, then you are in the Church,
whatever particular place you may occupy. Jesus Christ made a great promise to His
disciples when they asked Him whether at that time He would restore the kingdom unto
Israel. The very great-nero of the promise necessitates that the fulfilment of it shall be
upon a scale proportioned to itself. Now how will He fulfil the promise of enduement
with power from on high? That would be no commonplace realisation of that promise,
nor was there one (verses 1-4). Imagination says, “It is enough.” God always takes care to
satisfy the moral nature, and to call upon conscience to say, “It is right.”
IV. We see from this revelation how helpless we are in the matter of spiritual revivals.
What did the apostles do towards this demonstration of Divine power? They did nothing
but wait, pray, hope, expect—what the world, so fond of action, would call nothing. That
is all we can do. Have nothing to do with those persons who organise revivals, with any
mechanised resurrection of spiritual life. We need to know the power of waiting. There
are those who tell us we ought to be doing something practical, and they degrade that
word into a kind of mechanical exercise. Is he doing nothing who continues steadfast in
prayer? or he who speaks great words of wisdom, and who calms the heart in the midst
of its searching trouble? To be practical is not to be demonstrative, to be building wood,
hay, stone, and metal, it may be to give thought, to offer suggestion, to stimulate the
mind, to check the ambition, to elevate the purpose of life. The disciples and apostles,
previous to Pentecost, did everything by doing nothing.
V. We see how unmistakable fire is. The difference between one man and another is a
difference of heat. The difference between one reader and another is a difference of fire;
the difference between one musician and another is that one man is all fire, and the
other man all ice. The difference between one preacher and another is a difference of
fire. (J. Parker, D. D.)

52. The outpouring of the Spirit
(second sermon):—
I. It is in the presence of the Holy Ghost that we find the true union of the Church. There
are diversities of operation, and must always be, but such diversity does not impair the
unity of the Spirit. There is one faith, though there be many creeds, one baptism, though
there be many forms of it, one Lord, though He shine in a thousand different lights. We
have been vainly looking for union in uniformity. Consider how irrational this is. Is the
human race one or many? is there any difficulty in identifying a man whatever his
colour, form, stature, language?—yet are there any two men exactly alike? Man has, say,
some seven features, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, form or contour, colour or
complexion, yet out of those seven notes what music of facial expression has God
wrought? It is so in the Christian Church. That is split up into a score of sects, but the
Church itself is one. To those who look upon things from the outside merely, it would
seem impossible that the Arminian and the Calvinist can both be readers of the same
Bible, and worshippers of the same God. But their unity is not found in formality, in
creedal expression, in propositional theology, in ecclesiastical arrangement; down in the
centre of the heart lies the common organic nerve that unites Christendom in its worship
and in its hope; and when the Cross is touched, the defence never comes from any one
section, the whole Church with unanimous love and loyalty rushes to the vindication.
This has been illustrated by the diversities which occur in the expressions of sorrow,
worship, and loyalty. The Eastern sufferer lies prostrate, crying piteously and
vehemently. The Western is silent and self-controlled. The difference is not in the
sorrow, but in the manifestation of the sorrow. So the Oriental before his king falls fiat
on the ground, and the Briton before his God only kneels. Is there, then, a difference in
the spirit of worship?
II. Have we received the Holy Ghost? The question does not admit of hesitation as to its
answer.
1. No man can mistake the summer sun when he sees it; he will not come home with
a half tale of having seen some kind of light, but is not quite sure whether it was a gas
jet, or the shining of an electric light, or a new star. The sun needs no introduction,
has no signature but its own glory, and needs take no oath in proof of its identity.
The shadows know it, and flee away; the flowers, and open their little hearts to its
blessing; all the hills and valleys know it and quiver with a new joy.
2. We may have the form, and not the spirit. People say the great thing after all for a
man to do is to do good. That is correct. But what would you think of me if I said the
great thing after all is for a train to go, when the train has not been attached to the
engine? You are perfectly right in saying that the train is useless if it does not go, and
if the train is going it is all right. But you must bring within your argument the fact
that the engine could not go without the fire, that the tram cannot go unless attached
to the engine, that the engine and the train move, vibrate, fly, under the power of
light—the light that was sealed up in the bins of the earth ten thousand ages ago is
driving your great locomotives to-day I When, therefore, you tell me that a man must
do good, and that is enough, you omit from your statement the vital consideration
that we can only do these things as we are inspired by the indwelling Spirit of God. I
see before me at this moment certain pieces of cord. What is wanted is but to connect
these cords with a motive power, but until the connection is established they are but
dead useless things. Connect them, set the engine going, let it cause the necessary
rotations to fly, and presently an arrangement may be made by which from these
cords we shall receive a dazzling glory. They are nothing in themselves, and yet

53. without them the engine might go for a thousand ages and we should get no light. It
is even so with us. We are here, men educated, intelligent, well-appointed, and what
is it that we need but connection with the heavens, direct communication with the
source of light and fire.
III. When the Holy Spirit is communicated to the Church, we must not imagine that we
shall be other than ourselves, enlarged, ennobled, and developed. The Spirit will not
merge our individuality in a common monotony. Whatever your power is now, the
incoming of the Holy Ghost will magnify and illuminate, so that your identity Will be
carried up to its highest expression and significance. And more than that, there will be a
development of latent faculties, slumbering powers, the existence of which has never
been suspected by our dearest friends. Look for surprises in the Church when the Holy
Ghost falls upon it: dumb men will speak, ineloquent men will attract and fascinate by
the sublimity of their new discourse, timid men will put on the lion, and those who had
hidden themselves away in the obscurity of conscious feebleness will come out and offer
themselves at the Lord’s altar to help in the Lord’s service. The resources of the Church
will be multiplied in proportion as the Church enjoys the presence and power of the Holy
Ghost. How the old earth has continued to keep pace with all our civilisation and
science. The electric light was, as to its possibilities, in Eden, as certainly as it is in the
metropolis of England to-day. The locomotive has not created anything but a new
combination and a new application and use. It is even so in the Bible. The Church knows
nothing yet about the possibilities of revelation. No new Bible will be written, but new
readers will come. We have learning and ability and industry enough; what we want is
the baptism of the Holy Ghost. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The baptism of the Spirit experienced
As I turned, and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the
Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind
that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the
thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a
manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression like a
wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves
and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the
very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense
wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I
wept aloud with joy and love These waves came over me and over me and over me, one
after the other, until I recollect I cried out: “I shall die if these waves continue to pass
over me.” I said, “Lord, I cannot bear any more”; yet I had no fear of death. (C. G.
Finney, D. D.)
The baptism of the Spirit: its effects
It was that baptism which made the might of weakness irresistible; it was that which
sent a few poor fishermen and publicans to conquer and regenerate the resisting world.
In the might of that Spirit Peter broke down the old wall of partition, and admitted the
Gentiles into the Church of God. By the earthquake of that Spirit the veil of the temple
was rent, and free access was given to all in the holiest place. Convicted by the might of
that Spirit the Rabbi of Tarsus sent the gospel flashing like a beacon fire from Jerusalem
to Antioch, from Antioch to Ephesus, from Ephesus to Rome. The might of that Spirit,

54. working among the Roman legionaries subdued their fierce and stubborn hearts; the
might of that Spirit dilated the humble intellects of the apologists of Christianity, made
ridiculous the wit of Lucian, the taunts of Celsus, the logic of Porphyry, the satire of
Julian. That Spirit leapt with Telemachus into the Coliseum, and put an end for ever to
the hideous butchery of the gladiators in the arena; it emancipated the wretched millions
of ancient slaves; it made childhood sacred with the seal of baptism, and gave to
trembling womanhood the rose of chastity and honour. The might of the Spirit again
dissipated the radiant glamour of Pagan fancy, broke the wand of the enchantress,
hushed the song of the Syren, branded with shame the flushed face of Bacchus, and the
harlot brow of Aphrodite. The might of that Spirit, abasing the Roman eagles, wove its
cross, the symbol which heathenism loathed as the gibbet of the malefactor, in gold on
the banners of armies, and in gems on the diadems of kings. Touched with that Spirit,
the rude northern barbarians bowed their heads before the meek white Christ. Clothed
in that Spirit, the missionaries went forth from St. Thomas to Ulphilas, from Ulphilas to
Boniface, from Boniface to Henry Martin and Coleridge Pattison, until the great Angel
stood with one foot upon the land and one upon the sea, with an everlasting gospel in
His hands. In the might of that Spirit the Crusaders gave up their lives for their fair
Captain, Christ. It was the love which that Spirit kindled, like a pure flame on the altar of
their hearts, which made the philanthropists, from Fabula to St. Francis, from St.
Francis to St. Vincent de Paul and John Howard and David Livingstone and Lord
Shaftesbury, strong to confront the menacing monopolies, and to smite the hoary head
of inveterate abuse. So the descending flame, the rushing mighty wind of the Holy
Ghost, is the secret of all that Christianity has done for the love of Christ its Lord. Look
forward for three poor centuries from the first Pentecost, and on Whitsunday A.D. 337
died, in the white robe of baptism which he had just received, Constantine the Great, the
first Christian emperor of Rome. Look forward for six centuries, and it was on
Whitsunday of A.D. 597 that the conversion of Saxon England began with the baptism of
King Ethelbert. Look forward for seven centuries and a half, and it was on Whitsunday
A.D. 755 that St. Boniface was martyred, the great apostle of the Germans. Look forward
nearly nineteen centuries, and to-day, in tens of thousands of Christian Churches, from
the snows of Greenland to the rocky Falkland Isles, from dawn to sunset, and again from
sunset to dawn, in every single spot where there are gathered the representatives of any
portion of civilised peoples, there is being preached that very same gospel in every
essential particular which was preached nearly two millenniums ago in Nazareth and
Bethlehem. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
A new manifestation of the Divine Spirit
1. Though we cannot regard Pentecost as the birthday of the Church, since the
Church was born centuries before, we are bound to regard it as the grand crowning
period in the development of the plan of redemption. Periods in the working out of
this plan mark the history of four thousand years, one leading to another. From
Adam to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to Christ, and now
from Christ’s Advent to Pentecost. To this all the others pointed, and in it they were
all crowned with glory.
2. But we are not to suppose that this was the first time the Divine Spirit visited this
world. He strove with the antediluvians, inspired old prophets, and dwelt in old
saints. But He never came in such a demonstration and plenitude of power before.
Before He had distilled as the dew, now He comes down as a shower; before He had
gleamed as the first rays of morning, now He appears as the brightness of noon. Note

55. His action—
I. Upon the disciples.
1. Upon their ear. “Wind,” an emblem of the Spirit.
(1) Invisible.
(2) Mysterious.
(3) Powerful.
(4) Refreshing.
Great ,epochs are usually marked by extraordinary phenomena—e.g., the giving of the
Law; the Advent; the Crucifixion, and now Pentecost.
2. Upon their eye. “Fire” is
(1) Purifying.
(2) Consuming.
(3) Transmuting.
(4) Diffusive.
Perhaps these supernatural appeals to the senses were intended to express the relation
of the Divine Spirit.
(a) To life—“wind” or air is vital, the breath of life.
(b) To speech—“tongues” would intimate that the Spirit had given men new
utterances.
(c) To purity—“fire” would indicate that the Spirit had to consume all the
corruptions of the soul.
II. In the disciples. “They were filled with the Holy Ghost.” He took possession of their—
1. Minds, and made them the organs of Divine thought.
2. Hearts, and filled them with Divine emotions.
3. Bodies, and made them His living temples.
4. Wills, and made them the organs of Divine resolutions. Nothing but the Divine
will fill the soul Without God there will be a boundless vacuum within.
III. through the disciples. Your things are observable concerning their speech.
1. It followed their Divine inspiration. It was not until the Spirit had given them the
right thoughts and feelings that utterance came. Better be dumb than express the
sentiments of the unrenewed soul. It is when the Spirit comes that we want speech,
and shall have it. A Divinely filled soul must break forth in Divine language.
2. It was miraculous. The coming at once into the possession of a new language is as
great a miracle as the possession of a new limb.
3. It was unspeakably useful. It served to impress the multitude with the Divinity of
Christianity, and enabled the disciples to proclaim without preparation the gospel to
every man. Without it the first age of the Church would have had a different history.
4. It was profoundly religious. This wonderful gift was employed to speak of God’s
wonderful works. May the day soon come when God-given language, instead of being

56. the vehicle of erroneous thought, impure feeling, depraved purpose, shall convey to
men nothing but holiness, goodness, and truth. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The time of the Spirit’s outpouring proves the unity of the two dispensations
The time when the Spirit was poured out on the body of Christians, and the Church’s
foundations laid deep and strong, revealed profound reverence for the old dispensation,
raising by anticipation a protest against the heretical teaching which become current
among the Gentiles in the second century, and has often since reappeared, as amongst
the Anabaptists of Germany and the Antinomians at the Reformation. This view taught
that there was an essential opposition between the Old and the New Testament, some
holding that the Old Testament was the production of a spiritual being inferior and
hostile to the eternal God. The Divine Spirit guided St. Luke, however, to teach the
opposite view, and is careful to honour the eider dispensation and the old covenant,
showing that Christianity was simply the perfection and completion of Judaism, and was
developed therefrom as naturally as the bud of spring bursts forth into the splendid
blossom and flower of summer. We trace these evidences of the Divine foreknowledge,
as well as the Divine wisdom, in these Pentecostal revelations, providing for and
forecasting future dangers with which, even in its earlier days, the bark of Christ’s
Church had desperately to struggle. (G. T. Stokes, D. D.)
Effect of the Holy Spirit
“Tell me,” said a father to his son, “what difference you can detect between two needles—
one of which has received an electric shock, whilst the other has not. And yet the one has
hidden virtues, which occasion will show, of which the other has none. The electric
shock has rendered the one needle a magnet, which, duly balanced, will enable man to
find his way across the trackless ocean. As this needle, so may that soul be which has
received the electric shock of the Holy Ghost: on the ocean of a sinful world, it shall
point wanderers to the heaven of everlasting rest.”
Revivals of religion
I. Their nature. Religion in the soul is sometimes in a lower, sometimes in a higher state.
The passage from the one to the other is more or less rapid. So in a community or
church. There were periods of decline and refreshing under the Old Testament, in the
time of Christ, in the time of the Reformation, in the time of Edwards and since. The
phrase has now acquired the meaning of a sudden change from inattention to attention
in regard to religions—to those seasons when Christian zeal is manifestly increased, and
converts multiplied.
II. Their reality,
1. This has been denied—
(1) By rationalists, and all who deny the supernatural operations of the Holy
Spirit.
(2) By those who deny that the converting influences of the Spirit are ever
exerted except in connection with the sacraments.
(3) By those whose theory of religion does not admit of instantaneous or rapid
conversions; who hold that the germ of piety implanted in baptism is, by an

57. educational process, to be nurtured unto conversion.
(4) By those who, while admitting the facts of She Bible on the subject, seem
disposed to regard them as belonging rather to the miraculous than to the
normal state of the Church.
2. But granting the fact of supernatural influence, there is no objection to the theory
of revivals. There is nothing in them inconsistent with the nature of religion, or with
the modes of Divine operation. It is a question of fact, and both Scripture and history
are decisive on the point.
3. In regard to the question whether any religious excitement is a revival or not,
note—
(1) It is, of course, not to be taken for granted that every such excitement is a
work of God. It may be nothing but the product of human acts and eloquence,
and consist in the excitement of mere natural feelings. Much, no doubt, which
passes for revival is more or less of that character.
(2) The criteria for the decision between true and false revivals, and true and
false religion is the same.
(a) Their origin. Are they due to the preaching of the truth?
(b) Their character. Is the excitement humble, reverential, peaceful,
benevolent: holy; or is it proud, censorious, schismatical, irreverent?
(c) Their permanent fruits. This is the only certain test.
(3) Perfection is not to be expected in revivals any more than in the religion of
individuals, and they are not to be condemned because of some evils.
III. Their importance.
1. This may be estimated, proximately, in two ways—
(1) By the importance of the end which they are assumed to answer—the
salvation of many souls and the elevation of the piety of the Church.
(2) Historically, i.e., by a reference to the effects they have produced. Pentecost,
the Reformation, the Mission of Wesley, etc. Estimated by these standards their
importance is incalculable.
2. But there are false views of their importance, viz.,
(1) That they are the only ways in which religion can be promoted. Many expect
nothing except during a revival, and consequently do nothing.
(2) That they are the best way. They are great mercies, but there are greater.
When there have been years of famine a superabundant harvest is a great
blessing. But it had been better had each harvest been good. General permanent
health is better than exuberant joyousness alternating with depression.
IV. Their dangers. These may be learned—
1. From their nature. Excitement in proportion to its intensity in an individual or a
community calls into vigorous exercise both the good and bad elements which may
be extant. It makes the self-righteous, the censorious, the vain, more so. It sets men
on new, unauthorised or improper means of promoting religion; and the evil
elements often mingle with the good, so as to be far more apparent than the good.

58. The desolations of storm or flood are often more apparent than their benefits.
2. From experience we find the following evils are apt to attend revivals.
(1) False teachers, doctrines, measures, as in the apostolic age.
(2) False views of religion, fanaticism.
(3) Contempt of the ordinary means of grace, and neglect of them.
(4) Disparagement of religion in the eyes of serious, reflecting men.
(5) Denunciation and schisms.
(6) False views of the proper kind of preaching, and neglect of the instruction of
the young. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
Revival preceded by prayer
In the winter of 1875, we were worshipping in the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the
interregnum of churches. We had the usual great audiences, but I was oppressed beyond
measure by the fact that conversions were not more numerous. One Tuesday I invited to
my house five old, consecrated Christian men—all of them gone now, except Father
Pearson, and he, in blindness and old age, is waiting for the Master’s call to come up
higher. These old men came, not knowing why I had invited them. I took them to the top
room of my house. I said to them: “I have called you here for special prayer. I am in an
agony for a great turning to God of the people. We have vast multitudes in attendance
and they are attentive and respectful, but I cannot see that they are saved. Let us kneel
down and each one pray, and not leave this room until we are all assured that the
blessing will come and has come.” It was a most intense crying unto God. I said,
“Brethren, let this meeting be a secret,” and they said it would be. That Tuesday night
special service ended. On the following Friday night occurred the usual prayer-meeting.
No one knew of what had occurred on Tuesday night, but the meeting was unusually
thronged. Men accustomed to pray in public in great composure broke down under
emotion. The people were in tears. There were sobs and silences and solemnities of such
unusual power that the worshippers looked into each other’s faces as much as to say,
“What does all this mean?” And, when the following Sabbath came, although we were in
a secular place, over four hundred arose for prayers, and a religious awakening took
place that made that winter memorable for time and for eternity. There may be in this
building many who were brought to God during that great ingathering, but few of them
know that the upper room in my house in Quincy Street, where those five old Christian
men poured out their souls before God, was the secret place of thunder. (T. De Witt
Talmage.)
Belief in the Holy Ghost
“I believe in the Holy Ghost,” is not with us a mere formal expression; but the utterance
of our heartfelt conviction. I have heard of a Church school in which the children were
taught the Apostles’ Creed, and each child had to say a sentence. One day the clergyman
came in, and asked them to repeat it to him. They managed all right for a time, but all of
a sudden there was an awkward silence. The clergyman said, “Why don’t you go on?”
One trembling little voice replied, “Please, sir, the boy that believes in the Holy Ghost
isn’t here to-day.” I fear that is true of many churches, and many pulpits; those who

59. believe in the Holy Ghost are not there! His very name is scarcely heard in some places
of worship; and all ascription of glory and honour to Him is lost in the mention of an
“influence.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Waiting where the Spirit is likely to come
“That ship does not seem to stir; there’s not a breath of wind to move her sails”; said one
of our little company. “No,” replied another, “but she is where she will get the wind as
soon as it begins to blow.” And so it proved; for presently her canvas began to fill, and
ere long she was speeding towards her desired haven. It is a good thing to be in the way
of any blessing that may be coming. Perhaps you are not yet a Christian; but you say that
you long to be one. Then seek to get where the sacred wind is likely to blow. The Spirit,
like the wind, “bloweth where it listeth”; but there are special times and places in which
His gracious influences are usually manifested. See that you are where you may expect
the heavenly breeze. Prayer-meetings, Bible-classes, special services, and places of
worship where the gospel of the grace of God is preached in all its fulness, are the spots
where the Spirit delights to work; go there, and may the Divine afflatus fill thee, and
speed thee on thy heavenward voyage! (J. W. Harrald.)
Are we ready for spiritual power
This power is what we want; but the question is, are we ready for it? Are we fit to be
used, willing to be used, to be used anywhere, to be apparently unused, to be nothing,
that Christ may be all? The possession of power is a great responsibility; perhaps the
self-will and self-esteem of some of us would make the possession of such power a very
deadly thing. Andrew Murray says, “We want to get possession of the power, and use it;
God wants the power to get possession of us, and use us. If we give ourselves to the
power to rule in us, the power will give itself to us to rule through us.” We are waiting
here this morning to be filled with power. Perhaps we had better wait first to be emptied.
(T. J. Longhurst.)
Awaking to truth
The Holy Spirit comes like a rushing wind upon the disciples, and in an hour they are
new men. The jailer hears and believes in a night. Luther, while toiling up the holy stairs
of the Lateran, holding to salvation by works, drops that scheme on the way, and lays
hold of the higher one of salvation by faith. Ignatius Loyola, in a dream, has sight of the
Mother of Christ, and awakes a soldier of Jesus. It is often so. We do not so much grow
into the possession of new spiritual truths as we awake to them. Their coming is not like
,the sunrise, that slowly discloses the shapes and relations of things, but is like the
lightning, that illuminates earth and sky in one quick flash, and so imprints them for
ever on the vision. (Theodore T. Munger.)
The gift of the Spirit dependent upon conditions
How to realise the immanence, or possess ourselves of the indwelling of this Holy Spirit,
is purely a question of conditions. Let me illustrate my meaning. To a man in perfect

60. health an atmosphere impregnated with disease-germs is comparatively harmless; but
should he approach a typhus-stricken patient with a body exhausted by exercise, or faint
from want of food, the probabilities are that he will fall a prey to the disease. Again, as a
man brings himself into harmony with all the laws of his being, life assumes a bright and
joyous aspect. Forms, tints, sounds, the shouldering hill, the roseate hues of dawn, the
sweet-voiced song of birds, rouse in him the spirit of devotion, and appeal to him as
revelations of a hand and mind Divine. But if his eye be jaundiced, his liver torpid, his
pulse irregular, his brain congested, then creation becomes a blank, the world a
wilderness, and life a weariness and a woe. Or, once more, take mental conditions. Have
you never, in reading a book, marked with pencil some passage that suddenly flashed its
meaning in upon your mind; and then, some six months later, in re-reading the same
passage, wondered how it was you failed to re-experience the inspiration of the former
time? There was no change in the book; the change was in your mental condition. Have
you never, in hearing some strain of music, felt that it led you into a world of fancy, a
realm of strange unutterable delight, and yet, forsooth, when on a later day the same
chords have been touched by the same hands, to your astonishment they languidly and
meaninglessly floated past your ear without rousing the imagery of your soul? There was
no change in the music, the change was in the mental conditions of your life; at one time
you were responsive; at the other, dull and inert. In all spheres of our existence, joy,
truth, love, are proportioned to conditions. And so in the realm of the Spirit. Fulfil the
Divine conditions and you are en rapport with the Divine life. Permit those conditions to
go unfulfilled, and the Divine life will be to you as though it were not. And oh! how
simple these conditions are! They do not consist in lashing yourself into a frenzy, nor in
shouting yourself into hoarseness, nor in mutilating yourself. No. The conditions are
prayer and supplication from hearts one in accord. It is prayer, and prayer only, that fits
us for Divine indwelling; it is prayer, and prayer only, that puts us in touch with God. A
prayerless life can no more draw to itself the Holy Spirit than glass can draw the electric
fire; nor can a prayerless Church bring forth the fruits of holiness any more than the
frigid zone can call forth and perfect a tropical growth. “Ye have not because ye ask not;
and ye have not because ye ask amiss.” Live in the atmosphere of prayer; for therein, and
therein only, will you fit yourself for the Divine indwelling; therein, and therein only, will
you be vigorous with the life of God. (J. Marshall Mather.)
All with one accord in one place.—
The outward unity of the Pentecostal Church
There was unity of spirit and unity in open manifestation to the world at large. Christ’s
disciples, when they received the gifts of heaven’s choicest blessings, were not split up
into dozens of different organisations, each of them hostile to the others, and each
striving to aggrandise itself at the expense of kindred brotherhoods. They had keenly in
remembrance the teaching of our Lord’s great Eucharistic supplication (Joh_17:21).
There was visible unity among the followers of Christ; there was interior love and
charity, finding expression in external union which qualified the disciples for the fuller
reception of the spirit of love, and rendered them powerful in doing God’s work amongst
men. What a contrast the Christian Church presents to this now! There are some
persons who rejoice in the vast divisions in the Church; but they are shortsighted and
inexperienced in the dangers and scandals which have flowed, and are flowing, from
them. It is indeed in the mission field that the schisms among Christians are most
evidently injurious. When the heathen see the soldiers of the Cross split up among
themselves into hostile organisations, they very naturally say that it will be time enough

61. when their own divergencies and difficulties have been reconciled to come and convert
persons who at least possess internal union and concord. Then, again, these divisions
lead to a wondrous waste of power both at home and abroad. If men believe that the
preaching of the Cross of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, and that millions are
perishing from want of that blessed story, can they feel contentment when the great
work of competing sects consists, not in spreading that salvation, but in building up
their own cause by proselytising from the neighbours, and gathering unto their own
organisation persons who have already been made partakers of Christ Jesus? And if this
competition of sects be injurious and wasteful within the bounds of Christendom, surely
it is infinitely more so when various contending bodies concentrate all their forces, as
they so often do, on the same locality in some unconverted land, and seem as eagerly
desirous of gaining proselytes from one another as from the mass of paganism. Then,
too, to take it from another point of view, what a loss in generalship, in Christian
strategy, in power of concentration, results from our unhappy divisions! The united
efforts made by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Greeks, are indeed all too small for
the vast work of converting the heathen world if they were made with the greatest skill
and wisdom. How much more insufficient they must be when a vast proportion of the
power employed is wasted, so far as the work of conversion is concerned, because it is
used simply in counteracting and withstanding the efforts of other Christian bodies.
How different it was in the primitive Church! Within one hundred and fifty years, or
little more, of the ascension of Christ, and the outpouring of the Divine Spirit, a
Christian writer could boast that the Christian Church had permeated the whole Roman
empire to such an extent that if the Christians abandoned the cities they would be turned
into howling deserts. This triumphant march was simply in accordance with the
Saviour’s promise. The world saw that Christians loved one another, and the world was
consequently converted. (G. T. Stokes, D. D.)
EBC 1-13, "THE PENTECOSTAL BLESSING
IN these words we find the record of the event which completed the Church, and
endowed it with that mysterious power which then was, and ever since has been, the
source of its true life and of its highest success.
The time when the gift of the Spirit was vouchsafed is marked for us as "when the day of
Pentecost was now come." Here again, as in the fact of the ascension and the waiting of
the Church, we trace the outline of Christianity in Judaism, and see in the typical
ceremonial of the old dispensation the outline and shadow of heavenly realities.
What was the history of the Pentecostal feast? That feast fulfilled in the Jewish system a
twofold place. It was one of the great natural festivals whereby God taught His ancient
people to sanctify the different portions of the year. The Passover was the feast of the
first ripe corn, celebrating the beginning of the barley harvest, as again the Pentecostal
loaves set forth, solemnised, and sanctified the close of the wheat harvest. No one was
permitted, according to the twenty-third of Leviticus, to partake of the fruits of the earth
till the harvest had been sanctified by the presentation to God of the first ripe sheaf, just
as at the greatest paschal festival ever celebrated, Christ, the first ripe sheaf of that vast
harvest of humanity which is maturing for its Lord, was taken out of the grave Where the
rest of the harvest still lies, and presented in the inner temple of the universe as the first-
fruits of humanity unto God. At Pentecost, on the other hand, it was not a sheaf but a
loaf that was offered to signify the completion of the work begun at the Passover. At
Pentecost the law is thus laid down: "Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave

62. loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah: they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken with
leaven, for first-fruits unto the Lord". (Lev_23:17) Pentecost, therefore, was the harvest
festival, the feast of ingathering for the Jews; and when the type found its completion in
Christ, Pentecost became the feast of ingathering for the nations, when the Church, the
mystical body of Christ, was presented unto God to be an instrument of His glory and a
blessing to the world at large. This feast, as we have already intimated, was a fitting
season for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that for another reason. Pentecost was
considered by the Jews as a festival commemorative of the giving of the law at Mount
Sinai in the third month after they had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. It was
a fitting season, therefore, for the bestowal of the Spirit, whereby the words of ancient
prophecy were fulfilled, "I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart I will
write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Jer_31:33)
The time when the Spirit was poured out on the assembled body of Christians, and the
Church’s foundations laid deep and strong, revealed profound reverence for the old
dispensation, raising by anticipation a protest against the heretical teaching which
became current among the Gnostics in the second century, and has often since found
place in Christian circles, as amongst the Anabaptists of Germany and the Antinomians
at the time of the Reformation. This view taught that there was an essential opposition
between the Old and the New Testament, some maintainers of it, like the ancient
Gnostics, holding that the Old Testament was the production of a spiritual being inferior
and hostile to the Eternal God. The Divine Spirit guided St. Luke, however, to teach the
opposite view, and is careful to honour the elder dispensation and the old covenant,
showing that
Christianity was simply the perfection and completion of Judaism, and was developed
therefrom as naturally as the bud of spring bursts forth into the splendid blossom and
flower of summer. We trace these evidences of the Divine foreknowledge, as well as of
the Divine wisdom, in these Pentecostal revelations, providing for and forecasting future
dangers with which, even in its earlier days, the bark of Christ’s Church had desperately
to struggle.
I. Now let us take the circumstances of the Pentecostal blessing as they are stated, for
every separate detail bears with it an important message. The place and the other
circumstances of the outpouring of the Spirit are full of instruction. The first disciples
were all with one accord in one place. There was unity of spirit and unity in open
manifestation to the world at large. Christ’s disciples, when they received the gifts of
heaven’s choicest blessings, were not split up into dozens of different organisations, each
of them hostile to the others, and each striving to aggrandise itself at the expense of
kindred brotherhoods. They had keenly in remembrance the teaching of our Lord’s great
Eucharistic supplication when He prayed to His Father for His people that "they may all
be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee that the world may believe that
Thou didst send Me." There was visible unity among the followers of Christ; there was
interior love and charity, finding expression in external union which qualified the
disciples for the fuller reception of the spirit of love, and rendered them powerful in
doing God’s work amongst men. The state of the Apostles and the blessing then received
have an important message for the Christianity of our own and of every age. What a
contrast the Christian Church-taking the word in its broadest sense as comprising all
those who profess and call themselves Christians-presents at the close of the nineteenth
when compared with the opening years of the first century! May not many of the
problems and difficulties which the Church of to-day experiences be traced up to this
woeful contrast? Behold England nowadays, with its two hundred sects, all calling
themselves by the name of Christ; take the Christian world, with its Churches mutually

63. hostile, spending far more time and trouble on winning proselytes one from the other
than upon winning souls from the darkness of heathenism; - surely this one fact alone,
the natural result of our departure from the Pentecostal condition of unity and peace, is
a sufficient evidence of our evil plight. We do not purpose now to go into any discussion
of the causes whence have sprung the divisions of Christendom. "An enemy hath done
this" is a quite sufficient explanation, for assuredly the great enemy of souls and of
Christ has counter-worked and traversed the work of the Church and the conversion of
the world most effectually thereby. There are some persons who rejoice in the vast
variety of divisions in the Church; but they are shortsighted and inexperienced in the
danger and scandals which have flowed, and are flowing, from them. It is indeed in the
mission field that the schisms among Christians are most evidently injurious. When the
heathen see the soldiers of the Cross split up among themselves into hostile
organisations, they very naturally say that it will be time enough when their own
divergences and difficulties have been reconciled to come and convert persons who at
least possess internal union and concord. The visible unity of the Church was from the
earliest days a strong argument, breaking down pagan prejudice. Then, again, not only
do the divisions of Christians place a stumbling-block in the way of the conversion of the
heathen, but they lead to a wondrous waste of power both at home and abroad. Surely
one cannot look at the religious state of a town or village in England without realising at
a glance the evil results of our divisions from this point of view. If men believe that the
preaching of the Cross of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, and that millions are
perishing from want of that blessed story, can they feel contentment when the great
work of competing sects consists, not in spreading that salvation, but in building up
their own cause by proselytising from their neighbours, and gathering into their own
organisation persons who already have been made partakers of Christ Jesus? And if this
competition of sects be injurious and wasteful within the bounds of Christendom, surely
it is infinitely more so when various contending bodies concentrate all their forces, as
they so often do, on the same locality in some unconverted land, and seem as eagerly
desirous of gaining proselytes from one another as from the mass of paganism.
Then, too, to take it from another point of view, what a loss in generalship, in Christian
strategy, in power of concentration, results from our unhappy divisions? The united
efforts made by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Greeks, are indeed all too small for
the vast work of converting the heathen world if they were made with the greatest skill
and wisdom. How much more insufficient they must be-when a vast proportion of the
power employed is wasted, as far as the work of conversion is concerned, because it is
used simply in counteracting and withstanding the efforts of other Christian bodies. I
say nothing as to the causes of dissensions. In many cases they may have been absolutely
necessary, though in too many cases I fear they have resulted merely from views far too
narrow and restrained; I merely point out the evil of division in itself as being, not a
help, as some would consider it, but a terrible hindrance in the way of the Church of
Christ. How different it was m the primitive Church! Within one hundred and fifty years,
or little more, of the ascension of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Divine Spirit, a
Christian writer could boast that the Christian Church had permeated the whole Roman
empire to such an extent that if the Christians abandoned the cities they would be turned
into howling deserts. This triumphant march of Christianity was simply in accordance
with the Saviour’s promise. The world saw that Christians loved one another, and the
world was consequently converted. But when primitive love cooled down, and divisions
and sects in abundance sprang up after the conversion of Constantine the Great, then
the progress of God’s work gradually ceased, till at last Mahometanism arose to roll back
the tide of triumphant success which had followed the preaching of the Cross, and to

64. reduce beneath Satan’s sway many a fair region, like North Africa; Egypt, and Asia
Minor, which once had been strongholds of Christianity. Surely when one thinks of the
manifold evils at home and abroad which the lack of the Pentecostal visible union and
concord has caused, as well as of the myriads who still remain in darkness while nominal
Christians bite and devour one another, we may well join in the glowing language of
Jeremy Taylor’s splendid prayer for the whole Catholic Church, as he cries, "O Holy
Jesus, King of the saints and Prince of the Catholic Church, preserve Thy spouse whom
Thou hast purchased with Thy right hand, and redeemed and cleansed with Thy blood.
O preserve her safe from schism, heresy, and sacrilege. Unite all her members with the
bands of faith, hope, and charity, and an external communion when it shall seem good in
Thine eyes. Let the daily sacrifice of prayer and sacramental thanksgiving never cease,
but be for ever presented to Thee, and for ever united to the intercession of her dearest
Lord, and for ever prevail for the obtaining for each of its members grace and blessing,
pardon and salvation."
II. Furthermore, we have brought before us the external manifestations or evidences of
the interior gift of the Spirit really bestowed upon the Apostles at Pentecost. There was a
sound as of a rushing mighty wind; there were tongues like as of fire, a separate and
distinct tongue resting upon each disciple; and lastly there was the miraculous
manifestation of speech in divers languages. Let us take these spiritual phenomena in
order. First, then, "there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting"; a sign which was repeated in the
scene narrated in the fourth chapter and the thirty-first verse, where we are told that
"when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." The appearances of things that were seen
responded to the movements and powers that were unseen. It was a supernatural
moment. The powers of a new life, the forces of a new kingdom were coming into
operation, and, as the result, manifestations that never since have been experienced
found place among men. We can find a parallel to what then happened in scientific
investigations. Geologists and astronomers push back the beginning of the world and of
the universe, at large to a vast distance, but they all acknowledge that there must have
been a period when phenomena were manifested, powers and forces called into
operation, of which men have now no experience. The beginning, or the repeated
beginnings, of the various epochs must have been times of marvels, which men can now
only dream about. Pentecost was for the Christian with a sense of the awful importance
of life and of time and of the individual soul a far greater beginning and a grander epoch
than any mere material one. It was the beginning of the spiritual life, the inauguration of
the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah, the Lord and Ruler of the material universe; and
therefore we ought to expect, or at least not to be surprised, that marvellous phenomena,
signs and wonders even of a physical type, should accompany and celebrate the scene.
The marvels of the story told in the first of Genesis find a parallel in the marvels told in
the second of Acts. The one passage sets forth the foundation of the material universe,
the other proclaims the nobler foundations of the spiritual universe. Let us take it again
from another point of view. Pentecost was, in fact, Moses on Sinai or Elijah on Horeb
over again, but in less terrific form. Moses and Elijah may be styled the founder and the
re-founder of the old dispensation, just as St. Peter and the Apostles may be called the
founders of the new dispensation. But what a difference in the inaugural scene! No
longer with thunder and earthquake, and mountains rent, but in keeping with a new and
more peaceful economy, there came from heaven the sound as of the rushing of a mighty
wind. It is not, too, the only occasion where the idea of wind is connected with that of the
Divine Spirit and its mysterious operations. How very similar, as the devout mind will

65. trace, are the words and description of St. Luke when narrating this first outpouring of
the Spirit, to the words of the Divine Master repeated by St. John, "The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
There appeared, too, tongues, separate and distinct, sitting upon each of them. The
outward and visible sign manifested on this occasion was plainly typical of the new
dispensation and of the chief means of its propagation. The personality of the Holy
Ghost is essentially a doctrine of the new dispensation. The power and influence of God’s
Spirit are indeed often recognised in the Old Testament. Aholiab and Bezaleel are said to
have been guided by the Spirit of God as they cunningly devised the fabric of the first
tabernacle. The Spirit of Jehovah began to move Samson at times in the camp of Dan;
and, on a later occasion, the same Spirit is described as descending upon him with such
amazing force that he went down and slew thirty men of Ashkelon. These and many
other similar passages present to us the Jewish conception of the Spirit of God and His
work. He was a force, a power, quickening the human mind, illuminating with genius
and equipping with physical strength those whom God chose to be champions of His
people against the surrounding heathen. Aholiab’s skill in mechanical operations, and
Samson’s strength, and Saul’s prophesying, and David’s musical art, were all of them the
gifts of God. What a noble, what a grand, inspiring view of life and life’s gifts and work,
is there set before us. It is the old lesson taught by St. James, though so often forgotten
by men when they draw a distinction between things sacred and things secular, "Every
good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of light." A
deeper view, indeed, of the Divine Spirit and His work on the soul can be traced in the
prophets, but then they were watchers upon the mountains, who discerned from afar the
approach of a nobler and a brighter day. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." That was Isaiah’s statement of his
work as adopted by our Lord; and now, at the very foundation of the Church, this deeper
and nobler tone of thought concerning the Spirit is proclaimed, when there appeared
tongues like as of fire sitting upon each of them.
The sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence was a tongue of fire. It was a most suitable
emblem, pregnant with meaning, and indicative of the large place which the human
voice was to play in the work of the new dispensation, while the supernatural fire
declared that the mere unaided human voice would avail nothing. The voice needs to be
quickened and supported by that Divine fire, that superhuman energy and power, which
the Holy Ghost alone can confer. The tongue of fire pointed on the Pentecostal morn to
the important part in the Church’s life, and in the propagation of the gospel, which
prayer, and praise, and preaching would hereafter occupy. It would have been well,
indeed, had the Church ever remembered what the Holy Ghost thus taught, specially
concerning the propagation of the gospel, for it would have been thereby saved many a
disgraceful page of history. The human tongue, illuminated and sanctified by fire from
the inner sanctuary, was about to be the instrument of the gospel’s advancement, -not
penal laws, not the sword and fire of persecution; and so long as the divinely-appointed
means were adhered to, so long the course of our holy religion was one long-continued
triumph. But when the world and the devil were able to place in the hands of Christ’s
spouse their own weapons of violence and force, when the Church forgot the words of
her Master, "My kingdom is not of this world," and the teachings embodied in the
symbol of the tongue of fire, then spiritual paralysis fell upon religious effort; and even
where human law and power have compelled an external conformity to the Christian
system, as they undoubtedly have done in some cases, yet all vital energy, all true
godliness, have been there utterly lacking in the religion established by means so

66. contrary to the mind of Christ. Very good men have made sad mistakes in this matter.
Archbishop Ussher was a man whose deep piety equalled his prodigious learning, yet he
maintained that the civil sword ought to be used to repress false doctrine; the divines of
the Westminster Assembly have left their opinion on record, that it is the duty of the
magistrate to use the sword on behalf of Christ’s kingdom; Richard Baxter taught that
the toleration of doctrines which he considered false was sinful; and all of them forgot
the lesson of the day of Pentecost, that the tongue of fire was to be the only weapon
permissible in the warfare of the kingdom whose rule is over spirits, not over bodies. The
history of religion in England amply proves this. The Church of England enjoyed, about
the middle of the last century, the greatest temporal prosperity. Her prelates held high
estate, and her security was fenced round by a perfect bulwark of stringent laws. Yet her
life-blood was fast ebbing away, and her true hold upon the nation was speedily relaxing.
The very highest ranks of society, whom worldly policy attached nominally to her
communion, had lost all faith in her supernatural work and commission. A modern
historian has shown this right well in his description of the death-scene of Queen
Caroline, a woman of eminent intellectual qualities, who had played no small part in the
religious life of this nation during the reign of her husband George II Queen Caroline
came to die, and was passing away surrounded by a crowd of attendants and courtiers.
The whole Court, permeated by the spirit of earthliness which then prevailed, was
disturbed by the death of the Queen’s body, but no one seems to have thought of the
Queen’s soul, till some one mildly suggested that, for decency’s sake, the Archbishop of
Canterbury should be sent for that he might offer up prayer with the dying woman.
Writing here in Ireland, I cannot forget that it was just the same with us at that very
period. Religion was here upheld by Worldly power; the Church, which should have been
viewed as simply a spiritual power, was regarded and treated as a mere branch of the
civil service, and true religion sank to its lowest depths. And we reaped in ourselves the
due reward of our deeds. The very men whose voices were loudest in public for the
repression of Romanism were privately living in grossest neglect of the offices and laws
of religion and morality, because they in their hearts despised an institution which had
forgotten the Pentecostal gift, and sought victory with the weapons of the flesh, and not
with those of the spirit. May God for evermore protect His Church from such miserable
mistakes, and lead her to depend more and more upon the power of the blessed and
ever-present Pentecostal gift!
A separate and distinct tongue, too, sat upon each individual assembled in the upper
room, -significant of the individual character of our holy religion. Christianity has a
twofold aspect, neither of which can with impunity be neglected. Christianity has a
corporate aspect. Our Lord Jesus Christ came not so much to teach a new doctrine as to
establish a new society, based on newer and higher principles, and working towards a
higher and nobler end than any society ever previously founded. This side of Christianity
was exaggerated in the Middle Ages. The Church, its unity, its interests, its welfare as a
corporation, then dominated every other consideration. Since the Reformation,
however, men have run to the other extreme. They have forgotten the social and
corporate view of Christianity, and only thought of it as it deals with individuals. Men
have looked at Christianity as it deals with the individual alone and have forgotten and
ignored the corporate side of its existence. Truth is many-sided indeed, and no side of
truth can with impunity be neglected. Some have erred in dwelling too much on the
corporate aspect of Christianity; others have erred in dwelling too much on its individual
aspect. The New Testament alone combines both in due proportion, and teaches the
importance and necessity of a Church, as against the extreme Protestant, on the one
hand, who will reduce religion to a mere individual matter; and of a personal religion, an

67. individual interest in the Spirit’s presence, as here indicated by the tongues which sat
upon each of them, as against the extreme Romanist, on the other hand, who looks upon
the Church as everything, to the neglect of the life and progress of the individual. This
passage does not at the same time lend any assistance to those who would thence
conclude that there was no distinction between clergy and laity, and that no ministerial
office was intended to exist under the dispensation of the kingdom of heaven. The Spirit,
doubtless, was poured out upon all the disciples, and not upon the Twelve alone, upon
the day of Pentecost, as also upon the occasion of the conversion of Cornelius and his
household. Yet this fact did not lead the Apostles and early Christians to conclude that
an appointed and ordained ministry might be dispensed with. The Lord miraculously
bestowed His graces and gifts at Pentecost and in the centurion’s house at Caesarea,
because the gospel dispensation was opened on these occasions first of all to the Jews
and then to the Gentiles. But when, subsequently to the formal opening, we read of the
gifts of the Spirit, we find that their bestowal is connected with the ministry of the
Apostles, of St. Peter and St. John at Samaria, or of St. Paul at Ephesus. The Holy Ghost
was poured out upon all the company assembled in the upper room, or in the centurion’s
house; yet the Apostles saw nothing in this fact inconsistent with a ministerial
organisation, else they would not have set apart the seven men full of faith and of the
Holy Ghost to minister to the widows at Jerusalem, nor would they have laid hands
upon elders in every church which they founded, nor would St. Paul have written, "He
that seeketh the office of a bishop desireth a good work," nor would St. Peter have
exhorted the elders to a diligent oversight of the flock of God after the model of the Good
Shepherd Himself. St. Peter clearly thought that the Pentecostal gifts did not obliterate
the distinction which existed between the shepherds and the sheep, between a fixed and
appointed ministry and the flock to whom they should minister, though in the very
initial stages of the miraculous movement the Spirit was bestowed without any human
agency upon men and women alike.
III. Lastly, in this passage we find another external proof of the Spirit’s presence in the
miraculous gift of tongues. That gift indicated to the Apostles and to all ages the tongue
as the instrument by which the gospel was to be propagated, as the symbol fire indicated
the cleansing and purifying effects of the Spirit. The gift of tongues is one that has ever
excited much speculation, and specially so during the present century, when, as some
will remember, an extraordinary attempt to revive them was made, some sixty years ago,
by the followers of the celebrated Edward Irving. Devout students of Scripture have
loved to trace in this incident at Pentecost, at the very foundation of the new
dispensation, a reversal of that confusion of tongues which happened at Babel, and have
seen in it the removal of "the covering cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread
over all nations." The precise character of the gift of tongues has of late years exercised
many minds, and different explanations have been offered of the phenomena. Some have
viewed it as a miracle of hearing, not of speaking, and maintained that the Apostles did
not speak different languages at all, but that they all spake the one Hebrew tongue, while
the Jews of the various nationalities then assembled miraculously heard the gospel in
their own language.
The miracle is in that case intensified one hundredfold; while not one single difficulty
which men feel is thereby alleviated. Meyer and a large number of German critics explain
the speaking with tongues as mere ecstatic or rapturous utterances in the ordinary
language of the disciples. Meyer thinks too that some foreign Jews had found their way
into the band of the earliest disciples. They naturally delivered their ecstatic utterances,
not in Aramaic, but in the foreign tongues to which they were accustomed, and legend
then exaggerated this natural fact into the form which the Acts of the Apostles and the

68. tradition of the Christian Church have ever since maintained. It is, indeed, rather
difficult to understand the estimate formed by such critics of the gift of tongues, whether
bestowed on the day of Pentecost or during the subsequent ministrations of St. Paul at
Corinth and Ephesus. Meyer is obliged to confess that there were some marvellous
phenomena in Corinth and other places to which St. Paul bears witness. He describes
himself as surpassing the whole Corinthian Church in this particular gift, (1Co_14:18) so
that if St. Paul’s testimony is to be relied upon, -and Meyer lays a great deal of weight
upon it, -we must accept it as conclusively proving that there existed a power of speaking
in various languages among the first Christians. But the explanation offered by many
critics of the gift of tongues as undoubtedly exercised at Corinth reduces it to something
very like those fanatical exhibitions, witnessed among the earliest followers of the
Irvingite movement, or, to put it plainly, to a mere uttering of gibberish, unworthy of
apostolic notice save in the language of sternest censure, as being a disorderly and
foolish proceeding disgraceful to the Christian community.
Meyer’s theory and that of many modern expositors seems, then, to me very
unsatisfactory, raising up more difficulties than it solves. But it may be asked, what
explanation do you offer of the Pentecostal miracle? and I can find no one more
satisfactory than the old-fashioned one, that there was a real bestowal of tongues, a real
gift of speaking in foreign languages, granted to the Apostles, to be used as occasion
required when preaching the gospel in heathen lands. Dean Stanley, in his commentary
on Corinthians, gives, as was his wont, a clear and attractive statement of the newer
theory, putting in a vigorous shape the objections to the view here maintained. I know
there are difficulties connected with this view, but many of these difficulties arise from
our ignorance of the state and condition of the early Church, while others may spring
from our very imperfect knowledge of the relations between mind and body. But
whatever difficulties attend the explanation I offer, they are as nothing compared with
the difficulties which attend the modern explanations to which I have referred. What,
then, is our theory, which we call the old-fashioned one? It is simply this, that on the day
of Pentecost Christ bestowed upon His Apostles the power of speaking in foreign
languages, according to His promise reported by St. Mark, (Mar_16:17) "They shall
speak with new tongues." This was the theory of the ancient Church. Irenaeus speaks of
the tongues as given "that all nations might be enabled to enter into life"; while Origen
explains that "St. Paul was made a debtor to different nations, because, through the
grace of the Holy Spirit, he had received the gift of speaking in the languages of all
nations." This has been the continuous theory of the Church as expressed in one of the
most ancient portions of the Liturgy, the proper prefaces in the Communion orifice. The
preface for Whir Sunday sets forth the facts commemorated on that day, as the other
proper prefaces state the facts of the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and Ascension. The
fact which Whit Sunday celebrates, and for which special thanks are then offered, is this,
that then "the Holy Ghost came down from heaven in the likeness of fiery tongues,
lighting upon the Apostles, to teach them, and to lead them to all truth; giving them both
the gift of divers languages, and also boldness with fervent zeal constantly to preach the
gospel unto all nations."
Now this traditional interpretation has not only the authority of the past on its side; we
can also see many advantages which must have accrued from a gift of this character. The
preface we have just cited states that the tongues were bestowed for the preaching of the
gospel among all nations. And surely not merely as a striking sign to unbelievers, but
also as a great practical help in missionary labours, such a gift of tongues would have
been invaluable to the Church at its very birth. There was then neither time, nor money,
nor organisation to prepare men as missionaries of the Cross. A universal commission

69. and work were given to twelve men, chiefly Galilean peasants, to go forth and found the
Church. How could they have been fitted for this work unless God had bestowed upon
them some such gift of speech? The vast diversity of tongues throughout the world is
now one of the chief hindrances with which missionary effort has to contend. Years have
often to elapse before any effective steps can be taken in the work of evangelisation,
simply because the question of the language bars the way. It would have been only in
accordance with God’s action in nature, where great epochs have been ever signalised by
extraordinary phenomena, if such a great era-making epoch as the birth of the Church of
Christ had been marked with extraordinary spiritual powers and developments, which
supplied the want of that learning and those organisations which the Lord now leaves to
the spiritual energies of the Church itself. But it is sometimes said, we never hear of this
power as used by the Apostles for missionary purposes. Nothing, however, is a surer rule
in historical investigations than this, "Never trust to mere silence," specially when the
records are but few, scanty, fragmentary. We know but very little of the ways, worship,
actions of the Apostles. Silence is no evidence either as to what they did or did not do.
Some of them went into barbarous and distant lands, as history states. Eusebius (3:1)
tells us that St. Thomas received Parthia as his allotted region, while St. Andrew taught
in Scythia. Eusebius is an author on whom great reliance is justly placed. He is one, too,
whose accuracy and research have been again and again confirmed in our own day by
discoveries of every kind. I see, then, no reason why we should not depend upon him
upon this point as well as upon others. Now if the Apostles taught in Scythia and
Parthia, what an enormous advantage it must have given them in their work among a
strange and barbarous people if, by means of the Pentecostal blessing, they could at once
proclaim a crucified Saviour. It is sometimes said, how ever, the gift of speaking with
foreign languages was not required by the Apostles for missionary purposes, as Greek
alone would carry a man all through the world, and Greek the Apostles evidently knew.
But people in saying so forget that there is a great difference between possessing enough
of a language to travel over the world, and speaking with such facility as enables one to
preach. English will now carry a man over the world, but English will not enable him to
preach to the people of India or of China. Greek might carry Apostles all over the Roman
Empire, and might enable St. Thomas to be understood by the courtiers of the great
kings of Parthia, where traces of the ancient Greek language and civilisation, derived
from Alexander’s time, long prevailed. But Greek would not enable a primitive Christian
teacher to preach fluently among the Celts of Galatia, or of Britain, or among the natives
of Spain or of Phrygia, or the barbarians of Scythia. We see from St. Paul’s case how
powerful was the hold which the Aramaic language had over the people of Jerusalem.
When the excited mob heard St. Paul speak in the Hebrew tongue they listened patiently,
because their national feelings, the sentiments which sprang up in childhood and were
allied with their noblest hopes, were touched. So must it have been all the world over.
The Pentecostal gift of tongues was a powerful help in preaching the gospel, because, like
the Master’s promise to assist their minds and their tongues in the hour of need, it freed
the Apostles from care, anxiety, and difficulties, which would have sorely hindered their
great work. But while I offer this explanation, I acknowledge that it has its own
difficulties; but then every theory has its difficulties, and we can only balance difficulties
against difficulties, selecting that theory which seems to have the fewest. The conduct,
for instance, of the Corinthians, who seem to have used the gift of tongues simply to
minister to the spirit of display, not to edification or to missionary work, seems to some
a great difficulty. But after all is not their conduct simply an instance of human sin,
perverting and misusing a divine gift, such as we often see still? God still bestows His
gifts, the real outcome and work of the Spirit. Man takes them, treats them as his own,
and misuses them for his own purposes of sin and selfishness. What else did the

70. Corinthians do, save that the gift which they abused was an exceptional one; but then
their circumstances, times, opportunities, punishments, all were exceptional and
peculiar. The one thing that was not peculiar was this, the abiding tendency of human
nature to degrade Divine gifts and blessings. There must, we again repeat, be difficulties
and mystery connected with this subject, no matter what view we take. Perhaps, too, we
are no fitting judges of the gifts be stowed on the primitive Church, or the phenomena
manifested under such extraordinary circumstances, when everything, every power,
every force, every organisation, was arrayed against the company of the twelve Apostles.
Surely miracles and miraculous powers seem absolutely necessary and natural in such a
case. We are not now sufficient or capable judges of events as they then existed. Perhaps,
too, we are not sufficient judges because we do not possess that spirit which would make
us to sympathise with and understand the state of the Church at that time. "They were
all together in one place." The Church was then visibly united, and internally united too.
A nineteenth-century Christian, with the endless divisions of Christendom, is scarcely
the most fitting judge of the Church and the Church’s blessings when the Spirit of the
Master pervaded it and the prayer of the Master for visible unity was fulfilled in it.
Christendom is weak now from its manifold divisions. Even in a mere natural way, and
from a mere human point of view, we can see how its divisions destroy its power and
efficacy as Christ’s witness in the world. But when we take the matter from a spiritual
point of view, we cannot even guess what marvellous gifts and endowments, needful for
the edification of His people and the conversion of the world, we now lack from want of
the Divine charity and peace which ruled the hearts of the twelve as they assembled in
the upper room that Pentecostal morn. We shall better understand primitive gifts when
we get back primitive union.
HAWKER, "God the Holy Ghost visits the Apostles in a wonderful and miraculous
Manner. The Apostles, being filled with the Spirit, speak divers Languages, The
Astonishment of the Multitude. Peter’s Sermon; and the Conversion of three thousand
Souls.
Act_2:1
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place.
The day of Pentecost was fifty days from the Passover. It was the second of those three
great festivals in the Jewish Church, when all the males of Israel were enjoined to appear
before the Lord, Deu_16:16. This was the feast, which was to be observed before the
people began their harvest; it being unlawful to enter upon their harvest, until this feast
to the Lord had been observed. See Lev_23:10-11. This was the sacred day, which God
the Holy Ghost was pleased to appoint, for the more open manifestation of himself to the
Church. And, as God the Son, in our nature, made the voluntary offer of himself in
sacrifice, at the Jewish Passover; the first great feast among his people, being our
Passover, and the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world: 1Co_5:7; Rev_13:8. So
God the Holy Ghost, consecrated this second feast to the gracious purpose, of assuming,
in a more open manner, his Almighty ministry in his Church, by coming down in state,
in a visible manifestation, on his Apostles: and from that hour to the present, and
through all ages of the Church, to the consummation of all things, the Lord the Spirit,
carries on all the efficiency of grace, in the hearts of the people, until grace is finished in
glory. In this ever memorable and blessed day, the Apostles, (and it is probable the
seventy, spoken of, Luk_10:1, or perhaps the whole hundred and twenty, spoken of in

71. Act_1:15, formed the complete assembly,) were all with one accord met together, waiting
in expectation, the sure promise of Jesus, Chapter one and verse five (Act_1:5) Reader!
pause, and contemplate, the sacred hour; and the holy solemnity of such a congregation!
Oh! that the Lord would cause the review of such a season, and such an assembly, to
operate upon the minds of the Lord’s people now, that wherever two or three are met
together, in the Lord’s name, they might wait, in the humble frame, of sure expectation,
of the Lord’s presence, Mat_28:20; Isa_41:1.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Of all the feasts of the Jewish year, it was that which attracted the
largest number of pilgrims from distant lands. The dangers of travel by sea or land in the
early spring or late autumn (comp. Acts 27:9) prevented their coming in any large
numbers to the Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles. At no other feast would there have
been representatives of so many nations. So, it may be noted, it was the Feast of
Pentecost that St. Paul went up to keep once and again, during his mission-work in
Greece and Asia. (See Notes on Acts 18:21; Acts 20:16.) So far, then, there was no time
on which the gift of the Spirit was likely to produce such direct and immediate results.
SBC, "Pentecost
I. The congregation in that upper room was the representative, or, as it were, the seed-
germ, of the whole Catholic Church of all the centuries and of every land. For a symbol of
this, its world-wide significance, the little Church rehearsed the praises of redemption in
all the tongues of all the lands over which God had scattered the tribes of Israel. This
polyglot praise was the consecration of heathen speech to the service of Israel’s Jehovah.
It foreshadowed the catholic grace of God which has turned common and unclean
tongues to holy use. It meant, though they knew it not, the gathering in of the Gentile
races to the God of Jacob. Let us, then, not be fond of uniformity that is false
Catholicism. Let us seek the higher unity which rests on freedom and variety. In the true
Catholic Church which stands in our creed, and is dear to our heart, there are many
tongues and forms of utterance—tongues so diverse that, alas! we often fail to recognise
one another; yet is there only one Spirit, who inspires, and having inspired, interprets;
who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
II. We are the heirs of Pentecost. Then first the waiting Church below was linked tight in
uttermost unity of life to its reigning Lord above. One Spirit embraces the throne in
heaven, and the upper room on earth. To each Christian man in every Christian age,
there has stood, and still stands open, the unrevoked grant of the fulness of the Spirit;
such fulness as will fill him, if he be willing to take it in, up to his capacity. To each of us
it is, and has been, according to our faith. If we are carnal, cold, timid, desponding,
servile-hearted, fearful, it is not because we live under the law, not because God has set
bounds to His grace, nor because the Holy Ghost is not yet, as if Christ were not yet
glorified. It is because we have either no heart to desire, or no faith to expect. We have
not now, because we ask not. "Ask and ye shall receive."
J. Oswald Dykes, From Jerusalem to Antioch, p. 43.
I. It is said in the text that the disciples began to speak. The first effect of the outpouring
of the Spirit on the disciples was to prompt them to speak. A man may have a little of the

72. Holy Spirit and observe silence, but if he is filled with the Spirit he cannot hold his
peace.
II. The disciples began to speak with other tongues. The Lord descended to Babel and
confused the tongues—He there and then set a train of circumstances in motion which
necessarily resulted in diversity of languages. The Lord descended to Jerusalem on the
day of Pentecost—unified the tongues again—He there and then set a train of
circumstances in motion which inevitably led to a better understanding between the
nations, and a more thorough knowledge of each other’s languages. The miracle of the
Pentecost will gradually neutralise the miracle of Babel.
III. The disciples began to speak with other tongues the wonderful works of God. The
wonderful works of God are, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These
formed the grand topics which the disciples construed into other tongues; not nature,
but the gospel; not creation, but redemption.
IV. They spoke to men of other nations. Increased life always demands increased scope
for its exercise. The fire first burns into the heart of the disciples, then it begins to extend
its area, and now it threatens to burn up all the stubble of the world.
V. The disciples spoke to other nations, that they also might be filled with the Holy
Ghost. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
J. Cynddylan Jones, Studies in the Acts, p. 20.
References: Act_2:1-13.—J. Oswald Dykes, Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iv., p. 124. Act_
2:1-21.—Parker, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 316. Act_2:2, Act_2:3.—
Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 255.
Acts 2:1-47
Acts 2
We have here the history of the first Christian revival. Let us trace it through, and mark
at once its origin and its characteristics.
I. It was ushered in by prayer. Like true children of God, these first disciples waited and
prayed, asking evermore, that they might receive the Holy Ghost according to His word.
And herein they rebuke us dreadfully, for in our petitions we far too largely neglect the
Holy Ghost.
II. The revival began in the Church in the quickening and enlightening of those who were
already disciples. To have the world converted, we must have the Church purified and
ennobled, through the enjoyment of a rich effusion of the Holy Ghost.
III. The revival was characterised by the preaching of the truth. Peter’s discourse was (1)
Biblical, (2) experimental, (3) pointed and courageous.
IV. This revival was characterised by many conversions.
W. M. Taylor, Peter the Apostle, p. 170.

73. MEYER, " SPEAKING IN STRANGE TONGUES
Act_2:1-13
The priests in the Temple were offering the first loaves of the new harvest, in celebration
of the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came as the first fruits of our inheritance.
Suddenly there was a sound that was heard throughout the city. There was no wind, but
the sound of a rushing, mighty wind. Suddenly, as each looked on the rest, he saw their
heads crowned with tongues of flame. Each, too, became suddenly aware of a drawing
toward the Lord, of a longing to see Him glorified, and of a vast enlargement and
enhancement of spiritual joy and power.
When presently the vast crowd collected to know the meaning of the sound, each
inspired soul gathered a little knot of hearers, to whom he discoursed of Jesus and the
Resurrection; and the hearers heard in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God.
The Holy Spirit used the telepathy of mind and heart, so that involuntarily the speaker
clothed his thoughts in language borrowed from his hearer’s vocabulary. This was the
sign of Babel’s undoing.
MACLAREN 1-13, "THE ABIDING GIFT AND ITS TRANSITORY
ACCOMPANIMENTS
Only ten days elapsed between the Ascension and Pentecost. The attitude of the Church
during that time should be carefully noted. They obeyed implicitly Christ’s command to
wait for the ‘power from on high.’ The only act recorded is the election of Matthias to fill
Judas’s place, and it is at least questionable whether that was not a mistake, and shown
to be such by Christ’s subsequent choice of Paul as an Apostle. But, with the exception of
that one flash of doubtful activity, prayer, supplication, patient waiting, and clinging
together in harmonious expectancy, characterised the hundred and twenty brethren.
They must have been wrought to an intense pitch of anticipation, for they knew that
their waiting was to be short, and they knew, at least partially, what they were to receive,
namely, ‘power from on high,’ or ‘the promise of the Father.’ Probably, too, the great
Feast, so near at hand, would appear to them a likely time for the fulfilment of the
promise.
So, very early on that day of Pentecost, they betook themselves to their usual place of
assembling, probably the ‘large upper room,’ already hallowed to their memories; and in
each heart the eager question would spring, ‘Will it be to-day?’ It is as true now as it was
then, that the spirits into whom the Holy Spirit breathes His power must keep
themselves still, expectant, prayerful. Perpetual occupation may be more loss of time
than devout waiting, with hands folded, because the heart is wide open to receive the
power which will fit the hands for better work.
It was but ‘the third hour of the day’ when Peter stood up to speak; it must have been
little after dawn when the brethren came together. How long they had been assembled
we do not know, but we cannot doubt how they had been occupied. Many a prayer had
gone up through the morning air, and, no doubt, some voice was breathing the united
desires, when a deep, strange sound was heard at a distance, and rapidly gained volume,
and was heard to draw near. Like the roaring of a tempest hurrying towards them, it
hushed human voices, and each man would feel, ‘Surely now the Gift comes!’ Nearer and

74. nearer it approached, and at last burst into the chamber where they sat silent and
unmoving.
But if we look carefully at Luke’s words, we see that what filled the house was not
agitated air, or wind, but ‘a sound as of wind.’ The language implies that there was no
rush of atmosphere that lifted a hair on any cheek, or blew on any face, but only such a
sound as is made by tempest. It suggested wind, but it was not wind. By that first
symbolic preparation for the communication of the promised gift, the old symbolism
which lies in the very word ‘Spirit,’ and had been brought anew to the disciples’
remembrance by Christ’s words to Nicodemus, and by His breathing on them when He
gave them an anticipatory and partial bestowment of the Spirit, is brought to view, with
its associations of life-giving power and liberty. ‘Thou hearest the sound thereof,’ could
scarcely fail to be remembered by some in that chamber.
But it is not to be supposed that the audible symbol continued when the second
preparatory one, addressed to the eye, appeared. As the former had been not wind, but
like it, the latter was not fire, but ‘as of fire.’ The language does not answer the question
whether what was seen was a mass from which the tongues detached themselves, or
whether only the separate tongues were visible as they moved overhead. But the final
result was that ‘it sat on each.’ The verb has no expressed subject, and ‘fire’ cannot be the
subject, for it is only introduced as a comparison. Probably, therefore, we are to
understand ‘a tongue’ as the unexpressed subject of the verb.
Clearly, the point of the symbol is the same as that presented in the Baptist’s promise of
a baptism ‘with the Holy Ghost and fire.’ The Spirit was to be in them as a Spirit of
burning, thawing natural coldness and melting hearts with a genial warmth, which
should beget flaming enthusiasm, fervent love, burning zeal, and should work
transformation into its own fiery substance. The rejoicing power, the quick energy, the
consuming force, the assimilating action of fire, are all included in the symbol, and
should all be possessed by Christ’s disciples.
But were the tongue-like shapes of the flames significant too? It is doubtful, for, natural
as is the supposition that they were, it is to be remembered that ‘tongues of fire’ is a
usual expression, and may mean nothing more than the flickering shoots of flame into
which a fire necessarily parts.
But these two symbols are only symbols. The true fulfilment of the great promise
follows. Mark the brief simplicity of the quiet words in which the greatest bestowment
ever made on humanity, the beginning of an altogether new era, the equipment of the
Church for her age-long conflict, is told. There was an actual impartation to men of a
divine life, to dwell in them and actuate them; to bring all good to victory in them; to
illuminate, sustain, direct, and elevate; to cleanse and quicken. The gift was complete.
They were ‘filled.’ No doubt they had much more to receive, and they received it, as their
natures became, by faithful obedience to the indwelling Spirit, capable of more. But up
to the measure of their then capacities they were filled; and, since their spirits were
expansible, and the gift was infinite, they were in a position to grow steadily in
possession of it, till they were ‘filled with all the fulness of God.’
Further, ‘they were all filled,’-not the Apostles only, but the whole hundred and twenty.
Peter’s quotation from Joel distinctly implies the universality of the gift, which the
‘servants and handmaidens,’ the brethren and the women, now received. Herein is the
true democracy of Christianity. There are still diversities of operations and degrees of
possession, but all Christians have the Spirit. All ‘they that believe on Him,’ and only
they, have received it. Of old the light shone only on the highest peaks,-prophets, and

75. kings, and psalmists; now the lowest depths of the valleys are flooded with it. Would that
Christians generally believed more fully in, and set more store by, that great gift!
As symbols preceded, tokens followed. The essential fact of Pentecost is neither the
sound and fire, nor the speaking with other tongues, but the communication of the Holy
Spirit. The sign and result of that was the gift of utterance in various languages, not their
own, nor learned by ordinary ways. No twisting of the narrative can weaken the plain
meaning of it, that these unlearned Galileans spake in tongues which their users
recognised to be their own. The significance of the fact will appear presently, but first
note the attestation of it by the multitude.
Of course, the foreign-born Jews, who, from motives of piety, however mistaken, had
come to dwell in Jerusalem, are said to have been ‘from every nation under heaven,’ by
an obvious and ordinary license. It is enough that, as the subsequent catalogue shows,
they came from all corners of the then known world, though the extremes of territory
mentioned cover but a small space on a terrestrial globe.
The ‘sound’ of the rushing wind had been heard hurtling through the city in the early
morning hours, and had served as guide to the spot. A curious crowd came hurrying to
ascertain what this noise of tempest in a calm meant, and they were met by something
more extraordinary still. Try to imagine the spectacle. As would appear from Act_2:33,
the tongues of fire remained lambently glowing on each head (‘which ye see’), and the
whole hundred and twenty, thus strangely crowned, were pouring out rapturous praises,
each in some strange tongue. When the astonished ears had become accustomed to the
apparent tumult, every man in the crowd heard some one or more speaking in his own
tongue, language, or dialect, and all were declaring the mighty works of God; that is,
probably, the story of the crucified, ascended Jesus.
We need not dwell on subordinate questions, as to the number of languages represented
there, or as to the catalogue in Act_2:9-10. But we would emphasise two thoughts. First,
the natural result of being filled with God’s Spirit is utterance of the great truths of
Christ’s Gospel. As surely as light radiates, as surely as any deep emotion demands
expression, so certainly will a soul filled with the Spirit be forced to break into speech. If
professing Christians have never known the impulse to tell of the Christ whom they have
found, their religion must be very shallow and imperfect. If their spirits are full, they will
overflow in speech.
Second, Pentecost is a prophecy of the universal proclamation of the Gospel, and of the
universal praise which shall one day rise to Him that was slain. ‘This company of
brethren praising God in the tongues of the whole world represented the whole world
which shall one day praise God in its various tongues’ (Bengel). Pentecost reversed
Babel, not by bringing about a featureless monopoly, but by consecrating diversity, and
showing that each language could be hallowed, and that each lent some new strain of
music to the chorus.
It prophesied of the time when ‘men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation’
should lift up their voices to Him who has purchased them unto God with His blood. It
began a communication of the Spirit to all believers which is never to cease while the
world stands. The mighty rushing sound has died into silence, the fiery tongues rest on
no heads now, the miraculous results of the gifts of the Spirit have passed away also, but
the gift remains, and the Spirit of God abides for ever with the Church of Christ.
COKE, "Introduction

76. CHAP. II.
The apostles, filled with the Holy Ghost, and speaking divers languages, are admired by
some; but are derided by others, whom Peter confutes, shewing that the apostles spake
by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus was risen from the dead, ascended into
heaven, had poured down the same Holy Ghost, and was the Messias, known to them to
be approved of God by his miracles, wonders, and signs: a great number that were
converted, are baptized, who afterwards devoutly and charitably converse together, the
apostles working many miracles, and God daily increasing his church.
Anno Domini 33.
Verse 1
Acts 2:1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,— It has often been observed,
that as our Lord was crucified at one of the great Jewish feasts, it was fit that he should
be glorified at another; and this of Pentecost was chosen, with peculiar propriety, as next
succeeding that of the passover at which Christ suffered; and also as it was celebrated in
commemoration of the giving the law from mount Sinai on that day, (Exodus 19:1-11.)
and as the first-fruits were then offered and anointed, (Exodus 23:16. Leviticus 23:17.)
To these answered the fuller discovery of the gospel on this occasion, and the anointing
the first-fruits of the Christian church by the effusion of the Spirit. The solemnity of the
feast, the general expectation of the Messiah, and the length of the days, as it was about
the middle of summer, would no doubt bring great numbers to Jerusalem at that time;
who, when they returned home, and reported this great event, would naturally make way
for the better reception of the apostles, when they came among them. The Jews used to
begin their days, as we have often observed, about six o'clock in the evening, and
reckoned till that time the next evening, according to Genesis 1:5. By saying therefore
that the day of Pentecost was fully come, St. Luke meant that the night was past, and the
light of the next morning begun. This was the first day of the week, or the Lord's day, as
it is called Revelation 1:10. On the first day of the week our Lord arose from the dead. On
that day of the week he appeared to his apostles when they were assembled, for two
weeks successively; and, on the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit was first poured out
upon the apostles and their company. On that day of the week the apostles and primitive
Christians used toassemble for religious worship; and, from the custom and example of
those who must needs have known the mind and will of Christ, the Christian church still
continues to assemble on that day for religious worship. St. Luke says, they were all with
one accord in one place. It is said, ch. Acts 1:14-15 of all the hundred and twenty, all
these met with one accord, to choose an apostle, &c. The history is continued, as would
appear more plainly if we had not divided it into chapters and verses;—and of the same
company it is here said again, they were all met together with one accord in the same
place, (for so it should be rendered,) when the Holy Spirit was poured down upon them.
It is probable all these hundred and twenty were along with the apostles, when the Holy
Spirit was poured down a second time, ch. Acts 4:23-31 and it is evident from ch. Acts
6:3 that several beside the apostles were full of the Holy Spirit, (which is the very phrase
in the text, Acts 2:4.) when the Spirit was now poured out;—a phrase, which, in other
places, signifies that the Spirit was conferred in the most honourable manner, as well as
ina greater degree; that is, that it was given immediately from heaven, and not by the
laying on of the hands of the apostles. Again, Why might not the Holy Spirit fall down

77. upon all the hundred and twenty, as well as upon Cornelius and his company? ch. Acts
10:44-46. What seems much to confirm this account of the presence of the hundred and
twenty, is St. Peter's speech, Acts 2:16 where he asserts, that, by that effusion of the Holy
Spirit, the prophesy of Joel was accomplished in which it was foretold, that the Spirit
should be poured out upon women as well as upon men, &c. For one cannot conceive
how that prophesy could be already fulfilled, unless the Spirit was shed upon all the
hundred and twenty; among whom it is expressly said, ch. Acts 1:14 there was Mary the
mother of Jesus, and some other women, who were Christ's disciples. It may perhaps be
objected to this interpretation, that the apostles had the highest and the most of the
spiritual gifts, and are taken notice of as the only persons who preached to the multitude
which then came together. Now it is allowed, that the apostles had the most, and the best
of the gifts of the Spirit; but, notwithstanding, the other disciples might have some
inferior gifts, and those granted at the same time, in what measure and proportion God
saw fit; for there were diversities of gifts and operations, though they all proceeded from
one and the same Spirit; and the Spirit could easily distinguish between the apostles and
others, though they were all in the same room and company.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent
wind came from heaven and filled the whole house
where they were sitting.
BARNES, "And suddenly - It burst upon them at once. Though they were waiting
for the descent of the Spirit, yet it is not probable that they expected it in this manner. As
this was an important event, and one on which the welfare of the church depended, it
was proper that the gift of the Holy Spirit should take place in some striking and sensible
manner, so as to convince their own minds that the promise was fulfilled, and so as
deeply to impress others with the greatness and importance of the event.
There came a sound - ᅬχος ēchos. This word is applied to any noise or report. Heb_
12:19, “the sound of a trumpet”; Luk_4:37, “The fame of him,” etc. Compare Mar_1:28.
From heaven - Appearing to rush down from the sky. It was suited, therefore, to
attract their attention no less from the direction from which it came, than on account of
its suddenness and violence. Tempests blow commonly horizontally. This appeared to
come from above; and this is all that is meant by the expression. “from heaven.”
As of a rushing mighty wind - Literally, “as of a violent blast borne along” -
φεροµένης pheromenēs - rushing along like a tempest. Such a wind sometimes borne
along so violently, and with such a noise, as to make it difficult even to hear the thunder
in the gale. Such appears to have been the sound of this remarkable phenomenon. It
does not appear that there was any wind, but the sudden sound was like such a sweeping
tempest. It may be remarked, however, that the wind in the sacred Scriptures is often
put as an emblem of a divine influence. See Joh_3:8. It is invisible, yet mighty, and thus

78. represents the agency of the Holy Spirit. The same word in Hebrew ‫רוּח‬ ruwach and in
Greek πνεሞµα pneuma is used to denote both. The mighty power of God may be denoted
also by the violence of a tempest, 1Ki_19:11; Psa_29:1-11; Psa_104:3; Psa_18:10. In this
place the sound as of a gale was emblematic of the mighty power of the Spirit, and of the
effects which his coming would accomplish among people.
And it filled - Not the wind filled, But the sound. This is evident:
(1) Because there is no affirmation that there was any wind.
(2) The grammatical structure of the sentence will admit no other construction. The
word “filled” has no nominative case but the word “sound”: “and suddenly there
was a sound as of a wind, and (the sound) filled the house.” In the Greek, the word
“wind” is in the genitive or possessive case. It may be remarked here that this
miracle was really far more striking than the common supposition makes it to have
been. A tempest would have been terrific. A mighty wind might have alarmed
them. But there would have been nothing unusual or remarkable in this. Such
things often happened; and the thoughts would have been directed of course to the
storm as an ordinary, though perhaps alarming occurrence. But when all was still;
when there was no storm, no wind, no rain, no thunder, such a rushing sound
must have arrested their attention, and directed all minds to a phenomenon so
unusual and unaccountable.
All the house - Some have supposed that this was a room in or near the temple. But
as the temple is not expressly mentioned, this is improbable. It was probably the private
dwelling mentioned in Act_1:13. If it be said that such a dwelling could not contain so
large a multitude as soon assembled, it may be replied that their houses had large central
courts (See the notes on Mat_9:2), and that it is not affirmed that the transactions
recorded in this chapter occurred in the room which they occupied. It is probable that it
took place in the court and around the house.
CLARKE, "A sound from heaven - Probably thunder is meant, which is the
harbinger of the Divine presence.
Rushing mighty wind - The passage of a large portion of electrical fluid over that
place would not only occasion the sound, or thunder, but also the rushing mighty wind;
as the air would rush suddenly and strongly into the vacuum occasioned by the
rarefaction of the atmosphere in that place, through the sudden passage of the electrical
fluid; and the wind would follow the direction of the fire. There is a good deal of
similarity between this account and that of the appearance of God to Elijah, 1Ki_19:11,
1Ki_19:12, where the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire, were harbingers of the
Almighty’s presence, and prepared the heart of Elijah to hear the small still voice; so,
this sound, and the mighty rushing wind, prepared the apostles to receive the influences
and gifts of the Holy Spirit. In both cases, the sound, strong wind, and fire, although
natural agents, were supernaturally employed. See the note on Act_9:7.
GILL, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,.... Which is expressive of
the original of the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, which come from above, from
heaven, from the Father of lights; and of the freeness of them, being unmerited; and so
come suddenly, at an unawares, being unthought of, undesired, and unexpected, and so
certainly undeserved; and may be a symbol of the sound of the Gospel, which from hence
was to go forth into all the earth; and may likewise express the rise of that, and the
freeness of the grace of God in it, and its sudden spread throughout the world:

79. as of a rushing mighty wind; it was not a wind, but like one; and the noise it made,
was like the rushing noise of a strong and boisterous wind, that carries all before it: the
Spirit of God is sometimes compared to the wind, because of the freeness of his
operations; as that blows where it listeth, so he works when and where, and on whom he
pleases; and also because of the power and efficacy of his grace, which is mighty and
irresistible, and works with great energy upon the minds of men; and as the wind is
secret and invisible, so the operations of the Spirit are in a manner secret and
imperceptible unto men: this may likewise be applied to the Gospel, when it comes with
the Holy Ghost, and with power; it makes its way into the heart, and throws down the
strong holds of sin and Satan; there it works effectually, though secretly, and is the
power of God to salvation:
and it filled all the house where they were sitting; which was the temple, or the
upper room or chamber in it, where they were assembled; so in the Ethiopic confession
of faith (s) it is said,
"the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, in the upper room of Zion;
this may be a symbol of the Gospel filling the whole world,
HENRY, "1. Here is an audible summons given them to awaken their expectations of
something great, Act_2:2. It is here said, (1.) That it came suddenly, did not rise
gradually, as common winds do, but was at the height immediately. It came sooner than
they expected, and startled even those that were now together waiting, and probably
employed in some religious exercises. (2.) It was a sound from heaven, like a thunder-
clap, Rev_6:1. God is said to bring the winds out of his treasuries (Psa_135:7), and to
gather them in his hands, Pro_30:4. From him this sound came, like the voice of one
crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. (3.) It was the sound of a wind, for the way of the
Spirit is like that of the wind (Joh_3:3), thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it comes nor whither it goes. When the Spirit of life is to enter into the dry
bones, the prophet is told to prophecy unto the wind: Come from the four winds, O
breath, Eze_37:9. And though it was not in the wind that the Lord came to Elijah, yet
this prepared him to receive his discovery of himself in the still small voice, 1Ki_19:11,
1Ki_19:12. God's way is in the whirlwind and the storm (Nah_1:3), and out of the
whirlwind he spoke to Job. (4.) It was a rushing mighty wind; it was strong and violent,
and came not only with a great noise, but with great force, as if it would bear down all
before it. This was to signify the powerful influences and operations of the Spirit of God
upon the minds of men, and thereby upon the world, that they should be mighty
through God, to the casting down of imaginations. (5.) It filled not only the room, but
all the house where they were sitting. Probably it alarmed the whole city, but, to show
that it was supernatural, presently fixed upon that particular house: as some think the
wind that was sent to arrest Jonah affected only the ship that he was in (Jon_1:4), and as
the wise men's star stood over the house where the child was. This would direct the
people who observed it whither to go to enquire the meaning of it. This wind filling the
house would strike an awe upon the disciples, and help to put them into a very serious,
reverent, and composed frame, for the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Thus the convictions
of the Spirit make way for his comforts; and the rough blasts of that blessed wind
prepare the soul for its soft and gentle gales.

80. JAMISON, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, etc. — “The whole description is so picturesque and striking that it could
only come from an eye-witness” [Olshausen]. The suddenness, strength, and
diffusiveness of the sound strike with deepest awe the whole company, and thus
complete their preparation for the heavenly gift. Wind was a familiar emblem of the
Spirit (Eze_37:9; Joh_3:8; Joh_20:22). But this was not a rush of actual wind. It was
only a sound “as of” it.
HAWKER 2-3, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
As this open display of God the Holy Ghost in the Church, after the ascension of Jesus, is
among the most momentous doctrines of our holy faith, and the proper apprehension of
it, is, of all others, the most interesting, I persuade myself that the Reader will grant me a
more than usual indulgence, to dwell upon it particularly. And I am free to confess, that,
according to my view of things, it is to our ignorance and inattention on this blessed part
of the Gospel, is to be ascribed the lamentable state of Churches, (and even some
Churches professing all the truths of our holy faith,) so confessedly destitute, as for the
most part they are, of vital godliness. For surely, if God the Holy Ghost, in his Almighty
ministry, be not known nor enjoyed, if his Person and Godhead, if his covenant-office
work and character, his influences and graces, be kept in the back ground of the
ordinances, be those ordinances ever so sweet in themselves, or ever so frequently
observed by the people, there must be great leanness of soul amidst the whole of them. It
matters not what the minister saith, if we hear not what the Spirit saith to the Churches,
Rev_2:11; Rev_2:17; Rev_2:29, etc.
The first thing I beg the Reader to observe with me in what is said in those verses, is, the
manner which God the Holy Ghost was pleased to make use of, to manifest his Almighty
presence. It was with sovereign strength, and by effects making known both his person,
and eternal power, and Godhead. And, surely, if anything could be supposed to identify
both person and power, this display of Himself, by a sound from heaven, a rushing
mighty wind, and filling the whole space occupied by the disciples, these were full
demonstrations of both.
And here I stop the Reader, to remark the glory by which God the Holy Ghost was
pleased to manifest himself to the Church, for the first time after Christ’s ascension. He
had presided over the Church from the first moment he formed the Church, and
numberless instances are on record of his Almighty agency, both on the Person of Christ,
the great Head of his Church, and the Church, Christ’s members, all along the way the
Church was brought through the whole of the Old Testament dispensation. Hence Christ
was called by that name before his incarnation, and the Lord Jesus, by the spirit of
prophecy, so described himself ages before he was born, Isa_61:1, etc. And as the Lord
the Spirit anointed the head, so did he shed abroad his influences in the hearts of his
members. See Num_11:16-17; Neh_9:20; Eze_2:2, etc. But now the Lord the Spirit will
make an open manifestation of himself, and enter with state and dignity upon his
blessed office, as Lord of Christ’s Church, now Jesus, having finished redemption-work,
is returned to glory. So that the whole efficiency of salvation, in the heart of every
individual member of Christ’s mystical body, becomes his province, according to
covenant-engagements. Reader! I pray you to ponder well the subject, for it is well
worthy the most animated consideration, of the Lord’s people. Let you and I both look
up for the testimonies in our own hearts of His divine teaching, for every view of His

81. Almighty agency in the Church of whom I am now speaking is blessed.
When the Reader hath duly considered these things, I would beg of him next to observe
what a beautiful order and harmony there is shewn in the joint acts of the Holy Three in
One, as relating to the Church, now fulfilled by this manifestation of God the Spirit at the
day of Pentecost. God the Father, in his covenant-office and character, through the Old
Testament dispensation, had all along been manifesting his everlasting love to the
Church, in proclaiming the Person, Work, and Glory of his dear Son; and under the New
Testament dispensation, when Christ appeared, he confirmed the same by a voice from
heaven, in a public and audible manner, in the presence of the people, declaring the
identity of Jesus, by saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Mat_
3:17; Luk_9:35; Joh_12:28. God the Son, before his openly tabernacling in substance of
our flesh, is expressly said to have been in the Church in the wilderness, when he spake
to Moses in the Mount Sinai with our fathers, for so Stephen, when filled with the Holy
Ghost, and speaking therefore under the influence of his divine teaching, declared, Act_
7:37-38, and which, by the way, it may be observed, throws a light on many other parts
of the Old Testament Scripture, in proof that it was Christ who all along manifested
himself as the Shechinah to the Church. So that when the fulness of time was come, and
the Son of God was to make his open appearance in our nature, he came as God manifest
in the flesh, entered upon, and finished his office-work of redemption, and returned to
glory. See Gen_12:7; Gen_32:24, &c; Exo_24:9 to the end. And God the Holy Ghost,
thought he had all along presided over the Church, (which he himself founded,) during
the whole of the Old Testament dispensation, yet now comes at the day of Pentecost in
an open manifestation of himself, in his Person, Godhead, and Ministry, and makes
himself known as the Almighty Teacher in the Church, to render the whole effectual of
salvation-work in the hearts of his people. See 1Pe_1:10-11; 2Pe_1:21; Heb_9:1-8. And
wherefore all these glorious manifestations of each divine person, and all but to testify to
the Church that the whole Godhead is alike concerned, and alike entitled to the
adoration, love, obedience, and praise of the whole Church of Jesus, for their joint favor
to the Church before all worlds, in her present time-state on earth, and her everlasting
happiness to all eternity.
I do not think it necessary in a work of this kind to enter into a critical enquiry
concerning the appearances here made by the Holy Ghost. It will be sufficient to remark
that the whole plainly proved the Lord the Spirit’s personal presence, his Almighty
power and ministry in his government over the Church. The suddenness of it implied
how unexpected the manifestations of his grace are in all instances. The direction
coming from heaven, proved that the blessed Spirit is from above, agreeably to
Scripture, Jas_1:17. The sound, as of crushing mighty wind, was in exact conformity to
what the Lord Jesus had before said, when speaking of the work of God the Holy Ghost,
whose operations are like the unknown and unexplored source of the air, which bloweth
where it listeth, Joh_3:8, See Commentary there. The appearances of cloven tongues,
like as of fire, were suitable to denote his presence, who is a Spirit of judgment, and q
Spirit of burning. Isa_4:4. And their sitting upon the head of each of them, graciously
taught, that where the Lord the Spirit came, he would abide forever. So the Lord Jesus
taught his disciples to expect, and, blessed be God, so his people know, Joh_14:16-17.
But what I would yet more particularly beg the Reader to notice, from all these different
manifestations, is, that they all proved the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the Holy
Ghost. And I beg of him to observe, that this manifestation at Pentecost was as folly and
decidedly in proof of God the Holy Ghost’s office-work in the covenant, (as far as an
open appearance became necessary,) as the personal appearance of the Son of God
manifest in the flesh, was for his part in this mysterious work. The one is as

82. demonstrative as the other. Reader! do not hastily pass away from meditating on these
things. Carry them about with you wherever you go, as so many credentials of your faith,
in the present awful day of infidelity with which the Church of God is surrounded.
CONSTABLE, "The sound like wind came from heaven, the place where Jesus had gone
(Acts 1:10-11). This noise symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit in power. The same
Greek word (pneuma) means either "wind" or "spirit." Ezekiel and Jesus had previously
used the wind as an illustration of God's Spirit (Ezekiel 37:9-14; John 3:8).
"Luke particularly stresses the importance of the Spirit in the life of the church [in
Acts]." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 32. ]
Jesus' earlier breathing on the disciples and giving them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22)
may have been only a temporary empowerment with the Spirit along the lines of Old
Testament empowerments. Others believe that Jesus was giving these disciples a
symbolic and graphic reminder of the Spirit who would come upon them later. It was a
demonstration of what Jesus would do when He returned to the Father and which He
did do on Pentecost. He was not imparting the Spirit to them in any sense then. I prefer
this explanation.
"A friend of my daughter lives in Kansas and went through the experience of a tornado.
It did not destroy their home but came within two blocks of it. When she wrote about it
to my daughter, she said, 'The first thing we noticed was a sound like a thousand freight
trains coming into town.' Friend, that was a rushing, mighty wind, and that was the
sound. It was that kind of sound that they heard on the Day of Pentecost." [Note: McGee,
4:516.]
COKE, "Acts 2:2. And suddenly there came a sound— It was about 1500 years before
this, and, as many think, on this very day of the year, that the law was given of God from
Mount Sinai, in the sight andhearing of all Israel; and attended not only with a visible
glory, but with pomp also and terror; and now the new law of grace is given to the
apostles upon mount Sion; (see on ch. Acts 1:13.) attended likewise with a glory, but
communicated, agreeably to the nature of it, in a much more mild, gentle, and familiar
manner. For, while they were big with expectations of their ascended Lord's fulfilling his
promise, in sending down the so-often mentioned gift of the Holy Spirit, there came all
on a sudden a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind, which filled the whole
house where they were assembled, as their doctrine was afterwards to fill the whole
earth. When Moses had finished all things according to the pattern shewn him on the
mount, it is said, Exodus 40:34-35 that a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle; and when Solomon had finished the building
of the temple, it is said that the cloud, &c. filled the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8:10-11. In
like manner, when Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, it is
said, that his train filled the temple, ch. Acts 6:1. But now the divine Presence had left
the temple, and the glory of the Lord rested upon mount Sion, and filled the house where
the apostles were assembled.

83. UNKNOWN V. 2 - sound - The Greek word means noise, or echo. "Sound" is a good
word. The idea to be conveyed is this: the sound heard is not simply a wind, but like a
rushing mighty wind, as of a tornado. The significance for the apostles may have been
varied, depending upon their state of mind.
The promise of Jesus of a mighty power to come upon the apostles was described by the
term "Holy Spirit". We do not, as a rule, connect the Holy Spirit with wind, or wind with
God. However, for the men sitting in the house, the situation was different. The Greek
term (if they spoke it); the Aramaic term (which probably they spoke): the Hebrew term
(the language in which most of their Bible was), all had the varied meanings of wind,
breath, etc.; then spirit, mind, attitude/disposition, and God. The O.T. used the Hebrew
term in all these ways. Here are some examples: as wind, Genesis 8:1, "and God made a
wind blow"; as breath, Job 27:3, "as long as my breath is in me"; as one’s
disposition/attitude ("spirit"), Numbers 5:14, "and if the spirit of jealousy"; as that part of
man from God which returns to God at separation of spirit and body, Isaiah 57:16 "from
me (God) proceeds the spirit, and I have made the breath of life"; (Note the idea in
Eccles. 3:21; 8:8; James 2:26) and of God, Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4, "the spirit of God has
made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life" (It is thus often a phrase which
equals God, as in Psalms 33:6; Isaiah 30:33). These ideas could be multiplied but this will
suffice to help us see that the sound like that of a rushing mighty wind would have
created in the minds of the "twelve" the concept of God in their presence, a God of
power, might, ability.
house - Can refer to the temple, as in 7:47.
WIT ESS LEE, "Acts 2:1 and 2 say, “And when the day of Pentecost was being
fulfilled, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly there came a noise
out of heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they
were sitting.” In the Lord’s resurrection, the Spirit of resurrection life is likened to
breath, breathed into the disciples (John 20:22) for their spiritual being and living
essentially. In the Lord’s ascension, the Spirit of ascension power, poured upon the
disciples, is symbolized here by the wind for the disciples’ ministry and move
economically. The essential Spirit of resurrection life is for the believers to live
Christ; the economical Spirit of ascension power is for them to carry out His
commission.
We need to see clearly the difference between the breathing in John 20 and the
blowing in Acts 2. The breathing in John 20 is for the imparting of the life-giving
Spirit into the disciples essentially for their spiritual being and for their spiritual
living. But the blowing in Acts 2 is for the pouring out of the economical Spirit of
power upon the believers, who have already received the essential Spirit into them.
The pouring out of the Spirit of power is not for the believers’ spiritual being or
living; rather, the outpouring of the Spirit of power is for the believers’ ministry
and move. Therefore, the essential aspect of the Spirit is for living, and the
economical aspect is for ministry. It is important for us to differentiate these two
aspects of the Spirit, for then we shall understand the Gospels and Acts in the right
way. Otherwise, we shall be confused.

84. Many years ago, a certain highly respected minister said that the breathing in John
20 was not a fact but was merely a performance that indicated that the fact was yet
to come in Acts 2. According to his understanding, after the performance in John
20, it was necessary for the disciples to wait fifty days to receive the fact. In the view
of this minister, both John 20 and Acts 2 refer to the same thing, the difference
being that one describes a performance and the other describes a fact. This concept
is altogether wrong. As we have pointed out, there is a difference between the
breathing in John 20 and the blowing in Acts 2. Breathing is for life, but blowing is
for power.
In the Gospel of John the Spirit of life in resurrection is likened to water for us to
drink. John 4:14 says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall by
no means thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a
spring of water welling up into eternal life.” John 7:37-39 says, “ ow on the last
day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirst, let
him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, out of his
innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the
Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive.” In Luke 24:49 the
economical Spirit is likened to clothing that we put on: “And behold, I am sending
forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you, stay in the city until you are
clothed with power from on high.” Water is for life inwardly, and clothing is for
work outwardly.
Let us use a policeman as an illustration of the difference between the essential
Spirit for life inwardly and the economical Spirit for power outwardly. A policeman
does not put on his uniform in order to quench his thirst. Thirst cannot be quenched
by putting on a uniform. A policeman clothes himself with a uniform when he is
about to go on duty, that is, when he is ready to work as a policeman. Suppose a
policeman drank something to quench his thirst and then went to work without his
uniform. If he did this, no one would pay attention to him as he tried to give orders
on the street. o matter how much he may drink to quench his thirst, a policeman
still must put on his uniform when he is about to work as a policeman. If he is
clothed in his uniform, others will respect him. Through this illustration we can see
the difference between drinking and being clothed. Drinking is inward, but being
clothed is an outward matter.
It is a serious mistake to say, as did that minister years ago, that the breathing in
John 20 is a performance and the blowing in Acts 2 is a fact. This kind of
interpretation comes from the shortage of proper knowledge and leads to confusion.
The proper knowledge we need requires not only the study of the Scriptures but
also heavenly enlightenment along with adequate experience. It is not accurate to
say that in John 20 Peter did not receive the Spirit of life into him. The Lord’s
breathing in that chapter was certainly not a performance. According to John 20:22,
the Lord Jesus “breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This
is not a performance—it is an accomplished fact. Here we have the fact of the
breathing of the life-giving Spirit into the disciples on the day of Christ’s
resurrection.

85. ELLICOTT,"(2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven. . . .—The description
reminds us of the “sound of a trumpet” (Exodus 19:19; Hebrews 12:19) on Sinai, of the
“great and strong wind” that rent the mountains on Horeb (1 Kings 19:11). Such a wind
was now felt and heard, even as the wind, the breath, the Spirit of God, had moved upon
the face of the waters, quickening them into life (Genesis 1:2).
A rushing mighty wind.—Better, a mighty breath borne onwards, so as to connect the
English, as the Greek is connected, with St. Peter’s words that, “holy men of old spake as
they were moved (literally, borne on) by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). The Greek word
for “wind” is not that commonly so translated (anemos), but one from the same root as
the Greek for “Spirit” (Pnoè and Pneuma—both from Pneô, “I breathe”), and rendered
“breath” in Acts 17:25. It is obviously chosen here as being better fitted than the more
common word for the supernatural inbreathing of which they were conscious, and which
to many must have recalled the moment when their Lord had “breathed on them, and said,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22). Now, once more, they felt that light yet awful
breathing which wrought every nerve to ecstasy; and it filled “the whole house,” as if in
token of the wide range over which the new spiritual power was to extend its working,
even unto the whole Church, which is the House of God (1 Timothy 3:15), and to the
uttermost parts of the earth.
COFFMAN, "The spectacular events here are suggestive of the wonders that attended the
giving of the Law (Exodus 19:16f), such as the loud trumpet, the smoking mountain, the
terrible earthquake, the thick cloud, and Jehovah descending upon Sinai in fire.
Wind ... fire ... There was no wind, but the sound of a mighty wind; and no fire, but
tongues resembling fire, at Pentecost. Despite this, wind and fire are both typical and
suggestive of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is typified by the wind in that: (1) it is gentle; (2)
it is powerful; (3) it is invisible (John 3:8); (4) it is the "breath" of life itself. Fire typifies
the Holy Spirit in that: (1) it gives light; (2) it provides warmth; (3) it purifies; and (4) it
is an emblem of God himself (Hebrews 12:29), and in this latter quality standing for the
judgment of God against wickedness.
That such elemental forces of nature were manifested both at Sinai and at Pentecost is
evidence, according to Lange, that the "kingdom of power and of grace is governed by
one God."[11] It is also proof that the God of nature and the God of religious faith are one
and the same. Although the tongues so strongly resembled fire, this may not be called a
baptism of fire; "for the context in the Gospel (Matthew 3:11f) suggests that the baptism
of fire is the judgment of those who reject the Messiah, the burning of the chaff with
unquenchable fire."[12]
All filled with the Holy Spirit ... This has reference to the Twelve apostles only. See
under Acts 2:1. Beasley-Murray gave expression to a common misconception regarding
this outpouring of God's Spirit on the Twelve. He said:
At Pentecost the Spirit came upon the disciples with no other condition than that of
prayer; they are not baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, either prior to or after the

86. event.[13]
None of those persons who had been baptized of John's baptism had any need to be
baptized again; and it is a dogmatic certainty that the Twelve had been baptized by John's
baptism (John 4:1,2), because there is no way to believe that the apostles would have
been baptizing others with a baptism to which they themselves had not submitted.
Moreover, if they had rejected John's baptism for themselves, it would have been
"rejecting the counsel of God" (Luke 7:30); and, had they done that, Jesus would never
have named them apostles of the new covenant. For further discussion of this, see under
Acts 1:5.
On this Pentecost, there were two measures of the Holy Spirit given: (1) the miraculous
outpouring previously promised the Twelve, and (2) the gift ordinary which is received by
every Christian. The three thousand who were baptized received the second of these
following their baptism; and it may be assumed that the one hundred and twenty (who, it
may be assumed, were also baptized by John's baptism) likewise received that same gift.
There is utterly no basis for supposing that they too were given that apostolic measure of
the Spirit which would have enabled them to raise the dead, speak with inspiration, and
be guided "into all truth," in the manner of the apostles. If they did receive that measure
of the Holy Spirit, where is the record of any of them ever doing such things as the
apostles did?
The new birth has two elements in it, requiring that all who experience it be born "of the
water" and "of the Spirit." All who received God's Spirit that day, in whatever measure,
were "born of water," in that they were baptized (either with John's baptism or that
commanded on Pentecost), and also "born of the Spirit," that is, they received the gift of
the Holy Spirit, whether in apostolic measure or in the measure called "the earnest of our
inheritance," (Ephesians 1:13).
Began to speak with other tongues ... Despite the insistence of some that this has
reference to ecstatic utterances like those of so-called "tongues" today, such a view is
refuted, absolutely, by the fact that men of many nations understood every word in their
native languages. Nothing like this was ever seen, either before or after the astounding
event before us. As Lange said:
The confusion of tongues occasioned the dispersion of men (Genesis 11); the gift of
tongues re-united them as one people.[14]
The event at Babel, referred to by Lange, was a direct intervention of God in human
history; and the same thing, with opposite purpose, is apparent here. The action at Babel
was not repeated, nor was this.
This baptism of the Spirit was never repeated. It was later extended to believers in
Samaria (Acts 8), to the Gentiles (Acts 10-11) ... The filling of the Spirit was often
repeated, but not the baptism with the Spirit.[15]
Wesley noted that:
(They) spoke languages of which they had been before entirely ignorant. They did not
speak now and then a word of another tongue, or stammer out some broken sentences, but

87. spoke each language as readily, properly, and elegantly as if it had been their mother
tongue.[16]
If Wesley's view is correct, and the conviction here is that it is, then it would be logical to
understand each one of the Twelve speaking in a different area of the great temple
concourse, in each instance speaking in the language of his hearers. There is no way to
understand this as a group of twelve men standing closely together and all speaking at
once. Later on, Peter did stand up with the eleven; but then there were not many speakers,
but only one.
Boles' comment on the "tongues" is:
They were not uttering unintelligible sounds, nor using a mere jargon of syllables with no
meaning; their sentences were clear and their words distinct, so that every man heard
them speaking in his own language.[17]
This phenomenon was doubtless the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." De Welt stated that:
We can know as a dogmatic certainty that Acts 2:4 is the literal fulfillment of Acts 1:5.
Jesus had promised (the apostles) the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and here is the
fulfillment of his promise.[18]
[11] John Peter Lange, Commentary on Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, n.d.), p. 31.
[12] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p.
387.
[13] G. R. Beasley Murray, Baptism in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1962), p. 105.
[14] John Peter Lange, op. cit., p. 31.
[15] Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 388.
[16] John Wesley, op. cit., in loco.
[17] H. Leo Boles, Acts of Apostles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1941), p. 33.
[18] Don DeWelt, op. cit., p. 36.
3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that

88. separated and came to rest on each of them.
BARNES, "And there appeared unto them - There were seen by them, or they
saw. The fire was first seen by them in the room before it rested in the form of tongues
on the heads of the disciples. Perhaps the fire appeared at first as scintillations or
coruscations, until it became fixed on their heads.
Tongues - γλራσσαι glōssai. The word “tongue” occurs often in the Scriptures to
denote the member which is the instrument of taste and speech, and also to denote
“language” or “speech” itself. It is also used, as with us, to denote what in shape
resembles the tongue. Thus, Jos_7:21, Jos_7:24 (in Hebrew), “a tongue of gold,” that is,
a wedge of gold; Jos_15:5; Jos_18:19; Isa_11:15, “The tongue of the sea,” that is, a bay or
gulf. Thus also we say “a tongue of land.” The phrase “tongue of fire” occurs once, and
once only, in the Old Testament Isa_5:24, “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble
(Hebrew: tongue of fire), and the flame consumeth,” etc. In this place the name tongue is
given from the resemblance of a pointed flame to the human tongue. Anything long,
narrow, and tending to a point is thus in the Hebrew called “a tongue.” The word here
means, therefore, “slender and pointed appearances” of flame, perhaps at first moving
irregularly around the room.
cloven - Divided, separated - διαµεριζόµεναι diamerizomenai - from the verb διαµερίζω
diamerizō, “to divide, or distribute into parts.” Mat_27:35, “they parted his garments”;
Luk_22:17, “Take this (the cup) and divide it among yourselves.” Probably the common
opinion is, that these tongues or flames were, each one of them split, or forked, or
cloven. But this is not the meaning of the expression. The idea is that they were
separated or divided one from another; it was not one great flame, but was broken up, or
cloven into many parts, and probably these parts were moving without order in the
room. In the Syriac it is, “And there appeared unto them tongues which divided
themselves like fire, and sat upon each of them.” The old Ethiopic version reads it, “And
fire, as it were, appeared to them and sat on them.”
And it sat upon each of them - Or “rested,” in the form of a lambent or gentle
flame, upon the head of each one. This showed that the prodigy was directed to them,
and was a very significant emblem of the promised descent of the Holy Spirit. After the
rushing sound and the appearance of the flames, they could not doubt that here was
some remarkable interposition of God. The appearance of fire, or flame, has always been
regarded as a most striking emblem of the Divinity. Thus, Exo_3:2-3, God is said to have
manifested himself to Moses in a bush which was burning, yet not consumed. Thus,
Exo_19:16-20, God descended on Mount Sinai in the midst of thunders, and lightnings,
and smoke, and fire, striking emblems of his presence and power. See also Gen_15:17.
Thus, Deu_4:24, God is said to be “a consuming fire.” Compare Heb_12:29. See Eze_
1:4; Psa_18:12-14. The Classic reader will also instantly recall the beautiful description in
Virgil (Aeneid, b. 2:680-691). Other instances of a similar prodigy are also recorded in
profane writers (Pliny, H. N., 2:37; Livy, 1:39). These appearances to the apostles were
emblematic, doubtless:
(1) Of the promised Holy Spirit, as a Spirit of purity and of power. The prediction of
John the Immerser, “He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire” Mat_3:11
would probably be recalled at once to their memory.

89. (2) The unique appearance, that of tongues, was an emblem of the diversity of
languages which they were about to be able to utter. Any form of fire would have
denoted the presence and power of God; but a form was adopted expressive of
“what was to occur.” Thus, “any divine appearance” or “manifestation” at the
baptism of Jesus might have denoted the presence and approbation of God; but
the form chosen was that of a dove descending - expressive of the mild and gentle
virtues with which he was to be imbued. So in Eze_1:4, any form of flame might
have denoted the presence of God; but the appearance actually chosen was one
that was strikingly emblematical of his providence. In the same way, the
appearance here symbolized their special endowments for entering on their great
work - the ability to speak with new tongues.
CLARKE, "Cloven tongues like as of fire - The tongues were the emblem of the
languages they were to speak. The cloven tongues pointed out the diversity of those
languages; and the fire seemed to intimate that the whole would be a spiritual gift, and
be the means of bringing light and life to the souls who should hear them preach the
everlasting Gospel in those languages.
Sat upon each of them - Scintillations, coruscations, or flashes of fire, were
probably at first frequent through every part of the room where they were sitting; at last
these flashes became defined, and a lambent flame, in the form of a cloven tongue,
became stationary on the head of each disciple; a proof that the Spirit of God had made
each his temple or residence. That unusual appearances of fire were considered emblems
of the presence and influence of God, both the Scriptures and the Jewish writings amply
prove. Thus God manifested himself to Moses, when he appointed him to deliver Israel,
Exo_3:2, Exo_3:3; and thus he manifested himself when he delivered the law on Mount
Sinai, Exo_19:16-20. The Jews, in order to support the pretensions of their rabbins, as
delivering their instructions by Divine authority and influence, represent them as being
surrounded with fire while they were delivering their lectures; and that their words, in
consequence, penetrated and exhilarated the souls of their disciples. Some of the
Mohammedans represent Divine inspiration in the same way. In a fine copy of a Persian
work, entitled Ajaceb al Makhlookat, or Wonders of Creation, now before me, where a
marred account of Abraham’s sacrifice, mentioned Gen_15:9-17, is given, instead of the
burning lamp passing between the divided pieces of the victim, Gen_15:17, Abraham is
represented standing between four fowls, the cock, the peacock, the duck, and the crow,
with his head almost wrapped in a flame of lambent fire, as the emblem of the Divine
communication made to him of the future prosperity of his descendants. The painting in
which this is represented is most exquisitely finished. This notion of the manner in
which Divine intimations were given was not peculiar to the Jews and Arabians; it exists
in all countries; and the glories which appear round the heads of Chinese, Hindoo, and
Christian saints, real or supposed, were simply intended to signify that they had especial
intercourse with God, and that his Spirit, under the emblem of fire, sat upon them and
became resident in them. There are numerous proofs of this in several Chinese and
Hindoo paintings in my possession; and how frequently this is to be met with in legends,
missals, and in the ancient ecclesiastical books of the different Christian nations of
Europe, every reader acquainted with ecclesiastical antiquity knows well. See the
dedication of Solomon’s temple, 2Ch_7:1-3.
The Greek and Roman heathens had similar notions of the manner in which Divine
communications were given: strong wind, loud and repeated peals of thunder,
coruscations of lightning, and lambent flames resting on those who were objects of the
Deities regard, are all employed by them to point out the mode in which their gods were

90. reported to make their will known to their votaries. Every thing of this kind was
probably borrowed from the account given by Moses of the appearance on Mount Sinai;
for traditions of this event were carried through almost every part of the habitable world,
partly by the expelled Canaanites, partly by the Greek sages travelling through Asiatic
countries in quest of philosophic truth: and partly by means of the Greek version of the
Septuagint, made nearly three hundred years before the Christian era.
“A flame of fire seen upon the head of any person was, among the heathens,
considered as an omen from their gods that the person was under the peculiar care of a
supernatural power, and destined to some extraordinary employment. Many proofs of
this occur in the Roman poets and historians. Wetstein, in his note on this place, has
made an extensive collection of them. I shall quote but one, which almost every reader of
the Aeneid of Virgil will recollect: -
Talia vociferans gemitu tectum omne replebat:
Cum subitum, dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum.
Namque manus inter, maestorumque ora parentum.
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus
Iuli Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molli
Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci.
Nos pavidi trepidare metu, crinemque flagrantem
Excutere, et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignes.
At pater Anchises oculos ad sidera laetus
Extulit, et coelo palamas cum voce tetendit:
Jupiter omnipotens -
Da auxilium, pater, atque haec omina firma.
Virg. Aen. ii. v. 679.
While thus she fills the house with clamorous cries,
Our hearing is diverted by our eyes;
For while I held my son, in the short space
Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace,
Strange to relate! from young Iulus’ head,
A lambent flame arose, which gently spread
Around his brows, and on his temples fed.
Amazed, with running water, we prepare
To quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair;
But old Anchises, versed in omens, rear’d
His hands to heaven, and this request preferr’d:
If any vows almighty Jove can bend,
Confirm the glad presage which thou art pleased to send.
Dryden.
There is nothing in this poetic fiction which could be borrowed from our sacred
volume; as Virgil died about twenty years before the birth of Christ.
It may be just necessary to observe, that tongue of fire may be a Hebraism: for in Isa_
5:24, ‫אש‬ ‫לשון‬ leshon esh, which we render simply fire, is literally a tongue of fire, as the
margin very properly has it. The Hebrews give the name of tongue to most things which
terminate in a blunt point: so a bay is termed in Jos_15:2, ‫לשן‬ lashon, a tongue. And in

91. Jos_15:5, what appears to have been a promontory is called ‫הים‬ ‫לשון‬ leshon hayam, a
tongue of the sea.
It sat upon each - That is, one of those tongues, like flames, sat upon the head of
each disciple; and the continuance of the appearance, which is indicated by the word sat,
shows that there could be no illusion in the case. I still think that in all this case the
agent was natural, but supernaturally employed.
GILL Verse 3.
Through this baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, the apostles became more knowing, and
had a greater understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel, and were more qualified to
preach it to people of all nations and languages. The Holy Spirit, in his gifts and graces, is
compared to fire, because of its purity, light, and heat, as well as consuming nature; the
Spirit sanctifies, and makes men pure and holy, purges from the dross of sin, error and
superstition; and enlightens the minds of men, and gives them knowledge of divine and
spiritual things; and fills them with zeal and fervour for the glory of God and Christ, and
the good of his church and interest, and for the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel; as
well as fortifies them against their enemies, whom he consumes, according to Zechariah
2:5 a passage of Scripture the Jews make use of in an uncommon sense; for they say {u},
that as "Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, "by fire it shall be built again"; as it is said,
Zechariah 2:5 'For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about.'" The
pouring forth of the Spirit upon the apostles, in this form of cloven tongues, as of fire,
was indeed the means of rebuilding Jerusalem, in a spiritual sense; or of founding the
Gospel church state in the world:
HENRY, "Here is a visible sign of the gift they were to receive. They saw cloven
tongues, like as of fire (Act_2:3), and it sat - ekathise, not they sat, those cloven tongues,
but he, that is the Spirit (signified thereby), rested upon each of them, as he is said to
rest upon the prophets of old. Or, as Dr. Hammond describes it, “There was an
appearance of something like flaming fire lighting on every one of them, which divided
asunder, and so formed the resemblance of tongues, with that part of them that was next
their heads divided or cloven.” The flame of a candle is somewhat like a tongue; and
there is a meteor which naturalists call ignis lambens - a gentle flame, not a devouring
fire; such was this. Observe,
(1.) There was an outward sensible sign, for the confirming of the faith of the disciples
themselves, and for the convincing of others. Thus the prophets of old had frequently
their first mission confirmed by signs, that all Israel might know them to be established
prophets.
(2.) The sign given was fire, that John Baptist's saying concerning Christ might be
fulfilled, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire; with the Holy Ghost as
with fire. They were now, in the feast of pentecost, celebrating the memorial of the giving
of the law upon mount Sinai; and as that was given in fire, and therefore is called a fiery
law, so is the gospel. Ezekiel's mission was confirmed by a vision of burning coals of fire
(Eze_1:13), and Isaiah's by a coal of fire touching his lips, Isa_6:7. The Spirit, like fire,
melts the heart, separates and burns up the dross, and kindles pious and devout

92. affections in the soul, in which, as in the fire upon the altar, the spiritual sacrifices are
offered up. This is that fire which Christ came to send upon the earth. Luk_12:49.
(3.) This fire appeared in cloven tongues. The operations of the Spirit were many; that
of speaking with divers tongues was one, and was singled out to be the first indication of
the gift of the Holy Ghost, and to that this sign had a reference. [1.] They were tongues;
for from the Spirit we have the word of God, and by him Christ would speak to the
world, and he gave the Spirit to the disciples, not only to endue them with knowledge,
but to endue them with a power to publish and proclaim to the world what they knew;
for the dispensation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. [2.] These
tongues were cloven, to signify that God would hereby divide unto all nations the
knowledge of his grace, as he is said to have divided to them by his providence the light
of the heavenly bodies, Deu_4:19. The tongues were divided, and yet they still continued
all of one accord; for there may be a sincere unity of affections where yet there is a
diversity of expression. Dr. Lightfoot observes that the dividing of tongues at Babel was
the casting off of the heathen; for when they had lost the language in which alone God
was spoken of and preached, they utterly lost the knowledge of God and religion, and fell
into idolatry. But now, after above two thousand years, God, by another dividing of
tongues, restores the knowledge of himself to the nations.
(4.) This fire sat upon them for some time, to denote the constant residence of the
Holy Ghost with them. The prophetic gifts of old were conferred sparingly and but at
some times, but the disciples of Christ had the gifts of the Spirit always with them,
though the sign, we may suppose, soon disappeared. Whether these flames of fire passed
from one to another, or whether there were as many flames as there were persons, is not
certain. But they must be strong and bright flames that would be visible in the day-light,
as it now was, for the day was fully come.
JAMISON, "cloven tongues, like as of fire, etc. — “disparted tongues,” that is,
tongue-shaped, flame-like appearances, rising from a common center or root, and
resting upon each of that large company: - beautiful visible symbol of the burning energy
of the Spirit now descending in all His plenitude upon the Church, and about to pour
itself through every tongue, and over every tribe of men under heaven!
CONSTABLE, "Fire, as well as wind, symbolized the presence of God (cf. Genesis 15:17;
Exodus 3:2-6; Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 19:18; Exodus 24:17; Exodus 40:38; Matthew
3:11; Luke 3:16). The believers received a visual as well as an audio indication that the
promised Holy Spirit of God had come. Evidently the apparent fire came at first in one
piece and then separated into individual flames, which always resemble tongues of fire.
"Distributing themselves" translates diamerizomenai, a present and probably a middle
participle, suggesting that the fire was seen dividing itself. One of these "flames" abode
on each believer present. God could hardly have visualized the distribution of His Spirit
to every individual believer more clearly. The Spirit had in the past abode on the whole
nation of Israel corporately symbolized by the pillar of fire. Now He abode on each
believer, as He had on Jesus. This fire was obviously not normal fire because it did not
burn up what it touched (cf. Exodus 3:2-6).
Probably the Jews present connected the tongues with which the believers spoke
miraculously with the tongues of fire. They probably attributed the miracle of speaking
in tongues to the God whose presence they had identified with fire in their history and
who was now obviously present among them.

93. Was this the fulfillment of John the Baptist's statement that Jesus would baptize with
the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16; cf. Joel 2:28-29; Malachi 3:2-5)?
Some believe it was a complete fulfillment of those prophecies and that we should expect
no further subsequent fulfillment. This seems doubtful since these prophecies occur in
contexts involving the experiences of all Israel. Others believe that what happened on the
day of Pentecost was an initial or partial fulfillment and that complete fulfillment is still
future. Some who hold this second view believe that the prophecy about the baptism
with the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on Pentecost, but the prophecy about baptism with fire
was not fulfilled and will be fulfilled in the Tribulation. Others who hold this second
view, including myself, believe that both baptisms occurred on Pentecost and both will
occur again in the future and will involve Israel. I view what happened on Pentecost as a
foreview of what will happen for Israel in the future. A third view is that what happened
on Pentecost was not what the Old Testament predicted at all since those predictions
have Israel in view. This explanation is unappealing to me because what happened on
Pentecost has clear connections with these predictions. What we have in this verse is a
gracious baptizing that involved the Holy Spirit and the presence and power of God
symbolized by fire. [Note: See also my comments on 2:16-21 below.]
COKE,"Acts 2:3. There appeared unto them cloven tongues— Besides the great and
indispensable use of the gift of tongues to the first preachers of the gospel, the elegance
and propriety in the choice of this miracle to attest the real descent of the Spirit who was
to teach us all things, can never be enough admired; for words being the human vehicle of
knowledge, this appearance was the fittest precursor of the Spirit of truth. When the
cloven tongues appeared upon each of the disciples, they were assembled together in a
private room sequestered and apart; and it was not till the thing was noised abroad, and
the multitude came together, to inquire into the truth of it, that the apostles spoke with
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now between this visible descent of the Holy
Spirit, and their speaking to the multitude, a considerable time intervened; sufficient to
convince the apostles, from the steady durationof the appearance, that it was not natural,
but miraculous; and this the original will express, properly rendered by the phrase of
SITTING upon each of them; words so inconsistent with a momentary appearance, that it
would be trifling with common sense to deduce such an interpretation from oblique
circumstances, and collateral reasoning. It may not therefore be improper to consider the
evangelical account of this visible descent with a little more exactness. In this place we
see the fiery tongues are said to sit upon each of them; and other places of scripture,
which mention the like descent of the Holy Spirit in a visible form, describe it in such
terms as denote a very different appearance from a sudden flash of lightning. St. Matthew
tells us, that the Spirit of God descended like a dove; as birds, when about to settle upon
any thing, first hoverupon it with quivering wings: it then lighted upon Jesus. So the same
Spirit is said to descend under the appearance of cloven tongues, like as of fire. In this
descent, the motion, figure, and colour, are described; and the term of cloven tongues,
which the sacred historian employs to describe the motion, proves it to be of some
continuance. Let us observe, that the thing seen, like as of fire, on the heads of the
apostles, was no more an elementary fire, than the thing seen like a dove on the head of
Jesus, was a real dove; for, as only a dove-like motion is intimated in the latter
expression, so only a flame-like motion is intimated in the former. And what this was, the

94. historian tells us in effect;—the appearance of cloven tongues. The sudden flash of
lightning exhibits to the eye of the beholder only a line of light, angularly broken into
several directions, very different from the form of tongues, whether whole or divided.
Whenever a flame assumes this appearance, it is become stationary, as this was, which
the historian says sat upon each of them; and then, its natural motion being upwards, it
represents, when divided length-wise, a pyramidical tongue-like figure cloven; a
demonstration that the appearance in question was not momentary, but of some
continuance. What in our English Bible is rendered fire, Isaiah 5:24 is, in the original, a
tongue of fire. Our old English version has preserved the allusion, and rendered the words
like as the fire lighteth up the straw. Tongues of fire properly signify the points of flames,
which move nimbly, and lick like tongues. The ancient Romans alluded to this when they
spoke of lambent flames. Virgil's fiction, concerning the omen which happened to Iulus,
is very pertinent to the present purpose:
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iuli Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molli
Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci. AEn. 2: line 682, &c.
Strange to relate, from young Iulus' head A lambent flame arose, which gently spread
Around his brows, and on his temples fed. DRYDEN.
This fire, or divine glory, resting upon the head of each of the persons there assembled,
was a lively emblem of one of the most remarkable gifts then conferred. That the tongues
were separated, might denote the multiplicity and variety of languages which they should
be able to speak; though as all these proceeded from one and the same Spirit, they should
all agree in their doctrines: and possibly to denote this unity of the Spirit, the singular it,
namely, this fiery appearance, is used after the plural tongues. As the glory rested for
some time upon them, it might shadow out the permanency of the gifts then bestowed; in
which, as well as in many other particulars, they excelled the Old Testament prophets.
Thus was John the Baptist's prediction fulfilled, that Christ should baptize with the Holy
Ghost andwith fire, Matthew 3:11. And as the division of tongues at Babel once
introduced confusion, so now there was a remedy provided by the gift of tongues at Sion,
to bring the Gentiles out of darkness unto light, and to destroy the veil which had been
spread over all nations, Isaiah 25:7.
ELLICOTT, "(3) There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.—Better, and
tongues as of fire were seen by them, parted among them. The word translated “cloven”
cannot possibly have that meaning. It is not uncommon (e.g., Acts 2:45; Matthew 27:35;
Luke 22:17; and John 19:24), and is always used in the sense of dividing or distributing.
What the disciples saw would, perhaps, be best described in modern phrase as a shower
of fiery tongues, coming they knew not whence, lighting for a moment on each head, and
then vanishing. The verb “it (sc., a tongue of fire) sat upon” is in the tense which
expresses momentary, not continuous, action.
UNKNOWN, "V. 3 - tongues - Symbolized like a flame of fire (though not actually fire).
Both the wind and the fire were O.T. symbols of God, as in II Sam. 5:24; I Kings
19:11,12; Psalms 104:3; Ezekiel 37:9; Exodus 3:2; Deuteronomy 5:4; Hebrews 12:29.

95. Recall John 1:32, when the Spirit descended as a dove upon Jesus, "abiding upon him."
The Spirit of God lives in Christians, II Cor. 1:22. Hence, the Spirit may take different
forms in relationship to man.
As we consider the Holy Spirit coming upon these men, it will be instructive to compare
Luke’s Gospel with Luke’s history. Consider Luke 1:15, 35, 41, 67; 2:25; 3:22; 4:1; etc.
Then Acts ch. 2, 7:55; 8:17, 29; 10:19; etc. Luke shows the coming of the Spirit in both
sound and sight to direct the lives of these twelve men, upon whose shoulders the
proclamation of an everlasting Gospel rested.
It has been pointed out that though this day of Pentecost seems of great importance, it is
not found to be so in early church writings (including the N.T.); the day of Christ痴
resurrection is the day of prominence.
4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit
enabled them.
BARNES, "Were all filled with the Holy Ghost - Were entirely under his sacred
influence and power. See the notes on Luk_1:41, Luk_1:67. To be filled with anything is
a phrase denoting that all the faculties are pervaded by it, engaged in it, or under its
influence, Act_3:10, “Were filled with wonder and amazement”; Act_5:17, “Filled with
indignation”; Act_13:45, “Filled with envy”; Act_2:4, “Filled with joy and the Holy
Spirit.”
Began to speak with other tongues - In other languages than their native tongue.
The languages which they spoke are specified in Act_2:9-11.
As the Spirit gave them utterance - As the Holy Spirit gave them power to speak.
This language implies plainly that they were now endued with a faculty of speaking
languages which they had not before learned. Their native tongue was that of Galilee, a
somewhat barbarous dialect of the common language used in Judea - the Syro-Chaldaic.
It is possible that some of them might have been partially acquainted with the Greek and
Latin, as each of those languages was spoken among the Jews to some extent; but there
is not the slightest evidence that they were acquainted with the languages of the different
nations afterward specified. Various attempts have been made to account for this
remarkable phenomenon without supposing it to be a miracle. But the natural and
obvious meaning of the passage is, that they were endowed by the supernatural power of
the Holy Spirit with ability to speak foreign languages, and languages to them before
unknown. It does not appear that each one had the power of speaking all the languages
which are specified Act_2:9-11, but that this ability was among them, and that together
they could speak these languages, probably some one and some another. The following
remarks may perhaps throw some light on this remarkable occurrence:
(1) It was predicted in the Old Testament that what is here stated would occur in the
times of the Messiah. Thus, in Isa_28:11, “With ...another tongue will he speak unto this

96. people.” Compare 1Co_14:21 where this passage is expressly applied to the power of
speaking foreign languages under the gospel.
(2) It was promised by the Lord Jesus that they should have this power, Mar_16:17,
“These signs shall follow them that believe ...they shall speak with new tongues.”
(3) The ability to do it existed extensively and long in the church, 1Co_12:10-11, “To
another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: all these
worketh that one and the self-same Spirit”; Act_2:28, “God hath set in the church
...diversities of tongues.” Compare also Act_2:30, and Act_14:2, Act_14:4-6, Act_
14:9,Act_14:13-14; Act_14:18-19, Act_14:22-23, Act_14:27, Act_14:39. From this it
appears that the power was well known in the church, and was not confined to the
apostles. This also may show that in the case in the Acts , the ability to do this was
conferred on other members of the church as well as the apostles.
(4) It was very important that they should be endowed with this power in their great
work. They were going forth to preach to all nation; and though the Greek and Roman
tongues were extensively spoken, yet their use was not universal, nor is it known that the
apostles were skilled in those languages. To preach to all nations, it was indispensable
that they should be able to understand their language. And in order that the gospel
might be rapidly propagated through the earth, it was necessary that they should be
endowed with ability to do this without the slow process of being compelled to learn
them. It will contribute to illustrate this to remark that one of the principal hindrances
in the spread of the gospel now arises from the inability to speak the languages of the
nations of the earth, and that among missionaries of modern times a long time is
necessarily spent in acquiring the language of a people before they are prepared to
preach to them.
(5) One design was to establish the gospel by means of miracles. Yet no miracle could
be more impressive than the power of conveying their sentiments at once in all the
languages of the earth. When it is remembered what a slow and toilsome process it is to
learn a foreign tongue, this would I be regarded by the pagan as one of the most striking
miracles which could be performed, 1Co_14:22, 1Co_14:24-25.
(6) The reality and certainty of this miracle is strongly attested by the early triumphs
of the gospel. That the gospel was early spread over all the world, and that, too, by the
apostles of Jesus Christ, is the clear testimony of all history. They preached it in Arabia,
Greece, Syria, Asia, Persia, Africa, and Rome. Yet how could this have been effected
without a miraculous power of speaking the languages used in all those places? Now, it
requires the toil of many years to speak in foreign languages; and the recorded success of
the gospel is one of the most striking attestations to the fact of the miracle that could be
conceived.
(7) The corruption of language was one of the most decided effects of sin, and the
source of endless embarrassments and difficulties, Gen. 11: It is not to be regarded as
wonderful that one of the effects of the plan of recovering people should be to show the
power of God over all evil, and thus to furnish striking evidence that the gospel could
meet all the crimes and calamities of people. And we may add,
(8) That from this we see the necessity now of training people who are to be
missionaries to other lands. The gift of miracles is withdrawn. The apostles, by that
miracle, simply were empowered to speak other languages. That power must still be had
if the gospel is to be preached. But it is now to be obtained, not by miracle, but by stow
and careful study and toil. If possessed, people must be taught it. And as the church is
bound Mat_28:19 to send the gospel to all nations, so it is bound to provide that the
teachers who shall be sent forth shall be qualified for their work. Hence, one of the

97. reasons of the importance of training men for the holy ministry.
CLARKE, "To speak with other tongues - At the building of Babel the language of
the people was confounded; and, in consequence of this, they became scattered over the
face of the earth: at this foundation of the Christian Church, the gift of various languages
was given to the apostles, that the scattered nations might be gathered; and united under
one shepherd and superintendent (επισκοπος) of all souls.
As the Spirit gave them utterance - The word αποφθεγγεσθαι seems to imply such
utterance as proceeded from immediate inspiration, and included oracular
communications.
GILL Verse 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,.... With the gifts of the
Holy Spirit; they had received the Spirit before, as a Spirit of grace, and were endowed
with great gifts; but now they had great plenty of them, a large abundance; they were like
vessels filled to the brim; they were as it were covered with them; there was an overflow
of them upon them; and now it was, that they were baptized with him; See Gill on "Ac
1:5." Not only the twelve apostles, but the seventy disciples; and it may be all the hundred
and twenty, that were together, even women as well as men: Acts 2:17.
And began to speak with other tongues; besides, and different from that in which they
were born and brought up, and usually spake; they spake divers languages, one spoke one
language, and another, another; and the same person spoke with various tongues,
sometimes one language, and sometimes another. These are the new tongues, Christ told
them they should speak with, Mr 16:17 such as they had never heard, learned, nor known
before:
as the Spirit gave them utterance; they did not utter anything of themselves, and what
came into their minds, things of little or no importance; nor in a confused and disorderly
manner; but they were wise and weighty sentences they delivered, as the word signifies;
even the wonderful works of God, Acts 2:11 the great doctrines of the Gospel; and
though in different languages, yet in a very orderly and distinct manner, so as to be heard
and understood by the people. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "as the Holy
Spirit," &c.
HENRY, "What was the immediate effect of this? 1. They were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, more plentifully and powerfully than they were before. They were filled with the
graces of the Spirit, and were more than ever under his sanctifying influences - were now
holy, and heavenly, and spiritual, more weaned from this world and better acquainted
with the other. They were more filled with the comforts of the Spirit, rejoiced more than
ever in the love of Christ and the hope of heaven, and in it all their griefs and fears were
swallowed up. They were also, for the proof of this, filled with the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, which are especially meant here; they were endued with miraculous powers for
the furtherance of the gospel. It seems evident to me that not only the twelve apostles,
but all the hundred and twenty disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost alike at this
time - all the seventy disciples, who were apostolic men, and employed in the same work,
and all the rest too that were to preach the gospel; for it is said expressly (Eph_4:8,

98. Eph_4:11), When Christ ascended on high (which refers to this, Act_2:33), he gave gifts
unto men, not only some apostles (such were the twelve), but some prophets and some
evangelists (such were many of the seventy disciples, itinerant preachers), and some
pastors and teachers settled in particular churches, as we may suppose some of these
afterwards were. The all here must refer to the all that were together, Act_2:1; Act_1:14,
Act_1:15. 2. They began to speak with other tongues, besides their native language,
though they had never learned any other. They spoke not matters of common
conversation, but the word of God, and the praises of his name, as the Spirit gave them
utterance, or gave them to speak apophthengesthai - apophthegms, substantial and
weighty sayings, worthy to be had in remembrance. It is probable that it was not only
one that was enabled to speak one language, and another another (as it was with the
several families that were dispersed from Babel), but that every one was enabled to
speak divers languages, as he should have occasion to use them. And we may suppose
that they understood not only themselves but one another too, which the builders of
Babel did not, Gen_11:7. They did not speak here and there a word of another tongue, or
stammer out some broken sentences, but spoke it as readily, properly, and elegantly, as
if it had been their mother-tongue; for whatever was produced by miracle was the best of
the kind. They spoke not from any previous thought or meditation, but as the Spirit
gave them utterance; he furnished them with the matter as well as the language. Now
this was, (1.) A very great miracle; it was a miracle upon the mind (and so had most of
the nature of a gospel miracle), for in the mind words are framed. They had not only
never learned these languages, but had never learned any foreign tongue, which might
have facilitated these; nay, for aught that appears, they had never so much as heard
these languages spoken, nor had any idea of them. They were neither scholars nor
travellers, nor had had any opportunity of learning languages either by books or
conversation. Peter indeed was forward enough to speak in his own tongue, but the rest
of them were no spokesmen, nor were they quick of apprehension; yet now not only the
heart of the rash understands knowledge, but the tongue of the stammerers is ready to
speak eloquently, Isa_32:4. When Moses complained, I am slow of speech, God said, I
will be with thy mouth, and Aaron shall be thy spokesman. But he did more for these
messengers of his: he that made man's mouth new-made theirs. (2.) A very proper,
needful, and serviceable miracle. The language the disciples spoke was Syriac, a dialect
of the Hebrew; so that it was necessary that they should be endued with the gift, for the
understanding both of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, in which it was
written, and of the original Greek of the New Testament, in which it was to be written.
But this was not all; they were commissioned to preach the gospel to every creature, to
disciple all nations. But here is an insuperable difficulty at the threshold. How shall they
master the several languages so as to speak intelligibly to all nations? It will be the work
of a man's life to learn their languages. And therefore, to prove that Christ could give
authority to preach to the nations, he gives ability to preach to them in their own
language. And it should seem that this was the accomplishment of that promise which
Christ made to his disciples (Joh_14:12), Greater works than these shall you do. For
this may well be reckoned, all things considered, a greater work than the miraculous
cures Christ wrought. Christ himself did not speak with other tongues, nor did he enable
his disciples to do so while he was with them: but it was the first effect of the pouring
out of the Spirit upon them. And archbishop Tillotson thinks it probable that if the
conversion of infidels to Christianity were now sincerely and vigorously attempted, by
men of honest minds, God would extraordinarily countenance such an attempt with all
fitting assistance, as he did the first publication of the gospel.

99. JAMISON, "they ... began to speak with ... tongues, etc. — real, living
languages, as is plain from what follows. The thing uttered, probably the same by all, was
“the wonderful works of God,” perhaps in the inspired words of the Old Testament
evangelical hymns; though it is next to certain that the speakers themselves understood
nothing of what they uttered (see on 1Co_14:1-25).
HAWKER, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
I beg the Reader, while attending to what is here said of the disciples being filled with
the Holy Ghost, to observe, that it doth not mean to imply they had not been in a state of
regeneration before. Very evident it is, that the Apostles to whom Jesus addressed
himself in his farewell Sermon, were at that time acquainted with the gracious influences
of the Spirit, and consequently regenerated. It the Reader will consult what the Lord
then said respecting the Holy Ghost, in their knowledge of Him, and of his dwelling with
them, and being in them, he will perceive that these things implied a state of grace
different from the world, Joh_14:16-17. But the being filled with the Holy Ghost, as is
here spoken of, meant (what the Lord Jesus had taught them to expect, and to wait for at
Jerusalem,) their ordination to the ministry. This was the blessed work wrought at
Pentecost. And now, ordained by God the Holy Ghost, their mouths were opened to
declare among the people the unsearchable riches of Christ. If the Reader would wish to
see similar instances of this holy ordination, he may behold them in the case of several of
the Lord’s servants, Isa_6:7-10; Jer 1 throughout; Eze 2; Act_13:2-4. See the
Commentary on this last scripture.
I take occasion from hence to observe the difference between regeneration, which is
essential to every child of God for his personal enjoyment of an union and interest with
Christ, and the unction of the Holy Ghost, when calling his sent servants to the ministry.
For, though the Lord calls none to the ministry but whom he hath first called by grace, as
is evident in the instance of the Apostles, yet multitudes are savingly called by
regeneration for their own personal happiness in Christ, whom God the Holy Ghost
never sends forth as his ministers. A man being regenerated is no authority for
ministering in the word and doctrine. And to run unsent, is a solemn thing, Jer_23:20;
Heb_5:4.
NOTES COLLECTED
The church was baptized by the Holy Spirit and became the habitation of the Holy
Spirit, and endowed with the gifts of the Spirit. It had to be fully purchased before it
could be fully possessed, and that is why it had to wait until after the cross and
resurrection.
Alvah Hovey, "A study of all the passages in which this expression is found leads to
the conlusion that being filled with the H.S, or being baptized in the H. S. implies a
reception from the Spirit of extrordinary power, in addition to sanctifying grace."
Bruce says it was once for all on the community of the church. Jesus gives the Spirit

100. he had on earth to his body that it might continue to be the Messiah to the world
and not just to Israel.
Morgan says "The filling was the baptism, the filing was an anointing, and the
filling was a sealing." All were born again in the T sense, for none in the OT were
born of the Spirit. We do not need more of the Spirit, but the Spirit needs more of
us.
B. H. Carroll, THE HOLY SPIRIT says that Jesus never baptized an individual in
water or in the Spirit. It is the church that was baptized once and for all. The
church had been sailing only in Jewish waters but now at Pentecost it is thrust out
into the deep of the Gentile world.
ELLICOTT, "(4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.—The outward portent
was but the sign of a greater spiritual wonder. As yet, though they had been taught to pray
for the gift of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and, we must believe, had found the answer to
their prayer in secret and sacred influences and gradual growth in wisdom, they had never
been conscious of its power as “filling” them—pervading the inner depths of personality,
stimulating every faculty and feeling to a new intensity of life. Now they felt, in St.
Peter’s words, as “borne onward” (2 Peter 1:21), thinking thoughts and speaking words
which were not their own, and which they could hardly even control. They had passed
into a state which was one of rapturous ecstasy and joy. We must not think of the gift as
confined to the Apostles. The context shows that the writer speaks of all who were
assembled, not excepting the women, as sharers in it. (Comp. Acts 2:17-18.)
And began to speak with other tongues.—Two facts have to be remembered as we enter
upon the discussion of a question which is, beyond all doubt, difficult and mysterious. (1)
If we receive Mark 16:9-20 as a true record of our Lord’s words, the disciples had, a few
days or weeks before the Day of Pentecost, heard the promise that they that believed
should “speak with new tongues” (see Note on Mark 16:17), i.e., with new powers of
utterance. (2) When St. Luke wrote his account of the Day of Pentecost, he must have
had—partly through his companionship with St. Paul, partly from personal observation—
a wide knowledge of the phenomena described as connected with the “tongues” in 1
Corinthians 14. He uses the term in the sense in which St. Paul had used it. We have to
read the narrative of the Acts in the light thrown upon it by the treatment in that chapter
of the phenomena described by the self-same words as the Pentecost wonder. What, then,
are those phenomena? Does the narrative of this chapter bring before us any in addition?
(1) The utterance of the “tongue” is presented to us as entirely unconnected with the work
of teaching. It is not a means of instruction. It does not edify any beyond the man who
speaks (1 Corinthians 14:4). It is, in this respect, the very antithesis of “prophecy.” Men
do not, as a rule, understand it, though God does (1 Corinthians 14:2). Here and there,
some mind with a special gift of insight may be able to interpret with clear articulate
speech what had been mysterious and dark (1 Corinthians 14:13). St. Paul desires to
subject the exercise of the gift to the condition of the presence of such an interpreter (1
Corinthians 14:5; 1 Corinthians 14:27). (2) The free use of the gift makes him who uses it
almost as a barbarian or foreigner to those who listen to him. He may utter prayers, or
praises, or benedictions, but what he speaks is as the sound of a trumpet blown
uncertainly, of flute or lyre played with unskilled hand, almost, we might say, in the

101. words of our own poet, “like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh” (1 Corinthians
14:7-9). (3) Those who speak with tongues do well, for the most part, to confine their
utterance to the solitude of their own chamber, or to the presence of friends who can share
their rapture When they make a more public display of it, it produces results that stand in
singular contrast with each other. It is a “sign to them that believe not,” i.e., it startles
them, attracts their notice, impresses them with the thought that they stand face to face
with a superhuman power. On the other hand, the outside world of listeners, common
men, or unbelievers, are likely to look on it as indicating madness (1 Corinthians 14:23).
If it was not right or expedient to check the utterance of the tongues altogether, St. Paul at
least thought it necessary to prescribe rules for its exercise which naturally tended to
throw it into the background as compared with prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). The
conclusion from the whole chapter is, accordingly, that the “tongues” were not the power
of speaking in a language which had not been learnt by the common ways of learning, but
the ecstatic utterance of rapturous devotion. As regards the terms which are used to
describe the gift, the English reader must be reminded that the word “unknown” is an
interpolation which appears for the first time in the version of 1611. Wiclif, Tyndale,
Cranmer, and the Rhemish give no adjective, and the Geneva inserts “strange.” It may be
noted further that the Greek word for “tongue” had come to be used by Greek writers on
Rhetoric for bold, poetic, unusual terms, such as belonged to epic poetry (Aristot. Rhet.
iii. 3), not for those which belonged to a foreign language. If they were, as Aristotle calls
them, “unknown,” it was because they were used in a startlingly figurative sense, so that
men were sometimes puzzled by them (Aristot. Rhet. iii. 10). We have this sense of the
old word (glossa) surviving in our glossary, a collection of such terms. It is clear (1) that
such an use of the word would be natural in writers trained as St. Paul and St. Luke had
been in the language of Greek schools; and (2) that it exactly falls in with the conclusion
to which the phenomena of the case leads us, apart from the word.
We turn to the history that follows in this chapter, and we find almost identical
phenomena. (1) The work of teaching is not done by the gift of tongues, but by the speech
of Peter, and that was delivered either in the Aramaic of Palestine, or, more probably, in
the Greek, which was the common medium of intercourse for all the Eastern subjects of
the Roman empire. In that speech we find the exercise of the higher gift of prophecy, with
precisely the same results as those described by St. Paul as following on the use of that
gift. (Comp. Acts 2:37 with 1 Corinthians 14:24-25.) (2) The utterances of the disciples
are described in words which convey the idea of rapturous praise. They speak the “mighty
works,” or better, as in Luke 1:49, the great things of God. Doxologies, benedictions,
adoration, in forms that transcended the common level of speech, and rose, like the
Magnificat, into the region of poetry: this is what the word suggests to us. In the wild,
half dithyrambic hymn of Clement of Alexandria—the earliest extant Christian hymn
outside the New Testament—in part, perhaps, in that of Acts 4:24-30, and the
Apocalyptic hymns (Revelation 4:8; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:13; Revelation 7:10),
we have the nearest approach to what then came, in the fiery glow of its first utterance, as
with the tongues “of men and of angels,” from the lips of the disciples. (3) We cannot fail
to be struck with the parallelism between the cry of the scoffers here, “These men are full
of new wine” (Acts 2:13), and the words, “Will they not say that ye are mad?” which St.
Paul puts into the mouth of those who heard the “tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:23). In both
cases there is an intensity of stimulated life, which finds relief in the forms of poetry and

102. in the tones of song, and which to those who listened was as the poet’s frenzy. It is not
without significance that St. Paul elsewhere contrasts the “being drunk with wine” with
“being filled with the Spirit,” and immediately passes on, as though that were the natural
result, to add “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”
(Ephesians 5:18-19). If we find the old Jewish psalms in the first of these three words,
and hymns known and remembered in the second, the natural explanation of the adjective
specially alluded to in the third is that the “songs” or “odes” are such as were not merely
“spiritual” in the later sense of the word, but were the immediate outflow of the Spirit’s
working. Every analogy, it will be noticed, by which St. Paul illustrates his meaning in 1
Corinthians 13:1; 1 Corinthians 14:7-8, implies musical intonation. We have the
sounding brass and the tinkling (or clanging) cymbal, the pipe, the harp, the trumpet
giving an uncertain sound. It falls in with this view that our Lord Himself compares the
new energy of spiritual life which He was about to impart to new wine (Matthew 9:17),
and that the same comparison meets us in the Old Testament in the words in which Elihu
describes his inspiration (Job 32:19). The accounts of prophecy in its wider sense, as
including song and praise, as well as a direct message to the minds and hearts of men, in
the life of Saul, present Phenomena that are obviously analogous (1 Samuel 10:10-11; 1
Samuel 19:20; 1 Samuel 19:24). The brief accounts in Acts 10:46, “speaking with
tongues and magnifying God,” and Acts 19:6, where tongues are distinguished from
prophecy, present nothing that is not in harmony with this explanation.
In the present case, however, there are exceptional phenomena. We cannot honestly
interpret St. Luke’s record without assuming either that the disciples spoke in the
languages which are named in Acts 2:9-11, or that, speaking in their own Galilean
tongue, their words came to the ears of those who listened as spoken in the language with
which each was familiar. The first is at once the more natural interpretation of the
language used by the historian, and, if we may use such a word of what is in itself
supernatural and mysterious, the more conceivable of the two. And it is clear that there
was an end to be attained by such an extension of the in this case which could not be
attained otherwise. The disciples had been present in Jerusalem at many feasts before, at
which they had found themselves, as now, surrounded by pilgrims from many distant
lands. Then they had worshipped apart by themselves, with no outward means of
fellowship with these strangers, and had poured out their praises and blessings in their
own Galilean speech, as each group of those pilgrims had done in theirs. Now they found
themselves able to burst through the bounds that had thus divided them, and to claim a
fellowship with all true worshippers from whatever lands they came. But there is no
evidence that that power was permanent. It came and went with the special outpouring of
the Spirit, and lasted only while that lasted in its full intensity. (Comp. Notes on Acts
10:46; Acts 19:6.) There are no traces of its exercise in any narrative of the work of
apostles and evangelists. They did their work in countries where Greek was spoken, even
where it was not the native speech of the inhabitants, and so would not need that special
knowledge. In the history of Acts 14:11, it is at least implied that Paul and Barnabas did
not understand the speech of Lycaonia.
COKE, "Acts 2:4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,— That is, "all the
hundred and twenty." See on Acts 2:1. This effusion of the Spirit,

103. particularlydemonstrated in the gift of tongues, was intended not only as a sign of the
apostles' inspiration at this period, but likewise designed for the use of the apostolic
mission. Jesus himself expressly tells us so; for, on his leaving the world, he comforts his
disciples with this promise: But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me,—unto the uttermost parts of the earth. This
is recorded, ch. Acts 1:8 by the evangelic writer, as an introduction to his narrative of the
miraculous gift of tongues, which heconsiders as the completion of this promise; and that
the power to be received was the power then given; the use of which, as we see, was to
enable the disciples to become witnesses unto him, unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
We find St. Paul had this power, not only in the fullest measure, but in a proportionable
duration; for, endeavouring to moderate the excessive value which the Corinthians set
upon spiritual gifts, he observes, that, with regard to the most splendid of them, the gift of
tongues, he himself had the advantage of them all.—I thank my God, says he, that I speak
with tongues more than you all. The occasion shews, that he considered this his
acquirement as a spiritual gift; and his using the present time shews, that he spoke of it as
then in his possession. But why did he speak with more tongues than all of them? For a
good reason: he was to be the peculiar apostle of the Gentiles, and was to preach the
gospel among remote and
barbarousnations;whichverycircumstancerenderedthisendowmentmorenecessary to him
than the rest of the apostles, whose ministry was circumscribed within more narrow
bounds.
UNKNOWN, "V. 4 - tongues - Identified as a language, spoken and understood. Note the
expressions which show the identification of tongue with language in verses 6, 8, 11. I
Cor. 14:21 makes a positive equation of "tongue" with language. There is nothing in the
N.T. to cause any other interpretation than this: tongue = language. Those who make
"tongue" equal to something else, do it in opposition to the evident usage, and not
because of any usage.
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, "1. THE Day of Pentecost, or Whitsun Day, is the
birthday of the
Christian Church. On that day the Divine society was con
stituted. Not till Pentecost were Christians a distinct corporate
body. On that day the Divine life, the life of the Holy Spirit of
God, was infused into its members, and the first cry of the new
born Divine society was praise "They spake in other tongues
the wonderful works of God."
The day chosen was striking and suggestive. Proselytes from
various countries were all gathered together with the Jews of
Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Weeks. It was Pentecost, the
fiftieth day a week of weeks since Passover. At Passover a
sheaf of ripe barley had been waved in the Temple; at Pente
cost the two loaves of fine flour made from the newly gathered
wheat were now being waved in the Holy Place. And it was
harvest. What better occasion for the outpouring of the Spirit,

104. the " Giver of life," than this feast of Pentecost, when the first-
fruits of the great Spiritual harvest of both Jews and Gentiles
were offered unto the Lord who had redeemed them ?
Moreover, Pentecost was celebrated as the anniversary of the
giving of the law from Sinai, after the wanderings of the children
of Israel for seven weeks from the first Passover in Egypt. How
fitting a festival for the first outpouring of the Spirit, whereby
that law might be observed in its fullest meaning, not as uttered
amid the terrors of Sinai, but as revealed in Him who fulfilled the
law and the prophets to the uttermost.
2. On this great festival the apostles and disciples were
assembled together in Jerusalem. They were praying. They
were waiting for the promise of the Spirit. Suddenly the whole
28 WHITSUN DAY
place was shaken as with a tempest, and bright flamee, like
tongues of fire, flickered for a moment over every head. These
were, indeed, wonderful outward signs ; but we must not think
of this rush of tempest, and this shower of flaming tongues, ae
the most wonderful thing that happened. They were but the
outward signs of something more wonderful still. The Holy
Ghost filled the hearts of all that were present not only the
apostles, but also the men and women who were with them;
arid they burst out into loud shouts of praise and thanksgiving
to God.
3. " They were all with one accord in one place." There is
no absolute certainty what that place was or who were the
recipients of the gift there bestowed. Some have thought that
it was within the precincts of the Temple, and the early testimony
of Josephus (Antiq. viii. 3. 2) is appealed to in support of this.
He says the term here used (oTxoc) was applied to describe the
thirty chambers which ran round the Temple of Solomon ; but
though open and easily accessible, none of them could have held
so large a multitude ; and it is extremely difficult to believe that
the Priests and Pharisees would have allowed such a gathering
of the despised followers of One whom they had crucified but
a few weeks before. Although, then, it would have been intensely
significant had the New Covenant been inaugurated within the
very shrine of the Old, we are compelled to look for some other
scene. Tradition has placed it in that Upper Chamber, in which
we know that the first Christians were wont to hold their religious

105. meetings.
4. On whom was the gift bestowed ? It is impossible to say
whom St. Luke intended when he spoke of " all." Perhaps the
more general belief has limited it to the Apostles, as the
Whitsuntide preface in the Book of Common Prayer unhesitat
ingly teaches ; there is ancient testimony, however, to the
inclusion of " the one hundred and twenty/ and some extension
beyond the Twelve is almost necessitated by the language of
Joel s prophecy, which, St. Peter says, was fulfilled on this
occasion. The expression was perhaps intended to embrace all
the believers in Christ then congregated in Jerusalem.
jj Can it surprise us that the world, which has no eyes and
ACTS n. 4 29
no heart for spiritual things, usually appreciates this feast least
of all, and rather seeks its satisfaction in the enjoyment of nature
than in gratitude for the copious outpouring of the Spirit ? Men
must in some degree be filled with the Holy Ghost in order to
value aright the blessing of this day ; they must with the eye of
the Spirit have seen something of the glory of the New Dispensa
tion, in order to know fully the value of the declaration : " The
promise is to you and to your children, and to as many as the
Lord our God shall call." Just this is the glory of the feast of
Pentecost, that it not merely renews the remembrance of a most
interesting event in the past, but, moreover, points us to the
source of richest blessing for the present, and opens to us the
brightest prospect for the so frequently beclouded future. 1
THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The words of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit seem to have
made but little immediate impression upon His sorrowing
disciples. Probably they were too full of trouble to comprehend
their meaning, and too indifferent to consolation to care to
understand. Love in tears is apt to be petulant. The suggestion
of any possibility of compensation for impending loss is resented
as an insult and a reproach. The promise that Another should
fill His place brought no comfort. They did not want Another.
To speak of a successor was a reflection upon their devotion, and
to say the exchange would be to their advantage could be nothing

106. but the exaggeration of compassion. Grief for impending loss
refuses to be comforted. So the promise of the Paraclete brought
little light to their understanding, and apparently less comfort to
their hearts. It was not until the Ascension that their eyes were
opened. The Eesurrection filled them with a great joy, but not
until they witnessed His return to the Father did they realize
the true greatness of their Lord and the meaning of His Mission
in the world. As they beheld Him rise, the mists lifted from
their understanding, and they returned to Jerusalem, not like
bereaved and broken men, but rejoicing and praising God. The
vision of the opened heavens had given them a new conception
of all things in heaven and on earth. Infinity had received a
1 J. J. van Oosterzee, The Year of Salvation, i. 476.
30 WHITSUN DAY
new centre, for the eternal glory was embodied in a Person they
knew; prayer had a new meaning, for it was through a Name
they uttered with familiar affection; faith had received a new
basis, for it was in the Christ they had loved and proved. For
ten days they waited with their eyes set upon the heavens where
they had seen Him disappear from their sight. With Pentecost
came the fulfilment of His word, and the gift in which they
found the complete realization of all that He had said
1. Let us first see how the disciples were prepared to receive
the Gift.
The coming of the Holy Spirit involved the preparation of a
people to receive Him. There was an extended and an immediate
preparation. The extended preparation of the disciples covered
the whole course of Christ s ministry and fellowship. Uncon
sciously, they had come to know the Spirit in Christ. Everything
in the life, teaching, and work of Jesus was a manifestation of
the power and method of the Spirit. As the end approached, He
prepared their minds for His coming by definite instruction and
promise. He talked with a glow and enthusiasm of the Spirit
calculated to kindle their desire and expectation. They were told
of His wisdom and power, and the wonders He would do for
them, exceeding all they had seen in their Lord. Faith cometh
by hearing; after the Eesurrection they seem to have heard of
little else but the wonders of the Coming One; and the last
words of the ascending Lord were words of promise concerning
Him. "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many
days hence." " Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is

107. come upon you." If they had not heard they would not have
expected, and could not have received.
The final stage of their preparation was in united and believ
ing prayer. The baptism came to the prepared. For ten
consecutive days they remained in prayer. They were of one
accord and in one place. A common object drew them together,
a common expectation focused their faith, and focused faith
always prevails. The fact that they continued for ten days
proves both their earnestness and their faith. They waited
earnestly for God, pleaded the promise of Christ, and had faitb
in His word.
ACTS n. 4 31
2. The coming of the Holy Spirit is symbolized in the elements
of wind and fire. Let us then consider the meaning which under
lies these symbols.
Wind.
What a gentle thing wind is ! What a powerful thing wind
is! You hear of an evening the gentle breeze whispering so
sweetly through the trees ; you turn your face to it, and the wind
falls so softly on your opened eye, that even that eye, which the
smallest speck of dust can injure, is unhurt by it. The bubble
which a touch of your finger will destroy floats unharmed in it ;
the thistledown is borne unbroken for miles by it ; and, even in
winter, the snowflakes, so fragile that your touch is destruction
to them, are whirled round and round uninjured in their purity
and beauty. How gentle the wind is, but how strong! Those
great trees of the forest that have stood for ages, and clutched
the earth far and wide with their spreading roots, fall before the
storm; and the mighty ships, that seem so majestic in their
power, are driven to destruction before the tempest, and cast in
splintered wreckage on our shores. Even so is the Spirit of God :
speaking so tenderly to the heart of some little child ; filling
young souls with every true, and beautiful, and loving thought
that they have, and moving the strongest men to penitence and
faith. The Spirit of God is gentle as the breeze, strong as the
storm.
Tf The wind is a favourite Biblical image for the movements
and goings of God s Spirit. Prophet and psalmist alike speak of
the wind as symbolizing God s power. " Come from the four

108. winds, breath," cried Ezekiel, in the vision of the dry bones.
" The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and
the clouds are the dust of his feet," says the prophet Nahum.
In the Book of Job the poet represents God as speaking in the
wind. And so, too, Jesus, who came to fulfil the sayings of the
prophets, said: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit." 1
(1) One of the psalmists speaks about God bringing the wind
out of His treasuries. That must be the wind that blows healthily
1 D. L. Ritchie.
32 WHITSUN DAY
to heal our sicknesses ; whose every kiss is tonic, whose rude
and wild embrace is strength. Whether it comes rushing over
the mountains, or tearing down the gullies, or skipping over the
Bummer sea as a gentle breeze to cool the fevered brow, it comes
as a cleanser, as life-giver, as health-bringer. Its very buffetings
are health. Now that is what God s Spirit is to the spirit of a
man. It is life and health and peace. When Jesus spoke to
Nicodemus about birth by the Spirit and compared it to the wind,
the reference was to the evening breeze just whispering among
the olive groves. A ripple and a rustle and it is gone, and thou
canst not tell whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.
T[ It is an old Jewish saying that Moses died from the kiss of
God. How true it is to say that many people, especially young
people, live because of the kiss of the Spirit. One imprint on
their young hearts and they give themselves in love to the great
God and His Christ. Yes, God s Spirit still comes like the
zephyr, wooing and winning, like the breeze which you can scarcely
feel upon your hand, though you know it on your more delicate
brow. So He comes to many hearts in pensive hours, in times
and seasons of holy quiet and blessed meditation ; so He comes,
too, in life s morning to young souls. 1
The Lord of brightness and of warmth,
Of fragrance and of dew,
Who having joy in life and growth,

109. Finds pleasures ever new ;
To herbs the earth, and trees the heaven caressing,
Alike He gives His soft and sunny blessing. 2
(2) But the Holy Spirit also comes as a mighty rushing wind,
as He came of old, and then He comes with great and stirring
power ; and the Church has so known the Holy Spirit s coming
in the times of great revival. He comes to spirits, invigorating
and renewing them until they have a new life, as if it were life
from the dead.
And every virtue we possess,
And every conflict won,
And every thought of holiness
Are His alone.
D. L. Ritchie. 3 T. T. Lynch, The Rivulet,, 149.
ACTS ii. 4 33
Oh ! that God s Spirit would come in both ways to the Church
to-day, kissing spirits until they live, moving and thrilling the
heart of the Church until there is a great revival of spiritual
religion, and a quickening and bracing of all the powers of
righteousness in our beloved land.
Hail, mightiest and bounteous wind,
Distributor of wealth,
Who giving, comest to confirm
Or to restore our health ;
A blessing thou, bright energy diffusing,
For every other blessing s happiest using. 1
(3) And there is another function of the wind. It is some
times a winnowing wind, separating chaff from grain, the false
from the true ; or it sometimes comes as a blight. There is, for
example, the sirocco that starts in the heart of Africa, and, with
its blighting breath, passes over whole tracts of country, leaving
nothing but destruction in its train. Yes ! the wind blights as
well as gives health and strength; and so does God s Spirit.

110. God s Spirit gives health and vigour to every virtue we possess,
and it seeks to blight for ever every sin that besets our nature
or reigns in our life.
A rushing, mighty wind across the sky,
A swirling, swinging, roaring, ringing breath
Which seen) s to fill the world, as. flying by,
It sweeps the pathway both of life and death.
Into our hearts it blows, and bears away
All evil thoughts, all hate, and strife, and sin,
All dust of hopes and fears and sorrows grey,
To let the light of love and truth within.
So Charity shall come, a living flame,
A fire divine, a firm and steady glow,
The pulsing light of life, for aye the same,
To make us tender kindly words to know.
Thus, year by year, the nodding, bending trees,
Whose sentient branches swiftly bear along
The cleansing, rushing, purifying breeze,
Shall sing Earth s mighty Pentecostal song. 2
1 T. T. Lynch, The. Rivulet, 149.
3 M. A. B. Evans, The Moonlight Sonata,, 118.
ACTS & ROM. 3
34 WHITSUN DAY
Fir*
Fire has three uses it gives light, it gives heat, and it
purifies.
(1) The Spirit of G-od comes to us as light. It comes to
enlighten us, to show us the meaning or God s blessed Word, to

111. explain to us what God is, and what our blessed Saviour s life and
death meant for us ; and so to teach us many things which we
cannot know without Him. So we say in the Collect for this
day that God did teach the hearts of His faithful people, by
sending to them the Light of His Holy Spirit. And so, according
to one interpretation, the Day of Pentecost is called Whitsun Day
because God gave to His disciples " wit," i.e. " wisdom," as the
word " wit " used to mean. 1
K " It is with man s Soul," says Carlyle, " as it was with
Nature : the beginning of Creation is Light." And of Conversion
he says : " Blame not the word, rejoice rather that such a word,
signifying such a thing, has come to light in our modern Era,
though hidden from the wisest Ancients. The Old World knew
nothing of Conversion ; instead of an Ecce Homo, they had only
some Choice of Hercules. It was a new-attained progress in the
Moral Development of man : hereby has the Highest come home
to the bosoms of the most Limited; what to Plato was but a
hallucination, and to Socrates a chimera, is now clear and certain
to your Zinzendorfs, your Wesleys, and the poorest of their
Pietists and Methodists." 2
Spirit, guiding us aright,
Spirit, making darkness light,
Spirit of resistless might,
Hear us, Holy Spirit.
(2) Fire gives heat as well as light. The Holy Spirit not only
teaches us about God and about Christ, but He makes our hearts
flame up in love to Him.
With feet of burning brass,
When times are dark as night,
Thou through the world dost pass,
Consuming in our sight
Dry trees and withering grass,
With dreadful, happy light.
1 T. Teignmouth Shore. s Sartor Resartus. Bk. ii
ACTS ii. 4 35

112. O thou consuming fire,
Why should I fear thy flame,
Who purpose and desire
To burn what Thou shalt blame,
111 weeds, and every brier
Of folly and of shame ?
With shining beams that smite
The chains of darkness through,
Thou smilest in the height,
And all things smile anew;
Thy heat, in subtle might,
Works with the gentle dew.
Thou creating fire,
I feel thy warmth benign;
My hopes a flowering spire
Arise, unfold, and shine;
And fruits that I desire
Shall soon be mine and Thine. 1
(3) And fire is used to purify. Have you ever seen a piece of
ore ? It looks like a bit of common, hard, dirty rock, with just
here and there a little, tiny, bright spot. You might hammer
away at it for a long time trying to get those little pieces of
metal out of it, and you would splinter it all about, and not
succeed in getting the metal after all. But take it to a fur
nace, and there the fierce red and white heat will burn up all the
dross, and the pure metal streams forth. A great deal of what is
earthy is mixed up in our natures with a little that is pure ; then
the Spirit of God descends like illuminating and purifying fire.
By all our trials and discipline, that Spirit purges out of us all
that is base, and false, and earthy. "Our God is a consuming
fire," but He will consume only the dross, and will set free the
true gold of our nature, so that it may be one day pure enough to
be formed into part of the Crown of the King, and to flash in its
loveliness and beauty in the eternal glory of the Father s presence.
Those delicate wanderers,

113. The wind, the star, the cloud,
Ever before mine eyes
As to an altar bowed,
Sighs and dew-laden aire
Offer in sacrifice.
1 T. T. Lynch, The RwuUi, 121.
36 WHITSUN DAY
The offerings arise:
Hazes of rainbow light,
Pure crystal, blue, and gold,
Through dreamland take their flight;
And mid the sacrifice
God moveth as of old.
In miracles of fire
He symbols forth His days;
In gleams of crystal light
Reveals what pure pathwaye
Lead to the soul s desire,
The silence of the height 1
II.
FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Let us now inquire what is meant by the words " filled with
the Holy Spirit." Very many people have had their minds more
or less exercised touching the blessing of the " baptism of the
Holy Spirit," as it is often termed. Not a few have been hindered,
if not actually thrown back, in their spiritual course, simply for
lack of a little instruction in the very first principles of the
doctrine concerning the Person, offices, and work of the Holy
Spirit.
1. The first point to be recognized, as clearly set forth in the
Scriptures, is the fact, that all Christians have the Holy Spirit.
They have not only been brought under His influence, but they
have received the Holy Spirit Himself. " If any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his " (Eom. viii. 9).
2. At the same time we must recognize the fact that to have

114. the Spirit is one thing, but to be filled with the Spirit is quite
another thing. We know from what is recorded in St. John s
Gospel that even before the Ascension the Holy Ghost had
actually been given to the disciples, that Christ breathed upon
them the Holy Ghost. But on the Day of Pentecost they were
filled with the Holy Ghost.
^[ There are upon the whole two main aspects or phases of the
*"A. K."
ACTS ii. 4 37
fulness of the Spirit. There is a special, critical phase, in which
at a great crisis it comes out in marked, and perhaps wholly
abnormal, manifestation, as when it enables the man or woman
to utter supernatural prediction or proclamation. And there is
also what we may call the habitual phase, where it is used to
describe the condition of this or that believer s life day by day
and in its normal course. Thus the Seven were not so much
specially " filled " as known to be " full " ; and so was Barnabas.
Into this holy habitual fulness Paul entered, it appears, at his
baptism. On the other hand, the same Paul experienced from
time to time the other and abnormal sort of filling ; and it thus
results that the same man might in one respect be full while in
another he needed to be filled. 1
3. What, then, have we to do in order to be " filled with the
Spirit " ? The answer to this question is not far to seek, for
Christ has said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." For " if ye
being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him ? " (Luke xi. 9-13). If, therefore, we want to
be filled with the Holy Spirit, then indeed we are not far from
receiving the rich blessings of the gift, but we must want the
blessing and want it earnestly, for the Holy Spirit will not fill
unwilling hearts. But we have great encouragement to ask. He
has promised, and He has repeatedly fulfilled His promise. We
cannot ask more than He has already given in many lives.
Did we dare
In our agony of prayer,
Ask for more than He has done?

115. When was ever His right hand
Over any time or land
Stretched as now beneath the sun ?
Ill
TRANSFORMED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
" They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave
them utterance."
The words of the text are significant, and not the less so
1 H. 0. G. Moule, Veni Creator, 21 1 .
38 WHITSUN DAY
because, in some measure, symbolic. We must find the meaning
which the symbolism contains. We have already been thinking
of the symbols under which the Holy Spirit came wind and fire,
and how these symbols characterise the work of the Holy Spirit
in us ; we shall now see how the same symbols are connected
with the gift of speaking with tongues. Wind is symbolic of
power ; fiery tongues are symbolic of inspired speech " fchey
spake as the Spirit gave them utterance."
i. The Immediate Results.
1. Speaking with tongues. The Authorized Version by
speaking of " cloven " tongues, and Christian painters by their
pictorial representations, have imported into the scene an
unauthorized feature. It has been supposed that a bishop s
mitre, with its divided crest, was first suggested by this erroneous
idea of the shape of the tongues which rested upon the heads of
the Apostles. The word translated " cloven " should be rendered
K dividing " or " distributing themselves." The flame-like forms
descended into the Upper Chamber in a body or compact mass,
and then at once scattered themselves over the assembled
company, one lighting upon the head of each. The original
language seems to imply that it rested there for a moment only,
and then suddenly vanished, symbolizing perhaps its transitory
nature as a gift of tongues.

116. Now in histories of this kind we are always under a tempta
tion to seize upon the most extraordinary feature of the story,
and to take that as the essence of the whole. Thus one of the
popular ideas of Whitsun Day has been that it commemorates the
gift of languages to the Apostles, by which, though uneducated
men, they were qualified in a moment of time to preach the
Gospel to every nation under heaven. But, indeed, this gift of
tongues (even if it were what is here supposed) is but a small
part of the matter. The gift of tongues concerned only one
generation, at any rate, and a very few individuals.
2. The greatest miracle of that day was the transformation
wrought in the waiting disciples. Their fire-baptism transfigured
them. Every part of their nature was vitalized, invigorated, and
transformed in fire. Its effect upon their knowledge was all that
ACTS ii. 4 39
Christ had promised it should be. Their eyes were opened, their
memories quickened, and their minds inspired. How clear all
things appeared now that the Spirit shone upon them ! The
Cross, the Kesurrection, and the Kingdom were all seen in their
true meaning. Peter s address reveals an illumined intelligence,
an apt and accurate interpreter, an Apostle on fire. The coming
of the Spirit had turned the fisherman into a teacher, orator, and
evangelist. The tongue of fire gave forth the word of wisdom
and of power. As men listened they found their minds informed,
their reasons convinced, their souls convicted, and their wills
persuaded. The Apostles themselves became new men. They
now no longer coveted wealth or power, or the honour of this
world; they no longer desired to have again the kingdom
restored to Israel, so that the Jewish dream of earthly dominion
should be theirs, one of them sitting on the right hand of the
King, and one on the left, each and all anxious to be first and
highest. No, the unseen and everlasting world had been opened
to their gaze, and they now saw all earthly things in their true
light. The only real wealth was wealth within, purified and
loving hearts. The only real honour was the honour that comes
from God, the honour of God s likeness ; above all, the honour of
bringing many sons to God, multitudes of men and women
delivered from evil and saved eternally. So they now preached
with power ; even the power of the Holy Ghost Himself ;
and this very day of Pentecost three thousand were added
to their number, three thousand who the other day might
have been among those that cried, " Crucify him, crucify

117. him."
^ The moral change wrought in the disciples, by the new
baptism of the Spirit, is strikingly displayed in the case of one
man. A difficult service was to be performed in Jerusalem that
day. Had it been desired to find a man in London who would
have gone down to Whitehall a few weeks after Charles was
beheaded, and, addressing Cromwell s soldiers, have endeavoured
to persuade them that he whom they had executed was not only
a King and a good one, but a Prophet of God, and that, therefore,
they had been guilty of more than regicide, of sacrilege ; although
England had brave men then, it may be questioned whether any
one could have been found to bear such a message to that audience.
The service which had then to be performed in Jerusalem was
40 WHITSUN DAY
similar to this. It was needful that some one should stand up under
the shadow of the temple, and, braving chief priests and inob
alike, assert that He whom they had shamefully executed seven
weeks ago was Israel s long-looked-for Messiah; that they had
been guilty of a sin which had no name ; had raised their hands
against " God manifest in the flesh " ; had, in words strange to
human ears, " killed the Prince of Life." Who was thus to
confront the rage of the mob, and the malice of the Priests ?
We see a man rising, filled with a holy fire, so that he totally
forgets his danger, and seems not even conscious that he is doing
an heroic act. He casts back upon the mockers their charge, and
proceeds to open and to press home his tremendous accusation, as
if he were a king upon a throne, and each man before him a
lonely and defenceless culprit.
Who is this man ? Have we not seen him before ? Is it
possible that it can be Peter ? We know him of old : he has a
good deal of zeal, but little steadiness; he means well, and,
when matters are smooth, can serve well; but when difficulties
and adversaries rise before him, his moral courage fails. How
short a time is it ago since we saw him tried ! He had been
resolving that, come what might, he would stand by his Master to
the last. Others might flinch, he would stand. Soon the Master
was in the hands of enemies. Yet His case was by no means lost.
The Governor was on His side ; many of the people were secretly
for Him ; nothing could be proved against Him ; and, above all,
He who had saved others could save Himself. Yet, as Peter

118. saw scowling faces, his courage failed. A servant-maid looked
into his eye, and his eye fell. She said she thought he belonged
to Jesus of Nazareth : his heart sank, and he said, " No." Then
another looked in his face, and repeated the same suspicion. Now,
of course, he was more cowardly, and repeated his " No." A third
looked upon him, and insisted that he belonged to the accused
Prophet. Now his poor heart was all fluttering ; and, to make it
plain that he had nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth, he began
to curse and swear.
Is it within the same breast where this pale and tremulous
heart quaked that we see glowing a brave heart which dreads
neither the power of the authorities nor the violence of the
populace; which faces every prejudice and every vice of
Jerusalem, every bitter Pharisee and every street brawler, as if
they were no more than straying and troublesome sheep ? Is the
Peter of Pilate s hall the Peter of Pentecost, with the same
natural powers, the same natural force of character, the same
training, and the same resolutions ? If so, what a difference is
ACTS n. 4 41
made in a man by the one circumstance of being filled with the
Holy Ghost I 1
ii, The Permanent Results.
1. The descent of the Holy Ghost was preceded by " a rushing
mighty wind " which " filled all the house where they were
sitting." It bespeaks the irresistible force of the Spirit, and the
fact that it filled the whole chamber would seem to be
emblematical of the universality of its influence. Apart, then,
from its immediate effect upon the assemblage there gathered
together, it was the first-fruits of the indwelling of the Holy
Ghost in the whole mystical Body of Christ s Church in all places
and through all time. It is this that marks off the Dispensa
tion of the Spirit from those Dispensations which had preceded
it. God had deigned to be present with special people, and
at special times; He had even caused an embodiment of His
presence to be manifested in a special place, resting like a cloud
of glory above the mercy-seat. And again, God had been present
in the Person of His Incarnate Son among the inhabitants of
Palestine, but in both cases the Divine Presence had been circum
scribed and local only; but from that first Whitsuntide and
onwards God has enabled men, through the doctrine of the Blessed

119. Trinity, to realise His Presence everywhere, and what before seemed
to men to be local only has become universal.
2. To the Jews in the wilderness and to the people in
Palestine, the Presence of God was wholly external, outside of them
selves, but now it is within ; " Know ye not," says St. Paul, " that
ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth ID
you ? " He meant to remind us of the inspiring thought that as
the indwelling Spirit is felt to be ever prompting us to do what
is right, so it should act as a deterrent from doing what is wrong.
He meant us to realize that every time we yield to temptation,
we sin not only against a God above and about us, but also
against a God within us.
3. The life so filled is transformed. There may be some who
will ask, Does the Holy Sfjirit still fill the hearts of men and
transform, their lives, as we read that He did in the days qf the
i W. Arthur, Tlie Tonyue of Fire, 63.
42 WHITSUN DAY
Apostles* The answer to the question is one which rests on
experience ; it is not a matter of correct interpretation of symbols.
We may easily go astray in interpreting symbols, and we need
the valuable reminder which Dr. Swete gives us that when we
have translated the words of the Bible into the terms of modern
philosophy we have only substituted one set of symbols for
another. The modern symbols may be more intelligible and less
likely to be misunderstood than the old ones ; but the ultimate
truths will not be reached until we have passed, in the words
which Cardinal Newman chose for his own epitaph, ex umbris et
imaginibus in veritatem. 1 Let us quote the words of Dr. Swete in
answer to this question : " Communion with God through Christ
in the Holy Spirit is not a theory or a dogma, but a fact of
personal knowledge to which tens of thousands of living Christians
can testify as the most certain of actualities." *
U Let us go back a century and a half ago, and compare the
condition of things then with the condition of things to-day. In
the year 1724 " gin-drinking infected the mass of the population
with the violence of an epidemic." It is said that every sixth
house in London was a gin-palace. Hogarth s cartoon retains the
sign which stood outside the doors of these drinking dens " Here
you may get drunk for a penny ; dead drunk for twopence straw

120. provided." The public-houses were open all night. Public opinion
did not hold the character of any man to suffer through drunken
ness. Dr. Johnson says to Boswell : " I remember, sir, when every
decent person in Lichfield got drunk every night and nobody thought
the worse of them." It was the mark of a gentleman to get
drunk, and the standard of comparison was as " drunk as a lord."
Again, in the social habits of the upper classes profane swearing
was held to be a mark of good breeding, and to take the name of
God in vain in almost every sentence was the mark of a gentle
man and even of a lady. Look again at the sports of the people,
perhaps the truest index to their character. On the Sunday the
people gathered for cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and other cruel
sports. If we could have stepped into the midst of the eager and
excited crowd we might have cried indignantly " This ought to
be put down by law." But how impossible it would have seemed,
How indignantly it would have been scouted. The members of
Parliament were the ringleaders of the sport. The clergy thought
themselves fortunate to own a winning bird. Now where is all
that gone ? What has made drunkenness a low and beastly
* The Ghiardicm, 3rd February 1911. Swete, The Ascended Christ.
ACTS n. 4 43
habit ? What has made swearing an utterly vulgar thing ? Why
has the law stepped in and put down cruel sports ? Do you say
that education has become more general, and that culture has
brought in other and more refined tastes? No; it was the
educated and cultured classes who led the fashion in these things.
There is but one explanation. Wesley and Whitefield were filled
with the Holy Ghost, and as they preached here and there a
little company of men and women were converted not many in
comparison with the masses of the nation. And these converted
men and women went forth amongst the neighbours and began
to live a Christlike life. Each became a new moral standard
amongst them. Each was a skylight through which the heavens
shone down into the midst of the little community. Each of
them witnessed that there was another life than that to which
they had been accustomed, and that in every way a better and
happier life. Each became a living conscience in which things
were so much more definitely black or white than they used to
be blessedly good or uncomfortably bad. Each was a window
through which men and women saw beyond the little present out
into the eternities and the infinities. That wrought the reforma
tion witnesses unto Me. 1

121. Oh, turn me, mould me, mellow me for use.
Pervade my being with thy vital force,
That this else inexpressive life of mine
May become eloquent and full of power,
Impregnated with life and strength divine.
Put the bright torch of heaven into my hand,
That I may carry it aloft
And win the eye of weary wanderers here below
To guide their feet into the paths of peace.
I cannot raise the dead,
Nor from this soil pluck precious dust,
Nor bid the sleeper wake,
Nor still the storm, nor bend the lightning back,
Nor muffle up the thunder,
Nor bid the chains fall from off creation s long enfettered limbs.
But I can live a life that tells on other lives,
And makes this world less full of anguish and of pain ;
A life that like the pebble dropped upon the sea
Sends its wide circles to a hundred snores.
May such a life be mine.
Creator of true life, Thyself the life Thou givest,
Give Thyself, that Thou mayest dwell in me, and I in Thee. s
1 M. G. Pewe, Horatiua Bonar,

122. CONSTABLE,"Spirit filling and Spirit baptism are two distinct ministries of the Holy
Spirit. Both occurred on this occasion, though Luke only mentioned filling specifically.
We know that Spirit baptism also took place because Jesus predicted it would take place
"not many days from now" before His ascension (Acts 1:5). Moreover, Peter spoke of it
as having taken place on Pentecost a short time later (Acts 11:15-16). [Note: See
Fruchtenbaum, pp. 116-17.]
Filling with the Spirit was a phenomenon believers experienced at various times in the
Old Testament economy (Exodus 35:30-34; Numbers 11:26-29; 1 Samuel 10:6; 1 Samuel
10:10) as well as in the New. An individual Christian can now experience it many times.
God can fill a person with His Spirit on numerous separate occasions (cf. Acts 4:8; Acts
4:31; Acts 6:3; Acts 6:5; Acts 7:55; Acts 9:17; Acts 13:9; Acts 13:52). Furthermore God
has commanded all believers to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Luke used
"filling" to express the Holy Spirit's presence and enablement. [Note: Bock, "A Theology
. . .," pp. 98-99.] Filling by the Spirit results in the Spirit's control of the believer
(Ephesians 5:18). The Spirit controls a believer to the degree that He fills the believer and
vice versa. Believers experience Spirit control to the extent that we yield to His direction.
On the day of Pentecost the believers assembled were under the Spirit's control because
they were in a proper personal relationship of submission to Him (cf. Acts 1:14). In the
Book of Acts whenever Luke said the disciples were Spirit-filled, their filling always had
some connection with their gospel proclamation or some specific service related to
outreach (Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 9:17; Acts 13:9). [Note: Frederick R. Harm,
"Structural Elements Related to the Gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts," Concordia Journal
14:1 (January 1988):30.]
"... Luke always connects the 'filling of the Holy Spirit' with the proclamation of the
gospel in Acts (Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 9:17; Acts 13:9). Those who are 'full
of the Holy Spirit' are always those who are faithfully fulfilling their anointed task as
proclaimers (Acts 6:3; Acts 6:5; Acts 7:55; Acts 11:24; Acts 13:52)." [Note: Walt
Russell, "The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts," Trinity Journal 7NS (Spring
1986):63.]
"No great decision was ever taken, no important step was ever embarked upon, by the
early Church without the guidance of the Spirit. The early Church was a Spirit-guided
community.
"In the first thirteen chapters of Acts there are more than forty references to the Holy
Spirit. The early Church was a Spirit-filled Church and precisely therein lay its power."
[Note: Barclay, pp. 12, 13.]
The Christian never repeats Spirit baptism in contrast to filling, God never commanded
Spirit baptism, and it does not occur in degrees. Spirit baptism normally takes place when
a person becomes a Christian (Romans 8:9). However when it took place on the day of
Pentecost the people baptized were already believers. This was also true on three later
occasions (Acts 8:17; Acts 10:45; Acts 19:6). (Chapter 19 does not clearly identify John's
disciples as believers, but they may have been.) These were unusual situations, however,
and not typical of Spirit baptism. [Note: See my comments on these verses in these notes
for further explanations.] Spirit baptism always unites a believer to the body of Christ (1
Corinthians 12:13). The "body of Christ" is a figure that the New Testament writers used
exclusively of the church, never of Israel or any other group of believers. Therefore this

123. first occurrence of the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the
church, the body of Christ (cf. Matthew 16:18).
Speaking with other tongues was the outward evidence that God had done something to
these believers inwardly (i.e., controlled them and baptized them into the body). The
same sign identified the same thing on the other initial instances of Spirit baptism (Acts
10:46; Acts 19:6). In each case it was primarily for the benefit of Jews present, who as a
people sought a sign from God to mark His activity, that God gave this sign (Luke 11:16;
John 4:48; 1 Corinthians 1:22). [Note: See William G. Bellshaw, "The Confusion of
Tongues," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:478 (April-June 1963):145-53.]
One of the fundamental differences between charismatic and non-charismatic Christians
is the issue of the purpose of the sign gifts (speaking in tongues, healings on demand,
spectacular miracles, etc.). Charismatic theologians have urged that the purpose of all the
gifts is primarily edification (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:7). [Note: E.g., Jack Deere, Surprised
by the Power of the Spirit, pp. 134-36.]
They "always seem to be spoken of as a normal function of the Christian life ... [in which
the Spirit] makes them willing and able to undertake various works for the renewal and
upbuilding of the Church." [Note: E. D. O'Connor, The Pentecostal Movement in the
Catholic Church, pp. 280, 283. See also Ernest Swing Williams, a classic Pentecostal
theologian, Systematic Theology, 3:50; Bernard Ramm, Rapping about the Spirit, p. 115;
John Sherrill, They Shall Speak with Other Tongues, pp. 79-88; and Catalog of Oral
Roberts University (1973), pp. 26-27.]
Many non-charismatics believe that the purpose of the sign gifts was not primarily
edification but the authentication of new revelation.
There is an "... inseparable connection of miracles with revelation, as its mark and
credential; or, more narrowly, of the summing up of all revelation, finally, in Jesus Christ.
Miracles do not appear on the page of Scripture vagrantly, here, there, and elsewhere
indifferently, without assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods, and appear
only when God is speaking to His people through accredited messengers, declaring His
gracious purposes. Their abundant display in the Apostolic Church is the mark of the
richness of the Apostolic Age in revelation; and when this revelation period closed, the
period of miracle-working had passed by also, as a mere matter of course." [Note:
Benjamin B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles, pp. 25-26.]
". . . glossolalia [speaking in tongues] was a gift given by God, not primarily as a special
language for worship; not primarily to facilitate the spread of the gospel; and certainly not
as a sign that a believer has experienced a second 'baptism in the Holy Spirit.' It was given
primarily for an evidential purpose to authenticate and substantiate some facet of God's
truth. This purpose is always distorted by those who shift the emphasis from objective
sign to subjective experience." [Note: Joel C. Gerlach, "Glossolalia," Wisconsin Lutheran
Quarterly 70:4 (October 1973):251. See also John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit at Work
Today, p. 41; and Culver, p. 138.]
Other non-charismatics believe that the specific purpose of the sign gifts was to identify
Jesus Christ as God's Son and to authenticate the gospel message that the apostles
preached.

124. Most non-charismatics grant that the sign gifts were edifying in their result, but say their
purpose was to authenticate new revelation to the Jews (Acts 2:22; Mark 16:20; Acts
7:36-39; Acts 7:51; Hebrews 2:2-4; 1 Corinthians 14:20-22). [Note: See S. Lewis
Johnson Jr., "The Gift of Tongues and the Book of Acts," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:480
(October-December 1963):309-11.] Jews were always present when tongues took place in
Acts (chs. 2, 10, and 19). It is understandable why God-fearing Jews, whom the apostles
asked to accept new truth in addition to their already authenticated Old Testament, would
have required a sign. They would have wanted strong proof that God was now giving new
revelation that seemed on the surface to contradict their Scriptures.
God had told the Jews centuries earlier that He would speak to them in a foreign language
because they refused to pay attention to Isaiah's words to them in their own language
(Isaiah 28:11; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:21). Jews who knew this prophecy and were listening
to Peter should have recognized that what was happening was evidence that it was God
who was speaking to them.
"Barclay and others have puzzled over the necessity for using various dialects when it
would have been more expedient to simply use either Greek or Aramaic-languages known
to speaker and hearer alike. [Note: Barclay, p. 16.] However to suggest this is to miss the
point of the record. The Spirit desired to arrest the attention of the crowd. What better
means could He adopt than to have men who quite evidently did not speak the dialects in
question suddenly be endowed with the ability to speak these languages and 'declare the
wonders of God' before the astonished assembly? The effect would be a multiple one.
Attention would be gained, the evidence of divine intervention would be perceived, the
astonished crowd would be prepared to listen with interest to the sermon of Peter, and
thus the Spirit's purpose in granting the gift would be realized." [Note: Harm, p. 30.]
"As has been pointed out by various scholars, if simple ecstatic speech was in view here,
Luke ought simply to have used the term glossais [tongues], not eterais glossais [other
tongues]." [Note: Witherington, p. 133.]
". . . the startling effect of the phenomenon on those who in difficult circumstances
desperately wished otherwise (as in Acts 4:13-16; Acts 10:28-29; Acts 11:1-3; Acts
11:15-18; and Acts 15:1-12) supports the purpose of authentication (and not edification)
for the sign gifts." [Note: J. Lanier Burns, "A Reemphasis on the Purpose of the Sign
Gifts," Bibliotheca Sacra 132:527 (July-September 1975):245.]
God gave the gift of tongues also to rouse the nation of Israel to repentance (1 Corinthians
14:22-25). [Note: Zane C. Hodges, "The Purpose of Tongues," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:479
(July-September 1963):226-33. Some good books that deal with speaking in tongues
exegetically include Robert G. Gromacki, The Modern Tongues Movement; Robert P.
Lightner, Speaking in Tongues and Divine Healing; John F. MacArthur Jr., The
Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective; and Joseph Dillow, Speaking in Tongues: Seven
Crucial Questions.]
It is clear from the context of Acts 2:4 that this sign involved the ability to speak in
another language that the speaker had not previously known (Acts 2:6; Acts 2:8).
However the ability to speak in tongues does not in itself demonstrate the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Satan can give the supernatural ability to speak in other languages, as the

125. blasphemous utterances of some tongues speakers have shown. Sometimes an interpreter
was necessary (cf. 1 Corinthians 14), but at other times, as at Pentecost, one was not.
Instances of Speaking in Tongues in Acts
Reference
Tongues-speakers
Audience
Relation to conversion
Purpose
Acts 2:1-4
Jewish believers
Unsaved Jews and Christians
Sometime after conversion
To validate (for Jews) God's working as Joel prophesied
Acts 10:44-47
Gentile believers
Jewish believers who doubted God's plan
Immediately after conversion
To validate (for Jews) God's working among Gentiles as He had among Jews
Acts 19:1-7
Believers
Jews who needed confirmation of Paul's message
Immediately after conversion
To validate (for Jews) Paul's gospel message
Were the tongues here the same as in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 14)? If so,
was ecstatic speech present on both occasions, and or were foreign languages present on
both occasions? Or were the tongues here foreign languages and the tongues in Corinth
ecstatic speech? [Note: See Kent, pp. 30-32, for a clear presentation of these views.]
"It is well known that the terminology of Luke in Acts and of Paul in 1 Corinthians is the
same. In spite of this some have contended for a difference between the gift as it occurred
in Acts and as it occurred in Corinth. This is manifestly impossible from the standpoint of
the terminology. This conclusion is strengthened when we remember that Luke and Paul
were constant companions and would have, no doubt, used the same terminology in the
same sense.... In other words, it is most likely that the early believers used a fixed
terminology in describing this gift, a terminology understood by them all. If this be so,
then the full description of the gift on Pentecost must be allowed to explain the more
limited descriptions that occur elsewhere." [Note: Johnson, pp. 310-11. See also
Rackham, p. 21. Longenecker, p. 271, pointed out the differences between tongues in
Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12, 14.]
Probably, then, the gift of tongues was a term that covered speaking in a language or
languages that the speaker had never studied. This gift was very helpful as the believers
began to carry out the Great Commission, especially in their evangelization of Jews. Acts
documents and emphasizes the Lord's work in executing that mission.

126. Evidently most if not all the believers present spoke in tongues (Acts 2:3; Acts 2:7-11). It
has been suggested that the tongues speaking on the day of Pentecost was not a normal
manifestation of the gift of tongues. It may have been a unique divine intervention
(miracle) instead. [Note: See my note on 19:6 for further comments on the cessation of
the gift of tongues.]
God gave three signs of the Spirit's coming to the Jews who were celebrating the Feast of
Passover in Jerusalem: wind, fire, and inspired speech. Each of these signified God's
presence in Jewish history.
"At least three distinct things were accomplished on the Day of Pentecost concerning the
relationship of the Spirit with men:
(1) The Spirit made His advent into the world here to abide throughout this
dispensation.... [i.e., permanent indwelling]
(2) Again, Pentecost marked the beginning of the formation of a new body, or
organism which, in its relation to Christ, is called 'the church which is his body.'... [i.e.,
Spirit baptism]
(3) So, also, at Pentecost the lives that were prepared were filled with the Spirit, or
the Spirit came upon them for power as promised." [i.e., Spirit filling] [Note: L. S.
Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, pp. 19-21.]
5 ow there were staying in Jerusalem God-
fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
These were already God fearing Jews who were a part of the family of God, but they
had not yet receive the Messiah as their Savior. It says every nation under heaven,
but that means according to their knowledge at the time. Today we know of many
places they did not know existed, and so it is an absolute statement that is really
quite relative to the full picture of the whole world. This became the greatest
missionary effort ever, for these people went back to share all over the known
world.
BARNES, "There were dwelling at Jerusalem - The word rendered “dwelling” -
κατοικοሞντες katoikountes - properly means to have a fixed and permanent habitation, in
distinction from another word - παροικοሞντες paroikeountes - which means to have a
temporary and transient residence in a place. But it is not always confined to this
signification; and it is not improbable that many wealthy foreign Jews had a permanent
residence in Jerusalem for the convenience of being near the temple. This was the more

127. probable, as about that time the Messiah was expected to appear, Matt. 2.
Jews - Jews by birth; of Jewish descent and religion.
Devout men - ᅊνδρες ᅚυλαβεሏς andres eulabēis. Literally, men of cautious and
circumspect lives, or who lived in a prudent manner. The term is then applied to men
who were cautious about offending God; who were careful to observe his
commandments. It is hence a general expression to denote pious or religious men, Act_
8:2, “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial”; Luk_2:25,” And the same man
(Simeon) was just, and devout.” The word “devout” means “yielding a solemn and
reverential attention to God in religious exercises, particularly in prayer, pious, sincere,
solemn” (Webster), and very well expresses the force of the original.
Out of every nation under heaven - A general expression meaning from all parts
of the earth. The countries from which they came are more particularly specified in Act_
2:9-11. The Jews at that time were scattered into almost all nations, and in all places had
synagogues. See the Joh_7:35 note; Jam_1:1 note; 1Pe_1:1 note. Still they would
naturally desire to be present as often as possible at the great feasts of the nation in
Jerusalem. Many would seek a residence there for the convenience of being present at
the religious solemnities. Many who came up to the Feast of the Passover would remain
to the Feast of the Pentecost. The consequence of this would be, that on such occasions
the city would be full of strangers. We are told that when Titus besieged Jerusalem, an
event which occurred at about the time of the Feast of the Passover, there were no less
than three million people in the city.
Josephus also mentions an instance in which great multitudes of Jews from other
nations were present at the feast of Pentecost (Jewish Wars, book 2, chapter 3, section
1). What is here stated as occurring at that time is true of the inhabitants of Jerusalem -
four or five thousand in number who reside there now. A large portion of them are from
abroad. Prof. Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, p. 228, 229) says of them, “Few of
them, comparatively, are natives of the country. The majority of them are aged persons,
who repair to the holy city to spend the remainder of their days and secure the privilege
of being buried in the Valley of the Kedron, which, as their traditions assert, is to be the
scene of the last judgment. At the Jews’ Wailing Place one day I met a venerable man,
bowed with age, apparently beyond 80, who told me that, in obedience to his sense of
duty, he had forsaken his children and home in England, and had come, unattended by
any friend, to die and make his grave at Jerusalem. Others of them are those who come
here to fulfill a vow, or acquire the merit of a pilgrimage, and then return to the
countries where they reside. Among them may be found representatives from almost
every land, though the Spanish, Polish, and German Jews compose the greater number.
Like their brethren in other parts of Palestine, except a few in some commercial
places, they are wretchedly poor, and live chiefly on alms contributed by their
countrymen in Europe and America. They devote most of their time to holy
employments, as they are called; they frequent the synagogues, roam over the country to
visit places memorable in their ancient history, and read assiduously the Old Testament
and the writings of their rabbis. Those of them who make any pretensions to learning
understand the Hebrew and rabbinic, and speak as their vernacular tongue the language
of the country where they formerly lived, or whence their fathers emigrated.”
CLARKE,"Devout men, out of every nation - Either by these we are simply to
understand Jews who were born in different countries, and had now come up to
Jerusalem to be present at the passover, and for purposes of traffic, or proselytes to
Judaism, who had come up for the same purpose: for I cannot suppose that the term

128. ανδρες ευλαβεις, devout men, can be applied to any other. At this time there was scarcely
a commercial nation under heaven where the Jews had not been scattered for the
purpose of trade, merchandize, etc., and from all these nations, it is said, there were
persons now present at Jerusalem.
GILL, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews,.... The Ethiopic version
adds, "proselytes"; but they were not all such, as appears from the following account of
them; many, and it seems the most of them were of Jewish extract and descent, and
others were proselytes to the Jewish religion: these were not natives of Jerusalem, but
such as were born in other countries, Act_2:8 but were come to Jerusalem, either to
learn the Hebrew language, which was necessary to their reading and understanding the
books of Moses, and the prophets written in it; or for an increase of spiritual knowledge
and piety; or, as is generally thought, to keep the feast of Pentecost; or rather, as Dr.
Lightfoot thinks, they were come hither in great numbers from all parts, in expectation
of the Messiah and his kingdom; the time being up, according to Daniel's weeks, and
other prophecies, that he should appear: and these were
devout men; men of religion and piety, of faith and holiness; and as the Syriac version
renders it, "who feared God"; for in these worst of times, among this wicked generation
of men, there were some who had the fear of God before their eyes, and on their hearts;
and these were collected from different quarters, to be witnesses of this amazing
dispensation: for they came
out of every nation under heaven; that is, wherever the Jews were dispersed; being
the descendants of those that were carried captive at different times, and into different
places; as by Salmanezer, Nebuchadnezzar, Ptolomy Lagus, Antiochus, and in other
lesser dispersions.
HENRY, "We have here an account of the public notice that was taken of this
extraordinary gift with which the disciples were all on a sudden endued. Observe,
I. The great concourse of people that there was now at Jerusalem, it should seem more
than was usual at the feast of pentecost. There were dwelling or abiding at Jerusalem
Jews that were devout men, disposed to religion, and that had the fear of God before
their eyes (so the word properly signifies), some of them proselytes of righteousness,
that were circumcised, and admitted members of the Jewish church, others only
proselytes of the gate, that forsook idolatry, and gave up themselves to the worship of
the true God, but not to the ceremonial law; some of those that were at Jerusalem now,
out of every nation under heaven, whither the Jews were dispersed, or whence
proselytes were come. The expression is hyperbolical, denoting that there were some
from most of the then known parts of the world; as much as ever Tyre was, or London is,
the rendezvous of trading people from all parts, Jerusalem at that time was of religious
people from all parts. Now, 1. We may here see what were some of those countries
whence those strangers came (Act_2:9-11), some from the eastern countries, as the
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, the posterity of Shem;
thence we come in order to Judea, which ought to be mentioned, because, though the
language of those in Judea was the same with that which the disciples spoke, yet, before,
they spoke it with the north-country tone and dialect (Thou art a Galilean, and thy
speech betrays thee), but now they spoke it as correctly as the inhabitants of Judea
themselves did. Next come the inhabitants of Cappadocia, Pontus, and that country

129. about Propontis which was particularly called Asia, and these were the countries in
which those strangers were scattered to whom St. Peter writes. 1Pe_1:1. Next come the
dwellers in Phrygia and Pamphylia, which lay westward, the posterity of Japhet, as
were also the strangers of Rome; there were some also that dwelt in the southern parts
of Egypt, in the parts of Libya about Cyrene; there were also some from the island of
Crete, and some from the deserts of Arabia; but they were all either Jews originally,
dispersed into those countries; or proselytes to the Jewish religion, but natives of those
countries. Dr. Whitby observes that the Jewish writers about this time, as Philo and
Josephus, speak of the Jews as dwelling every where through the whole earth; and that
there is not a people upon earth among whom some Jews do not inhabit. 2. We may
enquire what brought all those Jews and proselytes together to Jerusalem at this time:
not to make a transient visit thither to the feast of pentecost, for they are said to dwell
there. They took lodgings there, because there was at this time a general expectation of
the appearing of the Messiah; for Daniel's weeks had just now expired, the sceptre had
departed from Judah, and it was then generally thought that the kingdom of God would
immediately appear, Luk_19:11. This brought those who were most zealous and devout
to Jerusalem, to sojourn there, that they might have an early share in the kingdom of the
Messiah and the blessings of that kingdom.
JAMISON, "there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of
every nation — not, it would seem, permanently settled there (see Act_2:9), though
the language seems to imply more than a temporary visit to keep this one feast.
HAWKER 5-11, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven. (6) Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came
together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
language. (7) And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are
not all these which speak Galilaeans? (8) And how hear we every man in our own tongue,
wherein we were born? (9) Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, (10) Phrygia, and
Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome,
Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the
wonderful works of God.
It is well worthy the observation of the Reader, how the Lord, by the ordinary method of
his providence, overruled this event, that it should take place at this particular season, to
render it more public to the world. As the death and resurrection of Christ took place at
the first great Jewish feast, the Passover, so the first coming of the Holy Ghost, in this
signal and open display of divine power, should take place at the second great feast of
Pentecost, Hence both were so admirably timed, that multitudes from all parts, which
came up for the sake of trade, at those Jewish feasts at Jerusalem, should be eye and ear
witnesses to the Lord’s glory. Reader! think of these things, and learn to reverence and
adore the Lord, both in the appointments of his providences, as well as in the
manifestations of his grace.
The consternation occasioned in Jerusalem by these prodigies, may be better conceived
than described. Let the Reader figure to himself those poor humble fishermen of Galilee,
the natives of a little despised city, whose inhabitants were dull and unlearned, even to a
proverb, (Joh_1:46.) let him fancy that he beholds one Apostle speaking to a Parthian,
another to a Mede, another to an Elamite, without the help of an interpreter, as had
always been done before; and let him call to mind that the Apostles addresses were not

130. of earthly things, but of the wonderful works of God, and then let him pause and ponder
over the Almighty ministry of God the Spirit! Here were no less than fifteen different
nations of the earth brought together on this occasion, and all of them distinguished by a
different language. And to these different nations those poor, humble, untaught
fishermen of Galilee, were at once qualified to talk on the great things of God in their
own mother tongue in which they were born with the greatest fluency of language! What
will the Reader say to these things? What less could it be than the power of God, and the
wisdom of God, speaking in them and by them to the blessed purposes of salvation?
Jesus had said that his disciples should speak with new tongues. And here we see the
Lord’s promise fulfilled, Mar_16:17. And, Reader! shall not you and I depend upon the
promises of Jesus?
I beg to call the Reader’s attention to one beauty as discoverable in this miracle, which
perhaps in the first view may not so immediately strike him; I mean the wonderful
circumstance with which God the Holy Ghost here begun his ministry, in restoring to his
servants, the Apostles, the use of tongues, which was made confusion in the first
instance at the building of Babel. In the early world, when the Sin of men taught
rebellion against God, the Lord confounded their language. Before this, the whole earth
was of one language, and one speech, Gen_11:1-9. And it was God’s own language. It was
sacred. It was divine. And no doubt it was a blessing to mankind. For it not only
promoted a general intercourse and good will between man and man, but being the
sacred language, it tended to preserve the knowledge of the Lord throughout the earth.
But, when for sin man lost this privilege, what difficulties for apprehension must have
occurred? But, who should have thought, that in the designs and stores of omnipotency,
the Lord would have made this sin of man the very foundation of bringing forth greater
mercy, and have made that which sprung out of evil to become the very means of greater
good? And yet so it was. This miracle of enabling the Apostles to speak various languages
in a moment of time, would never have had an opportunity for display, had not the tower
of Babel, and the confusion of tongues taken place. So that here, as in a thousand
instances beside, the Lord overrules the unworthiness of his creatures to his glory, and
renders their weakness the means of manifesting his strength. Oh! the depths of the
riches both of the wisdom, and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out, Rom_11:33.
CONSTABLE, "The Jews living in Jerusalem were probably people from the Diaspora
(dispersion, residing outside the land of Palestine) who had returned to settle down in
the Jewish homeland. Luke's other uses of katoikountes ("living") are in Acts 1:20; Acts
7:2; Acts 7:4; Acts 7:48; Acts 9:22; Acts 11:29; Acts 13:27; Acts 17:24; Acts 17:26; and
Acts 22:12, and these suggest permanence compared with epidemeo ("sojourning") in
Acts 2:10.
"It was ... customary for many pious Jews who had spent their lives abroad to return to
end their days as close to the Temple as possible." [Note: Neil, p. 73. Cf. Kent, p. 30, n.
9.]
A list of nations from which they had come follows in Acts 2:9-10. The sound that
attracted attention may have been the wind (Acts 2:2) or the sound of the tongues
speakers (Acts 2:4). The Greek word translated "noise" in Acts 2:2 is echos, but the word
rendered "sound" in Acts 2:6 is phones. The context seems to favor the sound of the
tongues speakers. Acts 2:2 says the noise filled the house where the disciples were, but

131. there is no indication that it was heard outside the house. Also Acts 2:6 connects the
sound with the languages being spoken. The text does not clearly identify when what was
happening in the upper room became public knowledge or when the disciples moved out
of the upper room to a larger venue. Evidently upon hearing the sound these residents of
Jerusalem assembled to investigate what was happening.
When they found the source of the sound, they were amazed to discover Galileans
speaking in the native languages of the remote regions from which these Diaspora Jews
had come. The Jews in Jerusalem who could not speak Aramaic would have known
Greek, so there was no need for other languages. Yet what they heard were the languages
that were common in the remote places in which they had lived. Perhaps the sound came
from the upper room initially, and then when the disciples moved out into the streets the
people followed them into the Temple area. Since about 3,000 people became Christians
this day (Acts 2:41) the multitude (Acts 2:6) must have numbered many thousands.
About 200,000 people could assemble in the temple area. [Note: J. P. Polhill, The Acts
of the Apostles, p. 118, footnote 135; Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus,
p. 83.] This fact has led some interpreters to assume that that may have been where this
multitude congregated.
UNKNOWN, "V. 5 - Luke identified various groups (v. 9-11) who were hearing and
seeing the heavenly event, as the apostles spoke "the mighty works of God." The people
were characterized as devout (cf. Luke 2:25), and dwellers in Jerusalem. It may be that
they dwelt there permanently, or were temporary dwellers from Passover to Pentecost.
The point is made that all were Jews, in sympathy if not by birth. One can think of the
tower of Babel where God brought confusion by mixing languages. Now He unites
through the same medium. It is important to note that no Scripture can be cited that shows
such a gift was used to "evangelize" or used other than in a meeting of brethren.
CALVI 5 TO 12 5. And there were at Jerusalem. When he calleth them godly or
religious men, he seemeth to give us to understand that they came to Jerusalem that they
might worship God; like as God, in all ages, after the scattering abroad, did gather
together into that city some seed which remained, having, as it were, set up his banner,
because as yet the temple did serve to some use. Yet, nevertheless, he showeth, by the
way, who those be which profit by those miracles, whereby God doth declare his power.
For wicked and profane men do either laugh at them, or else pass [care] not for them, as
we shall see by and by. Furthermore, he meant to cite those as witnesses, which may the
better be believed for their religion and godliness. When he said, out of every nation, he
meaneth out of divers countries, whereof one is far from another. For he doth also
afterwards reckon up those lands whereof one was far distant from another, of which sort
are Libya and Pontus, Rome and Parthia, and Arabia, and such like. This serveth to
increase the greatness of the thing. For the Cretians and men of Asia, dwelling so near
together, might have some likelihood and agreement in speech; 2 but the same could not
be betwixt the Italians and the men of Cappadocia, betwixt the Arabians and those of
Pontus. Yea, this was also a work of God worthy to be remembered and wondered at, that
in so huge and horrible a scattering abroad of the people, he did always reserve some
relics, yea, he caused certain strangers to adjoin themselves unto a people which was in

132. such misery, and, as it were, quite destroyed. For although they lived here and there in
exile in far countries, and being one far from another, did, as it were, inhabit divers
worlds, yet did they hold among themselves the unity of faith. Neither doth he call them
unadvisedly, and without good consideration, godly men, and men gearing God.
COFFMAN, "Heard them speaking in his own language ... Some have understood the
miracle to have been in the hearers, as in Harrison's comment:
This is not the language of religious ecstasy. By a miracle, the language of the apostles
was translated by the Holy Spirit into many diverse languages without a human translator.
This phenomenon is not the same as the glossolalia, or gift of tongues, in 1 Corinthians
14, which were unintelligible until interpreted.[19]
It is certain, however, that the miracle was not in the hearers, but in the speakers. If the
miracle is understood as being in the hearers, there would have been no need for a
plurality of speakers; yet it is clear that all the apostles were speakers; the people "heard
THEM speaking." Thus the wonder was not in the hearers, but in the speakers. After all,
it was THEY who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
ENDNOTE:
[19] Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 388.
COKE, "Acts 2:5. There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, &c.— There were sojourning,
&c. κατοικουντες . Devout or pious men, is a title applied not only to those religious
persons who observed the Jewish law, but likewise to those Heathens who had renounced
idolatry, and lived a life of piety and holiness. From every nation under heavencan signify
no more than "from all the several nations among whom the Jews were dispersed." The
Jews were then so numerous, as to have spread through every country; so that, as
Agrippa, in Josephus, says, "there was not a people upon earth who had not Jews
inhabiting among them." These men were come up to Jerusalem, not only upon account
of the festival then celebrating, but in expectation of the Messiah, who was to be
manifested about that time accordingto the concurring testimony of the prophets.
ELLICOTT, "(5) There were dwelling at Jerusalem.—The phrase is one of frequent
occurrence in St. Luke’s writings (Luke 13:4; Acts 1:19; Acts 4:16). As a word, it implied
a more settled residence than the “sojourning” of Luke 24:18 (see Note), Hebrews 11:9,
but was probably sufficiently wide in its range to include the worshippers who had come
up to keep the feast.
Devout men.—For the meaning of the word see Note on Luke 2:25. The primary meaning
was one of cautious reverence, the temper that handles sacred things devoutly. As such, it
was probably used to include proselytes as well as Jews by birth. The words that are
added, “from every nation under heaven,” reduce the probability to a certainty. It appears
again in Acts 8:2.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 5-11, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout
men, out of every nation.

133. The first congregation appealed to by the apostles
I. It consisted of men of many lands. The fifteen countries remind us of the dispersion of
the Jews. They had been scattered on account of their sins; but the mercy of God was
shown in making this punishment a way for the gospel. Jews and proselytes would
return and tell their kindred of the wonders of this day. Some without design would
convey to the heathen saving truth; just as fugitive traitors may build a bridge over
which the saviours of their country afterwards pass; others doubtless saw here the
fulfilment of their prayers that they might benefit the perishing Gentiles among whom
they dwelt.
II. It represented the whole world. When the glorious news which God designed for all
had to be declared for the first time, it was fitting that all should thus be represented.
But on the ground of the unity of the race every congregation represents the whole
world, and he who leads one soul to the Saviour makes a contribution to the aggregate of
human good. What value does this put on the work of Christian agents of every class.
III. It exemplified various moral characteristics.
1. The God-fearing and worthy. They looked on the wonders with careful and devout
inquiry. In seeking the salvation of sinners it is necessary to elicit the question,
“What may this be?”
2. The frivolous. They preferred the vain charge of drunkenness. No doubt the
excitement in part accounted for it, but it is probable that jesting was resorted to that
the impressions of the moment might be resisted. This obvious way of grieving the
Spirit is sometimes exhibited in criticisms on preachers.
3. The haughty who could not bear the idea of being taught by Galileans. So David
had doubt cast on his ability to show any good, and our Lord was received with
suspicion because He belonged to Nazareth. But a servant has sometimes been able
to teach his master the truth of God, and an illiterate preacher has often convinced
men of learning whom their equals had failed to reach. (W. Hudson.)
How the seed of the Word is spread
1. In the cotton factories of Lancashire there is a huge piece of machinery fifty feet in
length, and containing hundreds of spindles, which moves steadily backward and
forward from one side of the room to the other. It is a great triumph of skill to insert
within the machine a power by which it shall move a certain distance and then stop
and go back again. There was a similar contrivance in Judaism which retained the
Word of God at Jerusalem till a certain time and then sent it forth from Jerusalem.
This contrivance was the regulation that all the people should repair to the capital to
celebrate their appointed feasts; and this regulation was observed even after the
Jews had been scattered all over the world. Hence the gathering at Pentecost. Up to
that period the arrangement seemed devised to keep the worship of God in one place
and to forbid the spread of true religion. But now it seemed expressly invented for
the universal diffusion of the gospel of Christ.
2. In a still, sultry autumn day, as you walk through the fields, your attention is
arrested by a tiny sound at intervals, like an explosion in miniature, and a few
seconds after a shower of tiny bails falls upon the ground. It is the bursting of seed
pods in the sun. The casket that contains the seed of some plants is composed of four
or five long narrow staves, joined together like Cooper work, but without the staves.

134. The staves are glued together at the edges, and the vessel so constructed is strong
enough to contain the seed till it is ripe. But if the seeds were retained beyond that
the purposes of nature would be thwarted. Accordingly at this stage there is a turning
point, and the action of the machinery is reversed. The same qualities in the vessels
that hold fast the seed while it is green jerk it to a distance after it is ripe. The staves
of the little barrel are bent, the bursting force overcomes the adhesion and opens
them with a spring that flings the seed as if from a sewer’s hand. By this contrivance,
though no human hand were near, a whole field would soon be sown by seed from a
single plant. Thus the law in Israel that confined the sacrifices to a single spot, and so
brought Jews from all parts at Pentecost, threw the seed of the Word as by a spring
out from Jerusalem into all the neighbouring nations. These Parthians, etc., were the
vessels charged with precious seed at Jerusalem, and then thrown back on the
several countries whence they had come. In this way the gospel was in a single
season brought to regions which otherwise it might not have reached in a century.
(W. Arnot.)
The visitors at Jerusalem
The list is characteristic of the trained historian and geographer—trained, it may be, in
the school of Strabo—who had carefully inquired what nations were represented at that
great Pentecost, who had himself been present, at least, at one later Pentecost (Act_
21:15), and knew the kind of crowd that gathered to it. There is a kind of order, as of one
taking a bird’s-eye view of the Roman Empire, beginning with the great Parthian
kingdom, which was still, as it had been in the days of Crassus, the most formidable of
its foes; then the old territory of the Medes, which had once been so closely connected
with the history of their fathers; then, the name of the Persians having been thrown into
the background, the kindred people of Elam (commonly rendered Persia in the LXX.),
whom Strabo speaks of as driven to the mountains (11:13, § 6); then the great cities of
the Tigris and Euphrates, where the “princes of the captivity” still ruled over a large
Jewish population; then passing southward and westward to Judaea; then to
Cappadocia, in the interior of Asia Minor; then to Pontus, on the northern shore washed
by the Euxine; then westward to the Proconsular Province of Asia, of which Ephesus was
the capital. From Ephesus the eye travels eastward to the neighbouring province of
Phrygia; thence southward to Pamphylia; thence across the Mediterranean to Egypt;
westward to Cyrene; northward, re-crossing the Mediterranean, to the great capital of
the empire; then, as by an after-thought, to the two regions of Crete and Arabia that had
been previously omitted. The absence of some countries that we should have expected to
find in the list—Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, Bithynia, Macedonia, Achaia, Spain—is not easy to
explain, but it is, at any rate, an indication that what we have is not an artificial list made
up at a later date, but an actual record of those whose presence at the feast had been
ascertained by the historian. Possibly they may have been omitted, because Jews and
converts coming from them would naturally speak Greek, and there would be no marvel
to them in hearing Galileans speaking in that language. The presence of Judaea in the
list is almost as unexpected as the absence of the others. That, we think, might have been
taken for granted. Some critics have accordingly conjectured that “India” must be the
true reading, but without any MS. authority. Possibly the men of Judaea are named as
sharing in the wonder that the Galileans were no longer distinguished by their provincial
patois (cf. Mat_26:73)
. (Dean Plumptre.)

135. We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.—
The thousand-tongued hallelujah of the world in honour of God
I. Begun on the morning of creation in the kingdom of nature.
II. Renewed at Pentecost in the kingdom of grace.
III. Perfected, but never finished, on the day of manifestation in the kingdom of glory.
(Gerok.)
The wonderful works of God
I. The subject itself. And where shall we begin? All that God does is wonderful. Let us
enter—
1. The field of creation. Here, how wonderful are the works of God! Think of—
(1) Their number. Look at the heavens. Though infidelity has mocked at the idea
of comparing them to the sands of the sea-shore, the discoveries of astronomy
have proved it to be a fact. Look on the face of the world, how many inhabitants
are there, visible and invisible!
(2) Their diversity! How large are some, and how minute are others! Take up the
microscope and the telescope. What vastness in the sun! what smallness in the
mite! And yet there are creatures less than these, and all of them have their
peculiar qualities, tribes, families, birth, breeding, education, government. Only
observe the commonwealth of the ants and the queendom of the bees!
(3) Their support. They are all provided for. There is sufficient for all and for all
seasons.
(4) Their structure. Take only one of the vegetable tribes; how miraculous its
growth, how simple its form, and yet how beautiful! “Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.” What man contrives man may comprehend;
whereas in the works of God we find that we are in the region of infinity.
2. The field of providence. Here all is wonderful! Nothing comes by chance.
(1) What an astonishing series of events are displayed in the history of one single
country! What mighty movements proceed from causes almost imperceptible!
(2) The history of every individual is equally wonderful.
3. The field of grace. How wonderful is the work of redemption and its application to
the soul! How wonderful the history of the believer from conversion to glorification!
Angels desire to understand these things, and the more they discern the more they
are surprised, and at each discovery they sing new songs, “Great and marvellous are
all Thy works, Lord God Almighty.”
II. The way in which the subject was announced. “We do hear them speak,” said the
audience, diversified as it was, “in our tongues.” It is the duty of ministers to tell the
people in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. “The poor have the gospel
preached unto them,” said Christ. “The common people heard Christ gladly,” says the
evangelist. What are philosophical expressions and learned disquisitions to these? I fear
we may apply what the apostle says of speaking in an unknown tongue to many of them.

136. Ministers should use “great plainness of speech.” But this speaking to men of various
languages is—
1. Nothing less than a real miracle. Two things are essential to a miracle.
(1) There must be something addressed to the sense as well as to the reason.
These are called “signs,” and it would be wonderful if signs could not be seen.
(2) It must be above all known second causes. God only could have stored the
minds of these men with such a multitude of merely arbitrary signs, and have
given them power and ability to utter such a variety of distinct sounds.
2. The truth of it is evident also. It was undeniable.
(1) These men were well known.
(2) Their judges were competent to detect imposture.
(3) They did not go to a distance to tell their tale; they began amongst their
enemies.
(4) The time was when large multitudes were present.
(5) Mark their boldness; they charged the Jews around them with the murder of
an innocent young man.
(6) Note the result.
3. This miracle was expressly predicted. Christ said, “They shall speak with new
tongues.”
4. This miracle was necessary for the accomplishment of their world-wide mission.
5. This gift of tongues was continued for years.
6. The want of this gift in the work of evangelising the world must now be supplied
by human learning. And we ought to be very thankful to God that His Word is
translated into so many tongues.
III. How this subject was heard.
1. Some heard with wonder. So it is now. And this is not surprising; for the natural
man discerns not the things of God. Christians are “men wondered at”; the men of
the world wonder that you run not to the same excess of riot with themselves, not
knowing that you have meat to eat which they know not of. And this is often attended
with a good effect, for it induces them to examine, and truth always gains by
investigation. But then, on the other hand, the wonder often dies away, and he who
wondered comes within the number of those of whom it is said, “Behold, ye
despisers, and wonder and perish!”
2. Some heard in mockery. And so it is now. That which devils believe, and the belief
of which makes them tremble, furnishes such men with matter for mirth.
(1) Some of these mockers were Once professors; the apostate is seldom found
neuter.
(2) Some mock from the affectation of greatness. These things may be well
enough for the common people, but will not do for men of taste.
(3) Some mock from the affectation of wisdom. “What will this babbler say?”
“We preach Christ crucified, to the Greeks foolishness.”

137. (4) Some mock from ignorance. They mock at what they do not understand, at
what they never read. Many are afraid to hear or to read the truth lest it should
destroy their peace.
(5) Some cannot deny certain facts which are before them; but then they show
their malignity by accounting for them. They ascribe the zeal of the Christian to
disappointed love—to ambition—to a sanguine complexion—to a heated
imagination—to enthusiasm, etc. So here, the multitude ascribed the phenomena
to drunkenness.
3. Some heard and believed. (W. Jay.)
6When they heard this sound, a crowd came
together in bewilderment, because each one heard
them speaking in his own language.
BARNES, "When this was noised abroad - When the rumor of this remarkable
transaction was spread, as it naturally would be.
Were confounded - συνεχύθη sunechuthe. The word used here means literally “to
pour together,” hence, “to confound, confuse.” It is used:
(a) Of an assembly or multitude thrown into confusion, Act_21:27;
(b) Of the mind as perplexed or confounded, as in disputation, Act_9:22; and,
(c) Of persons in amazement or consternation, as in this place. They did not
understand this; they could not account for it.
Every man heard them speak ... - Though the multitude spoke different tongues,
yet they now heard Galileans use the language which they had learned in foreign nations.
“His own language.” His own dialect - διαλέκτሩ dialektō. His own idiom, whether it was a
foreign language, or whether it was a modification of the Hebrew. The word may mean
either; but it is probable that the foreign Jews would greatly modify the Hebrew, or
conform almost entirely to the language spoken in the country where they lived. We may
remark here that this effect of the descent of the Holy Spirit was not special to that time.
A work of grace on the hearts of people in a revival of religion will always “be noised
abroad.” A multitude will come together, and God often, as he did here, makes use of
this motive to bring them under the influence of religion. Curiosity was the motive here,
and it was the occasion of their being brought under the power of truth, and of their
conversion. In thousands of cases this has occurred since. The effect of what they saw
was to confound them, to astonish them, and to throw them into deep perplexity. They

138. made no complaint at first of the irregularity of what was done, but were all amazed and
overwhelmed. So the effect of a revival of religion is often to convince the multitude that
it is indeed a work of the Holy One; to amaze them by the display of his power; and to
silence opposition and cavil by the manifest presence and the power of God. A few
afterward began to cavil Act_2:13, as some will always do in a revival; but the mass were
convinced, as will be the case always, that this was a mighty display of the power of God.
CLARKE, "When this was noised abroad - If we suppose that there was a
considerable peal of thunder, which followed the escape of a vast quantity of electric
fluid, and produced the mighty rushing wind already noticed on Act_2:2, then the whole
city must have been alarmed; and, as various circumstances might direct their attention
to the temple, having flocked thither they were farther astonished and confounded to
hear the disciples of Christ addressing the mixed multitude in the languages of the
different countries from which these people had come.
Every man heard them speak in his own language - Use may naturally suppose
that, as soon as any person presented himself to one of these disciples, he, the disciple,
was immediately enabled to address him in his own language, however various this had
been from the Jewish or Galilean dialects. If a Roman presented himself, the disciple
was immediately enabled to address him in Latin - if a Grecian, in Greek - an Arab, in
Arabic, and so of the rest.
GILL Verse 6. Now when this was noised abroad,.... Or "when this voice was made";
referring either to the sound, as of a mighty rushing wind, which came from heaven; and
might not only be heard by those in the house, into which it came, but by the inhabitants
of the city, as it came down from heaven; so the Arabic version renders it, "when the
aforesaid sound was made": or else to the apostles' voice, and their speaking with divers
tongues; which being heard by some, was told to others, and a rumour of it being made
through the city,
the multitude came together; to the house, or temple, where the disciples were; and this
multitude did not consist only of the devout Jews, before mentioned; but of others who
scoffed and mocked at the apostles, and who had been concerned in the crucifying of
Christ:
and were confounded; or "confused"; they ran and came together in a disorderly and
tumultuous manner; the whole city was in an uproar, the assembly on this occasion was a
perfect mob; their numbers were so large, that they were ready to thrust each other down,
and trample one another under foot: the Vulgate Latin adds, "in mind"; they did not know
what to think of things, they were so astonished at what they heard, that they were
scarcely themselves; they were as persons stupid and senseless; being filled partly with
shame and confusion, and partly with wonder and amazement, that these illiterate men,
the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, and whose disciples they
had in so much contempt, should have such extraordinary gifts bestowed on them:
because that every man heard them speak in his own language; which shows, what has
been before observed, that one spake in one language, and another in another language; or
the same person sometimes spoke one language, and sometimes another; so that in

139. course, all languages were spoken by them; whence it appears, that it was not one
language only which was spoken by the apostles, which men of different languages heard
and understood, as if it was their own; for then the miracle must have been in the hearers,
and not in the speakers; and the cloven tongues, as of fire, should rather have sat on them,
than on the disciples; and these men be said to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
rather than they.
HENRY, " The amazement with which these strangers were seized when they heard
the disciples speak in their own tongues. It should seem, the disciples spoke in various
languages before the people of those languages came to them; for it is intimated (Act_
2:6) that the spreading of the report of this abroad was that which brought the multitude
together, especially those of different countries, who seem to have been more affected
with this work of wonder than the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves.
ELLICOTT, "6) When this was noised abroad. . . .—Better When there had been this
voice, or utterance. The word for “voice” is never used for rumour or report in the New
Testament; always of some utterance—human (Matthew 3:3; Galatians 4:20), angelic (1
Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 5:11), or divine (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). In John
3:7 (see Note there) we find it used, in the same connection as in this verse, for the
“voice” or “utterance” of the Spirit.
Were confounded.—The word is peculiar to the Acts (Acts 9:22; Acts 19:32). If we were
to draw a distinction between two words of cognate meaning with each other and with
the Greek, confused would, perhaps, be a better rendering than confounded.
Every man heard them speak.—The verb is in the imperfect. They went on listening in
their amazement as one after another heard the accents of his own language.
In his own language.—Another word peculiar to the Acts. (See Note on Acts 1:19.) It
stands as an equivalent for the “tongue” in Acts 2:11, but was used for a dialect, in the
modern sense of the term, as well as for a distinct language.
UNKNOWN,"V. 6 - they were bewildered - Though all "dwelt" in Jerusalem (and
perhaps all understood a common language like Aramaic) various language groups were
represented among them. The sound drew them together, but the bewilderment came
when the realization came that all were hearing in their own particular language despite
the fact that the twelve apostles (the ones who were speaking) were Galileans (and not,
therefore, capable of speaking so many different languages). As a matter of interest,
notice how widely Jews were dispersed in the world. Peter痴 epistles were addressed to
the "dispersed," I Peter 1:1ff.
CALVI , "6. When this was noised abroad. Luke saith thus in Greek, This
voice being made; but his meaning is, that the fame was spread abroad,
whereby it came to pass that a great multitude came together. For if one after

140. another in divers places, and at divers times, had heard the apostles speaking
in divers tongues, the miracle had not been so famous; therefore they come
altogether into one place, that the diversity of tongues may the better appear by
the present comparison. There is a further circumstance also here to be noted,
that the country (and native soil) of the apostles was commonly known, and
this was also commonly known, that they never went out of their country to
learn 3 strange tongues. Therefore, forasmuch as one speaketh Latin, another
Greek, another the Arabian tongue, as occasion was offered, and that
indifferently, and every one doth also change his tongue, the work of God
appeareth more plainly hereby.
COKE, "Acts 2:6. Every man heard them speak, &c.— Some commentators
of note, both antient and modern, have maintained that they spoke only one
language, that is, Hebrew, or Syro-Chaldaic; but that the people heard them
every one in their own language. This is really making the miracle consist in
the hearing, and not in the speaking, and seems so groundless, that it does not
need any laboured confutation. Our Saviour promised, Mark 16:17 that they
should speak with new tongues, &c. And St. Luke here plainly asserts, Acts
2:4 that they did speak with other tongues, or in other languages. The same
thing is either supposed or plainly asserted by St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1
Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 12:30 and 1 Corinthians 14:2-39. The
mistake seems to have arisen from this and the 8th verse. But St. Luke did not
intend to say, that any one of the apostles spoke more languages than one at a
time, nor that they spoke one language, and the people heard one or many
others; but his plain meaning is, that one of them spoke one language, and
another another, and so on; and that different apostles addressed themselves to
men of different nations at the same time; or that one apostle addressed
himself to men of different nations one after another; by which means all the
foreigners heard their own native language spoken distinctly and intelligibly;
and not only the languages spoken, but the Christian doctrine also plainly
delivered to them in their own language.
7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these
men who are speaking Galileans?
It was a startling suprise and the word is the root of our word ecstasy. Extreme
degree of wonder. It was fantastic. They are all local people and yet they speak as
people who have traveled the world and know the languages of people everywhere.

141. BARNES, "Galileans - Inhabitants of Galilee. It was remarkable that they should
speak in this manner, because:
(1) They were ignorant, rude, and uncivilized, Joh_1:46. Hence, the term Galilean was
used as an expression of the deepest reproach and contempt, Mar_14:70; Joh_
7:52.
(2) Their dialect was proverbially barbarous and corrupt, Mar_14:70; Mat_26:73.
They were regarded as an outlandish people, unacquainted with other nations and
languages, and hence, the amazement that they could address them in the refined
language of other people. Their native ignorance was the occasion of making the
miracle more striking. The native weakness of Christian ministers makes the grace
and glory of God more remarkable in the success of the gospel. “We have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us,” 2Co_4:7. The success which God often grants to those who are of
slender endowments and of little learning, though blessed with an humble and
pious heart, is often amazing to the people of the world. God has “chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise,” 1Co_1:27. This should teach us
that no talent or attainment is too humble to be employed for mighty purposes, in
its proper sphere, in the kingdom of Christ; and that pious effort may accomplish
much, and then burn in heaven with increasing luster for ever, while pride, and
learning, and talent may blaze uselessly among people, and then be extinguished in
eternal night.
CLARKE, "Are not all these - Galileans? - Persons who know no other dialect,
save that of their own country. Persons wholly uneducated, and, consequently, naturally
ignorant of those languages which they now speak so fluently.
HENRY, "They observe that the speakers are all Galileans, that know no other than
their mother tongue (Act_2:7); they are despicable men, from whom nothing learned
nor polite is to be expected. God chose the weak and foolish things of the world to
confound the wise and mighty. Christ was thought to be a Galilean, and his disciples
really were so, unlearned and ignorant men.
GILL Verse 7. And they were all amazed, and marvelled,.... They were struck with
surprise, they were as it were out of themselves, like persons in an ecstasy, not knowing
what could be the cause or meaning of this:
saying one to another; the phrase "one to another," is left out in the Vulgate Latin and
Ethiopic versions, and so it is in the Alexandrian copy:
behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? rude, unpolished, and unlearned men;
who had never been brought up in any school of learning, and had never learned any
language but their mother tongue; and that they pronounced with an ill grace, and in a
very odd manner; and which made the thing the more astonishing to them. The apostles
were inhabitants of Galilee, and so very likely were the greatest part of those that were
with them: hence the Christians afterwards, by way of contempt, were called Galilaeans;
as they are by Julian {x} the apostate, and others {y}.

142. COKE, "Acts 2:7-8. Are not all these—Galileans? &c.— See on Matthew 26:73 and on
John 1:46. The word διαλεκτος, Acts 2:8 signifies not only what we call a dialect, or
different way of speaking the same language, but alsoan entirely distinct language; and
perhaps it may be used here to express the propriety and accuracy wherewith these low
and uneducated Galileans spoke these different languages. The original in Acts 2:7 is very
beautiful, and expressive of the astonishment of the hearers,— Οικ ιδου παντες, &c.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 7-11
Most of the disciples were Galileans at this time. They were identifiable by their rural
appearance and their accent (cf. Matthew 26:73).
"Galileans had difficulty pronouncing gutturals and had the habit of swallowing syllables
when speaking; so they were looked down upon by the people of Jerusalem as being
provincial (cf. Mark 14:70). Therefore, since the disciples who were speaking were
Galileans, it bewildered those who heard because the disciples could not by themselves
have learned so many different languages." [Note: Longenecker, p. 272.]
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and Mesopotamians lived to the east and north of Palestine.
Some of them were probably descendants of the Jews who did not return from the
Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Many texts do not include "Judea," but if authentic it
probably refers to the Roman province of Judea that included Syria. Pontus, Asia,
Phrygia, and Pamphylia were all provinces in Asia Minor to the northwest. Egypt, Libya,
and Cyrene lay to the south and west. Simon of Cyrene, in North Africa, had carried
Jesus' cross (Luke 23:26). Rome, of course, lay farther northwest in Europe. Luke had a
special interest in the gospel reaching Rome, so that may be the reason he singled it out
for special mention here. It may be that some of these Roman expatriates returned to
Rome and planted the church there. Ambrosiaster, a fourth-century Latin father, wrote
that the Roman church was founded without any special miracles and without contact
with any apostle. [Note: Ibid., p. 273.] Josephus wrote that visitors to Jersalem for a great
feast could swell the population to nearly 3,000,000. [Note: Flavius Josephus, The Wars
of the Jews, 6:9:3.]
"The Roman Empire had an estimated population of fifty to eighty million, with about
seven million free Roman citizens (Schnabel 2004: 558-59). About two and a half million
people inhabited Judea, and there were about five million Jews altogether in the empire,
10 percent of the whole population." [Note: Bock, Acts, p. 43.]
A proselyte was a Gentile who had adopted Judaism and had become a part of the nation
of Israel by submitting to three rites. Acts and Matthew are the only New Testament
books that mention proselytes. These rites were circumcision (if a male), self-baptism
before witnesses, and ideally the offering of a sacrifice. [Note: F. F. Bruce, Commentary
on the Book of Acts, p. 64.] Cretans lived on the island of Crete, and "Arabs" refers to the
Arabians who lived east of Palestine between the Red Sea and the Euphrates River. All
these heard the mighty deeds of God (i.e., the gospel) in their own languages. This was a
reversal of what took place at Babel (Genesis 11) and illustrated the human unity that
God's unhindered working produces.
"Although every Jew could not be present for Peter's speech, the narrator does not hesitate

143. to depict representatives of the Jews of every land as Peter's listeners. This feature shows
a concern not just with Gentiles but with a gospel for all Jews, which can bring the
restoration of Israel as a united people under its Messiah." [Note: Tannehill, 2:27.]
"The point [of Luke's list] is not to provide a tour of the known world but to mention
nations that had known extensive Jewish populations, which of course would include
Judea. [Note: See D. J. Williams, Acts, pp. 28-29.] More to the point, Luke's arrangement
involves first listing the major inhabited nations or regions, then those from the islands
(Cretans), then finally those from desert regions (Arabs)." [Note: Witherington, p. 136.]
ELLICOTT, "(10) Strangers of Rome . . .—Better, the Romans who were sojourning
there—i.e., at Jerusalem. The verb is peculiar to St. Luke in the New Testament, and is
used by him, as in Acts 17:18, of the strangers and visitors of a city.
Jews and proselytes.—The words may possibly be applicable to the whole preceding list;
but they read more like a note specially emphasising the prominence of the Roman
proselytes in that mixed multitude of worshippers. It lies in the nature of the case, that
they were proselytes in the full sense of the term, circumcised and keeping the Law.
Looking to St. Luke’s use of another word (“they that worship God,” as in Acts 16:14;
Acts 17:4; Acts 17:17) for those whom the Rabbis classed as “proselytes of the gate,” it is
probable that he used the term in its strictest sense for those who had been received into
the covenant of Israel, and who were known in the Rabbinic classification as the
“proselytes of righteousness.
8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his
own native language?
BARNES, "Wherein we were born - That is, as we say, in our native language;
what is spoken where we were born.
CLARKE, "How hear we every man in our own tongue - Some have supposed
from this that the miracle was not so much wrought on the disciples as on their hearers:
imagining that, although the disciples spoke their own tongue, yet every man so
understood what was spoken as if it had been spoken in the language in which he was
born. Though this is by no means so likely as the opinion which states that the disciples
themselves spoke all these different languages, yet the miracle is the same, howsoever it
be taken; for it must require as much of the miraculous power of God to enable an Arab
to understand a Galilean, as to enable a Galilean to speak Arabic. But that the gift of
tongues was actually given to the apostles, we have the fullest proof; as we find

144. particular ordinances laid down by those very apostles for the regulation of the exercise
of this gift; see 1Co_14:1, etc.
GILL Verse 8. And how hear we every man in our own tongue,.... Them speaking, as the
Ethiopic version reads; that is, we everyone of us hear one or another, speak in the same
language,
wherein we were born; our native language; for though these men were Jews by descent,
yet were born and brought up in other countries, which language they spake; and not the
Hebrew, or Syriac, or Chaldee.
HENRY, " They acknowledge that they spoke intelligibly and readily their own
language (which they were the most competent judges of), so correctly and fluently that
none of their own countrymen could speak it better: We hear every man in our own
tongue wherein we were born (Act_2:8), that is, we hear one or other of them speak our
native language. The Parthians hear one of them speak their language, the Medes hear
another of them speak theirs; and so of the rest; Act_2:11, We do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God. Their respective languages were not only unknown
at Jerusalem, but probably despised and undervalued, and therefore it was not only a
surprise, but a pleasing surprise, to them to hear the language of their own country
spoken, as it naturally is to those that are strangers in a strange land. (1.) The things they
heard the apostles discourse of were the wonderful works of God, megaleia tou Theou -
Magnalia Dei, the great things of God. It is probable that the apostles spoke of Christ,
and redemption by him, and the grace of the gospel; and these are indeed the great
things of God, which will be for ever marvellous in our eyes. (2.) They heard them both
praise God for these great things and instruct the people concerning these things, in
their own tongue, according as they perceived the language of their hearers, or those
that enquired of them, to be. Now though, perhaps, by dwelling some time at Jerusalem,
they were got to be so much masters of the Jewish language that they could have
understood the meaning of the disciples if they had spoken that language, yet, [1.] This
was more strange, and helped to convince their judgment, that this doctrine was of God;
for tongues were for a sign to those that believed not, 1Co_14:22. [2.] It was more kind,
and helped to engage their affections, as it was a plain indication of the favour intended
to the Gentiles, and that the knowledge and worship of God should no longer be
confined to the Jews, but the partition-wall should be broken down; and this is to us a
plain intimation of the mind and will of God, that the sacred records of God's wonderful
works should be preserved by all nations in their own tongue; that the scriptures should
be read, and public worship performed, in the vulgar languages of the nations.
COFFMAN,"This list of geographical names shows the diversity of the people to whom
the apostles spoke, the provinces and locations mentioned lying in all directions from
Jerusalem and representing a cross-section of the languages spoken in the entire Roman
empire. As stated above, it is a mistake to suppose all of these languages were spoken "at
once" and by a single speaker. Such a supposition would embellish this wonder far
beyond the text. As Walker said:
It is probable that each of the eleven addressed the multitude in a different language.

145. People would naturally gather around the man using their native language. We may thus
imagine eleven congregations assembled within the same large area, all listening to the
same sermon, in substance at least, but each in his own language.[20]
Root also concurred in this view, saying:
It is not necessary to assume that each visitor heard the sermon of Peter in his own
tongue; but, in the beginning of the morning's meeting, the various languages were
spoken by the apostles.[21]
The wonder of some and the mockery of others sprang from the sensational event of the
Twelve apostles (this student believes Matthias participated in this) preaching all at one
time to twelve assemblies at various places in the large temple enclosure. The power and
eloquence of men who but a short while previously had been fishermen in Galilee was an
astounding thing; and the scoffers could think of no better explanation than to charge
them with drunkenness, a charge as unreasonable as it was malicious. Peter would
dispose of that slander in a brief word a little later.
[20] W. R. Walker, Studies in Acts (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, n.d.), p. 17.
[21] Orin Root, Commentary on Acts (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company,
1966), p. 10.
9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia,
Representative people from all 12 tribes were able to enter the church on this special
day. The church became the new Israel with the people of God now a mixture of
both Jews and Gentiles.
BARNES, "Parthians ... - To show the surprising extent and power of this miracle,
Luke enumerates the different nations that were represented then at Jerusalem. In this
way the number of languages which the apostles spoke, and the extent of the miracle,
can be ascertained. The enumeration of these nations begins at the east and proceeds to
the west. Parthians mean those Jews or proselytes who dwelt in Parthia. This country
was a part of Persia, and was situated between the Persian Gulf and the Tigris on the
west, and the Indus River on the east. The term “Parthia” originally referred to a small
mountainous district lying to the northeast of Media. Afterward it came to be applied to
the great Parthian kingdom into which this province expanded. Parthia proper, or
Ancient Parthia, lying between Asia and Hyrcania, the residence of a rude and poor

146. tribe, and traversed by bare mountains, woods, and sandy steppes, formed a part of the
great Persian monarchy. Its inhabitants were of Scythian origin. About 256 years before
Christ, Arsaces rose against the Syro-Macedonian power, and commenced a new dynasty
in her own person, designated by the title of Arsacidae. This was the beginning of the
great Parthian empire, which extended itself in the early days of Christianity over all the
provinces of what had been the Persian kingdom, having the Euphrates for its western
boundary, by which it was separated from the dominions of Rome (Kitto’s Encyclop.).
Their empire lasted about 400 years. The Parthians were much distinguished for their
manner of fighting. They usually fought on horseback, and when appearing to retreat,
discharged their arrows with great execution behind them. They disputed the empire of
the East with the Romans for a long time. The language spoken there was that of Persia,
and in ancient writers Parthia and Persia often mean the same country.
Medes - Inhabitants of Media. This country was situated westward and southward of
the Caspian Sea, between 35 degrees and 40 degrees of north latitude. It had Persia on
the south and Armenia on the west. It was about the size of Spain, and was one of the
richest parts of Asia. In the Scriptures it is called Madai, Gen_10:2. The Medes are often
mentioned, frequently in connection with the Persians, with whom they were often
connected under the same government, 2Ki_17:6; 2Ki_18:11; Est_1:3, Est_1:14, Est_
1:18-19; Jer_25:25; Dan_5:28; Dan_6:8; Dan_8:20; Dan_9:1. The language spoken
here was also that of Persia.
Elamites - Elam is often mentioned in the Old Testament. The nation was descended
from Elam, the son of Shem, Gen_10:22. It is mentioned as being in alliance with
Amraphel, the king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Tidal, king of nations,
Gen_14:1. Of these nations in alliance, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, was the chief, Gen_
14:4. See also Ezr_2:7; Ezr_8:7; Neh_7:12, Neh_7:34; Isa_11:11; Isa_21:2; Isa_22:6, etc.
They are mentioned as a part of the Persian empire, and Daniel is said to have resided at
Shushan, which is in the province of Elam, Dan_8:2. The Greeks and Romans gave to
this country the name of Elymais. It is now called Kusistan. It was bounded by Persia on
the east, by Media on the north, by Babylonia on the west, and by the Persian Gulf on the
south. The Elamites were a warlike people, and celebrated for the use of the bow, Isa_
22:6; Jer_49:35. The language of this people was of course the Persian. Its capital,
Shusan, called by the Greeks Susa, was much celebrated. It is said to have been fifteen
miles in circumference, and was adorned with the celebrated palace of Ahasuerus. The
inhabitants still pretend to show there the tomb of the prophet Daniel.
Mesopotamia - This name, which is Greek, signifies between the rivers; that is, the
region lying between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. In Hebrew it was called Aram-
Naharaim; that is, Aram, or Syria, of the two rivers. It was also called Padan Aram, the
plain of Syria. In this region were situated some important places mentioned in the
Bible: “Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham Gen_11:27-28; Haran, where
Terah stopped on his journey and died Gen_11:31-32; Charchemish 2Ch_35:20; Hena
2Ki_19:13; Sepharvaim 2Ki_17:24. This region, known as Mesopotamia, extended
between the two rivers from their sources to Babylon on the south. It had on the north
Armenia, on the west Syria, on the east Persia, and on the south Babylonia. It was an
extensive, level, and fertile country. The language spoken here was probably the Syriac,
with perhaps a mixture of the Chaldee.
In Judea - This expression has greatly perplexed commentators. It has been thought
difficult to see why Judea should be mentioned, as if it were a matter of surprise that
they could speak in this language. Some have supposed that there is an error in the
manuscripts, and have proposed to read Armenia, or India, or Lydia, or Idumea, etc. But

147. all this has been without any authority. Others have supposed that the language of
Galilee was so different from that of the other parts of Judea as to render it remarkable
that they could speak that dialect. But this is an idle supposition. This is one of the many
instances in which commentators have perplexed themselves to very little purpose. Luke
recorded this as any other historian would have done. In running over the languages
which they spoke, he enumerated this as a matter of course; not that it was remarkable
simply that they should speak the language of Judea, but that they should steak so many,
meaning about the same by it as if he had said they spoke every language in the world. It
is as if a similar miracle were to occur at this time among an assembly of native
Englishmen and foreigners. In describing it, nothing would be more natural than to say
they spoke French, and German, and Spanish, and English, and Italian, etc. In this there
would be nothing remarkable except that they spoke so many languages.
Cappadocia - This was a region of Asia Minor, and was bounded on the east by the
Euphrates and Armenia, on the north by Pontus, west by Phrygia and Galatia, and south
by Mount Taurus, beyond which are Cilicia and Syria. The language which was spoken
here is not certainly known. It was probably, however, a mixed dialect, made up of Greek
and Syriac, perhaps the same as that of their neighbors, the Lycaonians, Act_14:11. This
place was formerly celebrated for iniquity, and is mentioned in Greek writers as one of
the three eminently wicked places whose name began with C. The others were Crete
(compare Tit_1:12) and Cilicia. After its conversion to the Christian religion, however, it
produced many eminent men, among whom were Gregory Nyssen and Basil the Great. It
was one of the places to which Peter directed an epistle, 1Pe_1:1.
In Pontus - This was another province of Asia Minor, and was situated north of
Cappadocia, and was bounded west by Paphlagonia. Pontus and Cappadocia under the
Romans constituted one province. This was one of the places to which the apostle Peter
directed his epistle, 1Pe_1:1. This was the birthplace of Aquila, one of the companions of
Paul, Act_18:2, Act_18:18, Act_18:26; Rom_16:3; 1Co_16:19; 2Ti_4:19.
And Asia - Pontus and Cappadocia, etc., were parts of Asia. But the word Asia is
doubtless used here to denote the regions or provinces west of these, which are not
particularly enumerated. Thus, it is used Act_6:9; Act_16:6; Act_20:16. It probably
embraced Mysia, Aeolis, Ionia, Caria, and Lydia. “The term probably denoted not so
much a definite region as a jurisdiction, the limits of which varied from time to time,
according to the plan of government which the Romans adopted for their Asiatic
provinces” (Prof. Hackett, in loco). The capital of this region was Ephesus. See also 1Pe_
1:1. This region was frequently called Ionia, and was afterward the seat of the seven
churches in Asia, Rev_1:4.
CLARKE, "Parthians - Parthia anciently included the northern part of modern
Persia: it was situated between the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf, rather to the eastward
of both.
Medes - Media was a country lying in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea; having Parthia
on the east, Assyria on the south, and Mesopotamia on the west.
Elamites - Probably inhabitants of that country now called Persia: both the Medes
and Elamites were a neighboring people, dwelling beyond the Tigris.
Mesopotamia - Now Diarbec in Asiatic Turkey; situated between the rivers Tigris
and Euphrates; having Assyria on the east, Arabia Deserta with Babylonia on the south,
Syria on the west, and Armenia on the north. It was called Padan-aram by the ancient
Hebrews, and by the Asiatics is now called Maverannhar, i.e. the country beyond the
river.

148. Judea - This word has exceedingly puzzled commentators and critics; and most
suspect that it is not the true reading. Bishop Pearce supposes that Ιουδαιαν is an
adjective, agreeing with Μεσοποταµιαν, and translates the passage thus: the dwellers in
Jewish Mesopotamia. He vindicates this translation by showing that great numbers of
the Jews were settled in this country: Josephus says that the ten tribes remained in this
country till his time; that “there were countless myriads of them there, and that it was
impossible to know their numbers.” - Μυριαδες απειροι, και αριθµሩ γνωσθηναι µη
δυναµεναι. See Ant. lib. xv. c. 2, s. 2, and c. 3, s. 1; Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 1, 2. This
interpretation, however ingenious, does not comport with the present Greek text. Some
imagine that Ιουδαιαν is not the original reading; and therefore they have corrected it
into Syriam, Syria; Armeniam, Armenia; Ινδιαν, India; Λυδιαν, Lydia; Ιδουµαιαν,
Idumea; Βιθυνιαν, Bithynia; and Κιλικιαν, Cilicia: all these stand on very slender
authority, as may be seen in Griesbach; and the last is a mere conjecture of Dr. Mangey.
If Judea be still considered the genuine reading, we may account for it thus: the men
who were speaking were known to be Galileans; now the Galilean dialect was certainly
different from that spoken in Judea - the surprise was occasioned by a Jew being able to
comprehend the speech of a Galilean, without any interpreter and without difficulty; and
yet it is not easy to suppose that there was such a difference between the two dialects as
to render these people wholly unintelligible to each other.
Cappadocia - Was an ancient kingdom of Asia comprehending all that country that
lies between Mount Taurus and the Euxine Sea.
Pontus - Was anciently a very powerful kingdom of Asia, originally a part of
Cappadocia; bounded on the east by Colchis; on the west by the river Halys; on the north
by the Black Sea; and on the south by Armenia Minor. The famous Mithridates was king
of this country; and it was one of the last which the Romans were able to subjugate.
Asia - Meaning probably Asia Minor; it was that part of Turkey in Asia now called
Natolia.
GILL Verse 9. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,.... These are the words of the men
continued, and not of the historian, as appears from Acts 2:10 and so the Arabic version
reads, "of us Persians, Parthians, and Medes"; that is, we hear them speak in the language
of everyone of us: the order in this version is inverted, otherwise the same persons are
intended; for the Elamites and Persians are the same: by the Parthians are meant, Jews
that were born in Parthia, and had dwelt there, and who spoke the language of that
country; and that there were Jews, in those parts, is clear from Josephus {z}, who speaks
of them together with the Jews of other nations. Many of the Parthian Jews were
afterwards converted to the Christian faith; to whom the Apostle John is thought, by
some, to have written his first epistle; and which, by some of the ancients, is called the
epistle to the Parthians. The kingdom of Parthia, according to Pliny {a}, Ptolomy {b},
and Solinus {c}, had Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north, Aria, or Ariana, on the

149. east, and the desert of Carmania on the south; the metropolis of it was Hecatompylos, so
called from the hundred gates that belonged to it; and which, it is thought, stood on the
same spot of ground that Ispahan does now, the seat of the Sophies of Persia. And by the
Medes are intended the Jews that were natives of Media: so called from "Madai," one of
the sons of Japhet, Genesis 10:2 and this, according to Ptolomy {d}, has on the north the
Hyrcanian, or Gasptan sea, on the west Armenia Major and Assyria, and on the east
Hyrcania and Parthia, and on the south Parthia. The Elamites are so called, from Elam the
son of Shem, Genesis 10:22 and these, according to Josephus {e}, were the founders of
the Persians, or from whom they sprung; and so we find Elam and Media, and the kings
of Elam, and the kings of the Medes, mentioned together in Scripture, Isaiah 21:2.
And certain it is, that Elam was at least a part of the empire of Persia, in Daniel's time; for
Shushan, where the kings of Persia then kept their palace, was in the province of Elam,
Daniel 8:2 and it is evident, that hither the Jews were carried captive, Isaiah 11:11. So
that there might be some remaining in those parts, that were their descendants; and from
hence also were people brought by Asnapper, into the cities of Samaria, to supply the
room of those who were carried captive, and are called Elamites, Ezra 4:9 And that there
were Elamite Jews, may be concluded from the writings of the Jews; for so they say {f},
that "the Hagiographa, or holy writings, which were written in the Coptic, Median,
Hebrew, tymlye, "Elamite," and Greek tongues; though they did not read in them (on the
sabbath day in time of service) they delivered them from the fire," when in danger of
being burned: so the Megilla, or book of Esther, might not be read in the Coptic, Hebrew,
Elamite, Median, and Greek languages; but it might be read in Coptic to Coptites, in
Hebrew to Hebrews, Mymlyel tymlye, in "Elamite" to the "Elamites," and in Greek to the
Greeks {g}; and such sort of Jews as the Elamite ones, were these in the text: the Syriac
version reads Elanites; and so R. Benjamin in his Itinerary {h}, makes mention of a
country called, hynla, "Alania," and of a people called, Nala, "Alan"; and whom he speaks
of in company with Babylon, Persia, Choresan, Sheba, and Mesopotamia; and may intend
the same people as here: now these Parthian, Median, and Elamite Jews were such who
descended from the captives of the ten tribes, carried away by Shalmaneser king of
Assyria, whom he placed in Halah and Habor, and in the cities of the Medes, 2 Kings
17:6. But besides these, there were also at Jerusalem, at this time, those who are next
mentioned:
and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia; who
came not quite so far off as the former: Mesopotamia is the same with what is called in
the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, Aram Naharaim, or Syria between the two rivers;
that is, Tigris and Euphrates; the former was on the east of it, and the latter on the west,
and Babylon was on the south, and Caucasus on the north; and so the Greek word
Mesopotamia signifies a place between two rivers; see Genesis 24:10. And the Jews have
adopted it into their own language, calling it, aymjwpom, "Mesopotamia" {i}; and the
same name obtains with other writers {k}, and it has since been called Azania and
Halopin; it belonged to that part of Assyria, called Chaldea; and these Mesopotamian
Jews were the remains of those who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of

150. Babylon; and though the Chaldean, or Syriac language was now spoken by the Jews, yet
in a different manner than it was in Chaldea and Syria: and there were also the dwellers in
Judea; by which is meant, that part of the land of Israel, which was distinct from Galilee,
and where they used a different dialect from the Galilean Jews; and there were others,
who were born, and had lived in Cappadocia. This was a country in Asia, in which were
many famous cities; as Archalais, where Claudius Caesar put a Roman colony; and Neo
Caesarea (the birth place of Gregory Thaumaturgus); and Melita, built by Semiramis; and
Mazaca {l}, which was the chief city; and so called from Meshech, the son of Japhet,
since called Caesarea. The inhabitants of this country, Herodotus says {m}, "were by the
Greeks called Syrians, and they were Syrians; and before the Persians had the
government, they were subject to the Medea, and then to Cyrus."
And by Pliny {n} they are called, Leucosyrians. This country, according to Ptolomy {o},
had Galatia, and part of Pamphylia on the west, and on the south Cilicia, and part of
Syria, and on the east Armenia the great, and on the north, part of the Euxine Pontus; it is
now called Amasia, or Almasin: here were many Jews scattered abroad, some of which
were afterwards believers in Christ, to whom Peter sent his epistles, 1 Peter 1:1. It had its
former name from the river Cappadox, which, as Pliny {p} says, divided the Galatians
and Leucosyrians, and this indeed is the reason of its name; in the Syriac language it is
called, Kdpq, "Capdac," which comes from dpq; which signifies to "cut off," or "divide,"
as this river did the above people from one another; and hence the country was called
Cappadocia, and the inhabitants Cappadocians: in the Jewish writings it is called,
ayqjwpq, Capotakia; and which Maimonides {q} says, is the same with Caphtor; and in
the Arabic language, is called Tamiati; and so Caphtor is rendered Cappadocia, and the
Caphtorim Cappadocians, in the Targums of Onkelos, Jonathan, and Jerusalem, in
Genesis 10:14 and so in the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 2:23. This country was
near the land of Israel, and in it dwelt many Jews; they had schools of learning here, and
had traditions peculiarly relating to it: as for instance, "if a man married a wife in the land
of Israel, and divorced her in Cappadocia, he must give her (her dowry) of the money of
the land of Israel; and if he marries a wife in Cappadocia, and divorces her in the land of
Israel, he may give her of the money of the land of Israel; Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel
says, he must give her of the money of Cappadocia {r};" for it seems the Cappadocian
money was larger, and weighed more than that in the land of Israel: however, "if a man
marries a wife in Cappadocia, and divorces her in Cappadocia, he must give her of the
money of Cappadocia."
And so R. Akiba speaks {s} of one, that he saw shipwrecked at sea; and when, says he, I
came to the province of Cappadocia, he came and sat, and judged before me in the
constitutions and traditions of the elders: from whence it is manifest, that here were
people of the Jewish nation that dwelt in this country, and so at this time. As also in
Pontus; hence the first epistle of Peter is sometimes called the epistle to the Pontians; that
is, to the Jews of Pontus, then become Christians; Pontus was a country in lesser Asia,
and according to Ptolomy {t}, it had on the west the mouth of Pontus, and the Thracian
Bosphorus, and part of Propontis, on the north, part of the Euxine sea, and on the south
the country which is properly called Asia, and on the east Galatia by Paphlagonia; it was
the birth place of Marcion the heretic, of which Tertullian gives a most dismal account
{u}: Asia here intends, neither Asia the greater, nor the less, but Asia properly so called;

151. which had Lycia and Phrygia on the east, the Aegean shores on the west, the Egyptian sea
on the south, and Paphlagonia on the north {w}; in which were Ephesus the chief city,
and Smyrna and Pergamus, and where were many Jews; these might be the remains of
those that were carried captive, and dispersed by Ptolomy Lagus; those who dwelt in the
three last places spoke the Greek language.
ELLICOTT, "(9-11) Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites. . . .—The list that follows is
characteristic of the trained historian—trained, it may be, as in the school of Strabo (see
Introduction to St. Luke)—who had carefully inquired what nations were represented at
that great Pentecost, who had himself been present, at least, at one later Pentecost (Acts
21:15), and knew the kind of crowd that gathered to it. There is a kind of order, as of one
taking a mental bird’s-eye view of the Roman empire, beginning with the great Parthian
kingdom, which was still, as it had been in the days of Crassus, the most formidable of its
foes; then the old territory of the Medes which had once been so closely connected with
the history of their fathers; then, the name of the Persians having been thrown into the
background, the kindred people of Elam (commonly rendered Persia in the LXX.) whom
Strabo speaks of as driven to the mountains (xi. 13, § 6); then the great cities of the Tigris
and Euphrates, where the “princes of the captivity” still ruled over a large Jewish
population; then passing southward and westward to Judæa; then to Cappadocia, in the
interior of Asia Minor; then to Pontus, on the northern shore washed by the Euxine; then
westward to the Proconsular Province of Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital. From
Ephesus the eye travels eastward to the neighbouring province of Phrygia; thence
southward to Pamphylia; thence across the Mediterranean to Egypt; westward to Cyrene;
northward, re-crossing the Mediterranean, to the great capital of the empire; then, as by an
after-thought, to the two regions of Crete and Arabia that had been previously omitted.
The absence of some countries that we should have expected to find in the list—Syria,
Cilicia, Cyprus, Bithynia, Macedonia, Achaia, Spain—is not easy to explain, but it is, at
any rate, an indication that what we have is not an artificial list made up at a later date,
but an actual record of those whose presence at the Feast had been ascertained by the
historian. Possibly they may have been omitted because Jews and converts coming from
them would naturally speak Greek, and there would be no marvel to them in hearing
Galileans speaking in that language. The presence of Judæa in the list is almost as
unexpected as the absence of the others. That, we think, might have been taken for
granted. Some critics have accordingly conjectured that “India” must be the true reading,
but without any MS. authority. Possibly, the men of Judæa are named as sharing in the
wonder that the Galileans were no longer distinguished by their provincial patois. (Comp.
Note on Matthew 26:73.)
10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of
Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome

152. BARNES, "Phrygia, and Pamphylia - These were also two provinces of Asia
Minor. Phrygia was surrounded by Galatia, Cappadocia, and Pisidia. Pamphylia was on
the Mediterranean, and was bounded north by Pisidia. The language of all these places
was doubtless the Greek, more or less pure.
In Egypt - This was that extensive country, well known, on the south of the
Mediterranean, watered by the Nile. It extends 600 miles from north to south, and from
100 to 120 miles east and west. The language used there was the Coptic tongue. At
present the Arabic is spoken. Vast numbers of Jews dwelt in Egypt, and many from that
country would be present at the great feasts at Jerusalem. In this country the first
translation of the Old Testament was made, which is now called the Septuagint.
In the parts of Libya - Libya is a general name for Africa. It properly denoted the
region which was near to Egypt; but the Greeks gave the name to all Africa.
About Cyrene - This was a region about 500 miles west of Alexandria in Egypt. It
was also called Pentapolis, because there were in it five celebrated cities. This country
now belongs to Tripoli. Great numbers of Jews resided here. A Jew of this place, Simon
by name, was compelled to bear our Saviour’s cross after him to the place of crucifixion,
Mat_27:32; Luk_23:26. Some of the Cyrenians are mentioned among the earliest
Christians, Act_11:20; Act_13:1. The language which they spoke is not certainly known.
Strangers of Rome - This literally means “Romans dwelling or tarrying,” that is, at
Jerusalem. It may mean either that they were permanently fixed, or only tarrying at
Jerusalem - ᆇι ᅚπιδηµοሞντες ሤωµαሏοι hoi epidēmōuntes Rōmaioi. They were doubtless
Jews who had taken up their residence in Italy, and had come to Jerusalem to attend the
great feasts. The language which they spoke was the Latin. Great numbers of Jews were
at that time dwelling at Rome. Josephus says that there were eight synagogues there.
The Jews are often mentioned by the Roman writers. There was a Jewish colony across
the Tiber from Rome. When Judea was conquered, about 60 years before Christ, vast
numbers of Jews were taken captive and carried to Rome. But they had much difficulty
in managing them as slaves. They pertinaciously adhered to their religion, observed the
Sabbath, and refused to join in the idolatrous rites of the Romans. Hence, they were
freed, and lived by themselves across the Tiber.
Jews - Native-born Jews, or descendants of Jewish families.
Proselytes - Those who had been converted to the Jewish religion from among the
Gentiles. The great zeal of the Jews to make proselytes is mentioned by our Saviour as
one of the special characteristics of the Pharisees, Mat_23:15. Some have supposed that
the expression “Jews and proselytes” refers to the Romans only. But it is more probable
that reference is made to all those that are mentioned. It has the appearance of a hurried
enumeration; and the writer evidently mentioned them as they occurred to his mind,
just as we would in giving a rapid account of so many different nations.
CLARKE, "Phrygia - A country in Asia Minor, southward of Pontus.
Pamphylia - The ancient name of the country of Natolia, now called Caramania,
between Lycia and Cilicia, near the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt - A very extensive country of African bounded by the Mediterranean on the
north; by the Red Sea and the Isthmus of Suez, which divide it from Arabia, on the east;
by Abyssinia or Ethiopia on the south; and by the deserts of Barca and Nubia on the
west. It was called Mizraim by the ancient Hebrews, and now Mesr by the Arabians. It
extends 600 miles from north to south; and from 100 to 250 in breadth, from east to

153. west.
Libya - In a general way, among the Greeks, signified Africa; but the northern part, in
the vicinity of Cyrene, is here meant.
Cyrene - A country in Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, southward of the
most western point of the Island of Crete.
Strangers of Rome - Persons dwelling at Rome, and speaking the Latin language,
partly consisting of regularly descended Jews and proselytes to the Jewish religion.
GILL Verse 10. Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt,.... Phrygia was a country in Asia, and
had part of Galatia on the north, Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Mygdonia on the south, and on the
east Cappadocia {x}; here the Apostle Paul afterwards travelled, and strengthened the
Christians; see Acts 16:6. Pamphylia, now called Setilia, is another country in Asia,
formerly called Mopsopia {y}; which had on the west Lycia, and part of Asia, on the
north Galatia, on the east Cilicia, and part of Cappadocia, and on the south the sea of
Pamphylia {z}, of which mention is made in Acts 27:5. The chief city in it was Perga,
where was a temple of Diana {a}, and here the Apostle Paul also was; see Acts 13:13.
Others of these sojourning Jews lived in Egypt, which was a large country in Africa;
which had on the east the deserts of Arabia, on the west Libya, on the south Ethiopia, and
on the north the Mediterranean sea; hither many Jews were carried captive by Ptolomy
Lagus, and these spoke the Egyptian language:
and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene; there were others at Jerusalem, which came from
hence, The Arabic version reads this clause, "and in the parts of Africa, which is our
country"; and Pliny says {b}, the Greeks call Africa, Libya. The Jews say {c}, Libya in
Egypt; and for proselytes from Libya, they wait three generations; that is, before they
receive them: Cyrene, or Cyreniaca, which is no other than upper Libya, is called by Pliny
{d}, the Pentapolitan country, from the five cities in it; Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais,
Apollonia, and Cyrene: to these are added,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes; that is, as the Syriac version renders it,
"those that came from Rome"; to which the Arabic agrees: they were natives and
inhabitants of the city of Rome, though now they were at Jerusalem; and some of these
were Jews by birth, and lineal descent, though born at Rome; and others were such as
were proselytes of righteousness, who were originally Gentiles, but were now
circumcised, and had embraced the Jewish religion; concerning such, See Gill on "Mt
23:15." These doubtless spoke in the Roman, or Latin tongue.
COKE, "Acts 2:10. Strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,— That is, Jews and
proselytes who were by birth or habitation Romans, but now sojourned at Jerusalem. That
there were great multitudes of Jews who dwelt at Rome,is evident not only from
Josephus, but from Dio, Suetonius, Tacitus, and, I think we may say, all the Roman
authors of that time, not excepting even the poets; and that there were not a few in that
great city proselyted to the Jewish religion, sufficiently appears from the Satires of

154. Horace, Juvenal, and Persius. The wonderful works of God, in the next verse, mean the
several dispensations of God to mankind in the successive ages of the world, and
particularly concerning the resurrection of Christ, and the Messiah's kingdom. The
original is expressive, — τα µεγαλεια του Θεου : as if the dispensation of God in Jesus,
was the only great and magnificent work of God.
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans
and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of
God in our own tongues!"
The curse of babel reversed says Bruce.
BARNES, "Cretes - Crete, now called Candia, is an island in the Mediterranean,
about 200 miles in length and 50 in breadth, about 500 miles southwest of
Constantinople, and about the same distance west of Syria or Palestine. The climate is
mild and delightful, the sky unclouded and serene. By some this island is supposed to be
the Caphtor of the Hebrews, Gen_10:14. It is mentioned in the Acts as the place touched
at by Paul, Act_27:7-8, Act_27:13. This was the residence of Titus, who was left there by
Paul” to set in order the things that were missing,” etc., Tit_1:5. The Cretans among the
Greeks were famous for deceit and falsehood. See the notes on Tit_1:12-13. The language
spoken there was probably the Greek.
Arabians - Arabia is the great peninsula which is bounded north by part of Syria, east
by the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf, south by the Indian Ocean, and west by the Red
Sea. It is often mentioned in the Scriptures; and there were doubtless there many Jews.
The language spoken there was the Arabic.
In our tongues - The languages spoken by the apostles could not have been less than
seven or eight, besides different dialects of the same languages. It is not certain that the
Jews present from foreign nations spoke those languages perfectly, but they had
doubtless so used them as to make them the common tongue in which they conversed.
No miracle could be more decided than this. There was no way in which the apostles
could impose on them, and make them suppose they spoke foreign languages, if they
really did not; for these foreigners were abundantly able to determine that. It may be
remarked that this miracle had most important effects besides that witnessed on the day
of Pentecost. The gospel would be carried by those who were converted to all these
places, and the way would be prepared for the labors of the apostles there. Accordingly,
most of these places became afterward celebrated by the establishment of Christian
churches and the conversion of great multitudes to the Christian faith.
The wonderful works of God - τᆭ µεγαλεία τοሞ Θεοሞ ta megaleia tou Theou. The
great things of God; that is, the great things that God had done in the gift of his Son; in
raising him from the dead; in his miracles, ascension, etc. Compare Luk_1:49; Psa_

155. 71:19; Psa_26:7; Psa_66:3; Psa_92:5; Psa_104:24; etc.
CLARKE, "Cretes - Natives of Crete, a large and noted island in the Levant, or
eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, now called Candia.
Arabians - Natives of Arabia, a well known country of Asia, having the Red Sea on
the west; the Persian Gulf on the east; Judea on the north; and the Indian Ocean on the
south.
The wonderful works of God - Such as the incarnation of Christ; his various
miracles, preaching, death, resurrection, and ascension; and the design of God to save
the world through him. From this one circumstance we may learn that all the people
enumerated above were either Jews or proselytes; and that there was probably none that
could be, strictly speaking, called heathens among them. It may at first appear strange
that there could be found Jews in so many different countries, some of which were very
remote from the others; but there is a passage in Philo’s Embassy to Caius which throws
considerable light on the subject. In a letter sent to Caius by King Agrippa, he speaks of
to the holy city of Jerusalem, not merely as the metropolis of Judea, but of many other
regions, because of the colonies at different times led out of Judea, not only into
neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria, and Coelosyria, but also into
those that are remote, such as Pamphylia, Cilicia, and the chief parts of Asia as far as
Bithynia, and the innermost parts of Pontus; also in the regions of Europe, Thessaly,
Boeotia, Macedonia, Aetolia, Attica, Argos, Corinth, and the principal parts of
Peloponnesus. Not only the continents and provinces (says he) are full of Jewish
colonies, but the most celebrated isles also, Euboea, Cyprus, and Crete, not to mention
the countries beyond the Euphrates. All these (a small part of Babylon and some other
praefectures excepted, which possess fertile territories) are inhabited by Jews. Not only
my native city entreats thy clemency, but other cities also, situated in different parts of
the world, Asia, Europe, Africa; both islands, sea coasts, and inland countries.” Philonis
Opera, edit. Mangey, vol. ii. p. 587.
It is worthy of remark that almost all the places and provinces mentioned by St. Luke
are mentioned also in this letter of King Agrippa. These, being all Jews or proselytes,
could understand in some measure the wonderful works of God, of which mere heathens
could have formed no conception. It was wisely ordered that the miraculous descent of
the Holy Ghost should take place at this time, when so many from various nations were
present to bear witness to what was done, and to be themselves subjects of his mighty
working. These, on their return to their respective countries, would naturally proclaim
what things they saw and heard; and by this the way of the apostles was made plain; and
thus Christianity made a rapid progress over all those parts in a very short time after the
resurrection of our Lord.
GILL Verse 11. Cretes and Arabians,.... The former are either the same with the Cretians,
Titus 1:12 the inhabitants of the island of Crete, Acts 27:7 now called Candia or Candy,
which has on the north the Aegean sea, on the south the Libyan or African sea, on the
west the Adriatic sea, and on the east the Carpathian sea. In it were an hundred cities; the
most famous of which were, Gnosos, Cortyna, Lyctos, Lycastos, Holopixos, Phaestos,
Cydon, Manethusa, Dyctynna {e}, and others; these spoke the Greek language; yet not the
Attic, for the Cretian and Attic speech are distinguished {f}: or else, as Dr. Lightfoot
thinks, these were the same with the Cherethim or Cherethites, in Ezekiel 25:16 whom
the Septuagint interpreters call Cretes, as here; since these are mentioned with the

156. Philistines, to whose land Arabia joined; the inhabitants of which are next mentioned
here. There were three Arabias; Arabia Petraea, which had on the west part of Egypt, and
on the north Judea, and part of Syria, on the south the Red sea, and on the east Arabia
Felix. The second was called Arabia Deserta, and had on the north part of Mesopotamia,
and on the east Babylonia, on the south Arabia Felix, and on the west, part of Syria and
Arabia Petraea. The third was called Arabia Felix, and had on the north the south sides of
Petraea and Arabia Deserta, and the more southern part of the Persian gulf, on the west
the gulf of Arabia, and on the south the Red sea, and on the east, part of the Persian gulf
{g}; and here dwelt Jews who spoke the Arabic language. Now these Jews, of different
nations, declared concerning the apostles, saying,
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God; not the works of
creation and providence, though these are great and wonderful; but of redemption,
pardon, atonement, justification, and salvation, by the Messiah, by his obedience,
sufferings, and death, and also of his resurrection from the dead; things which struck
them with amazement, and the more, that such illiterate persons should have such
knowledge of them, and should be able to speak of them in such a clear, distinct, and
powerful manner; and still the more, that they should speak of them in their several
tongues in which they were born, and to which they were used, and which the apostles
had never learned: and this they heard with their own ears, and were fully satisfied that
they did speak divers languages.
CALVI , "11. The wonderful works of God. Luke noteth two things which
caused the hearers to wonder; first, because the apostles being before ignorant
and private persons, 4 born in a base corner, 5 did, notwithstanding, intreat
profoundly of divine matters, and of heavenly wisdom. The other is, because
they have new tongues given them suddenly. Both things are worth the noting,
because to huddle out [utter] words unadvisedly and foolishly, should not so
much have served to move their minds; and the majesty of the things ought the
more to have moved them to consider the miracle. Although they give due
honor to God, in that they are astonished and amazed, yet the principal and of
the miracle is expressed in this, that they inquire, and thereby declare that they
are prepared to learn; for otherwise their amazedness and wondering should
not have done them any great good. And certainly we must so wonder at the
works of God, that there must be also a consideration, and a desire to
understand.
12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one
another, "What does this mean?"

157. God does wonders to amaze and perplex so that people will ask what does it mean
and search for answers. This leads them to discover the truth he wants to give to
them. You have succeeded when somone asks what does this mean? That is a key
question that all must ask to receive the truth of God.
BARNES, "Were in doubt - This expression, διηπόρουν diēporoun, denotes “a state
of hesitancy or anxiety about an event.” It is applied to those who are traveling, and are
ignorant of the way, or who hesitate about the road. They were all astonished at this;
they did not know how to understand it or explain it, until some of them supposed that it
was merely the effect of new wine.
GILL Verse 12. And they were all amazed,.... That is, all these devout men, Jews and
proselytes, which came from other nations before mentioned:
and were in doubt; not whether the apostles spoke in various languages, nor about the
sense of their words; for they not only heard them with their ears, and were assured of the
facts, but they seem also to understand what was said, since they call the things delivered,
the great or wonderful things of God; but they were at a loss in their minds what should
be the cause of this, or the reason of such a dispensation,
saying, one to another, what meaneth this? from whence is it? what is the design of it? or
what the end to be answered by it? or what will follow upon it? surely something
considerable.
HENRY, " They wonder at it, and look upon it as an astonishing thing (Act_2:12): They
were all amazed, they were in an ecstacy, so the word is; and they were in doubt what
the meaning of it was, and whether it was to introduce the kingdom of the Messiah,
which they were big with the expectation of; they asked themselves and one another ti an
theloi touto einai; - Quid hoc sibi vult? - What is the tendency of this? Surely it is to
dignify, and so to distinguish, these men as messengers from heaven; and therefore, like
Moses at the bush, they will turn aside, and see this great sight.
HAWKER, "And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What
meaneth this? (13) Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
I detain the Reader over these two verses, just to call his attention to the very different
effects here described, which were wrought upon the minds of the different characters
beholding this miracle. Pause, Reader, at the view. What but divine teaching could have
made this difference? Here is one set of men struck with awe at the wonderful works of
God. And here is another attempting to turn the solemn work of God the Spirit into
ridicule. One praising God; and another blaspheming. And yet the work is the same. And
is it not so now? Do not some mock, while others pray? Some laugh, while others
mourn? Both not the same Gospel, the same preacher, produce these different effects?
Reader! do you not know it? Have you never seen it? 2Co_2:15-16. And, Reader! depend

158. upon it, such is, and must be the case forever. If the devils in hell were liberated from
their chains, devils they would still be. Nothing short of Almighty grace could make a
change. If the Reader would see an awful representation of this, let him read what is said
under the fourth and fifth vials poured out upon the seat of the beast. Rev_16:8-11
UNKNOWN, "V. 12 - all were amazedall were amazedall were amazedall were amazed - The exact results intended by the "wind"
and languages. The signs were not the message, but to get attention for the
message. The phenomena were, however, a partial fulfillment of God痴
prophetic statements through his prophet Joel, as Peter will say. God had been
preparing for this event since before the foundation of the world. It is now the
fullness of time and the mystery, long hidden, is to be revealed, a mystery that
concerned Jesus and the unique role he filled in man痴 history, being the actual
basis for man痴 redemption, and forming the foundation of the church (=the
kingdom of God, which also was/is Christ痴 body), within hours of being a
historical reality.
CALVIN, "12. Others mocking. Hereby it appeareth how monstrous as well
the sluggishness, as also the ungodliness of men is, when Satan hath taken
away their mind. If God should openly (and visibly) descend from heaven, his
majesty could scarce more manifestly appear than in this miracle. Whosoever
hath any drop of sound understanding in him must needs be stricken with the
only hearing of it. How beastly, then, are those men who see it with their eyes,
and yet scoff, and go about with their jests to mock the power of God? But the
matter is so. There is nothing so wonderful which those men do not turn to a
jest who are touched with no care of God; because they do, even upon set
purposes, harden themselves in their ignorance in things most plain. And it is
a just punishment of God, which he bringeth upon such pride, to deliver them
to Satan, to be driven headlong into blind fury. Wherefore, there is no cause
why we should marvel that there be so many at this day so blind in so great
light, if they be so deaf when such manifest doctrine is delivered, yea, if they
wantonly refuse salvation when it is offered unto them. For if the wonderful
and strange works of God, wherein he doth wonderfully set forth his power, be
subject to the mockery of men, what shall become of doctrine, which they
think tasteth of nothing but of that which is common? Although Luke doth
signify unto us that they were not of the worst sort, or altogether past hope,
which did laugh (and mock;) but he meant rather to declare how the common
sort was affected when they saw this miracle. And truly it hath been always so
in the world, for very few have been touched with the true feeling of God as
often as he hath revealed himself. Neither is it any marvel; for religion is a rare

159. virtue, and a virtue which few men have; which is, indeed, the beginning of
understanding. Nevertheless, howsoever the more part of men, through a
certain hard stiff-neckedness, doth reject the consideration of the works of
God, yet are they never without fruit, as we may see in this history.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "And they were all amazed.
Whit Sunday, or what our Churches need
Notice—
I. Three things immediately preceding the outpouring of the Spirit—things which if not
the direct cause of a revival, always herald it—the shadows cast by the coming blessing.
1. A complete congregation. “They were all in one place.” No absentees. This
betokened earnestness, for it was in fact an early Sunday morning prayer-meeting
with every one present. Always before a great blessing there will be a revived interest
in sanctuary services. The half truth, “I can worship God as well at home” (which is a
lie when the man is able to come to the sanctuary and does not) will not be heard.
Indifference to public worship is a fatal sign. Things that would never be permitted
to interfere with business or pleasure are reckoned sufficient to warrant “staying at
home to-day.” You found eleven o’clock this morning too early to come to worship,
but I will guarantee you catch the eight o’clock excursion train to-morrow morning.
2. A congregation one in desire and motive; “With one accord.” No two motives had
drawn them. They came to receive the promised blessing. Is not the want of this
spirit of accord the weakness of the Churches of the present day? Unbelief is not the
only thing that keeps Christ from doing many mighty works. It might with equal
truth be said of many a Church: “He did not many mighty works there because of
their squabbling, petty, selfish spirit.” There are men who will be nothing unless they
are everything, and will without compunction sacrifice a whole Church’s prosperity
upon the wretched little altar of their own unsanctified ambition. Instead of all being
baptized into one spirit, it looks more as if every one had been baptized into a
different spirit and every spirit an evil one. But when all differences become drowned
in one overwhelming passion of saving souls, then let the Church lift up her head, for
the day of her revival draweth nigh.
3. A congregation steeped in the spirit of prayer. They had a ten days’ prayer-
meeting. Do you wonder they had a Whit Sunday? I should have wondered if they
had not. The general prayerlessness of the Church is simply deplorable. Here and
there the hundreds come to prayer. But take the general run of prayer-meetings. It is
not an uncommon thing for Churches to have to give them up because so few come.
Whilst all this is so it is of no use talking about having a revival.
II. The blessing itself.
1. It came at an appointed time. “When the day of Pentecost was fully come.” God
has a time for everything. The disciples doubtless expected the blessing sooner. They
had to learn that there is a sovereignty in revivals. Man has no power to command
one. He can but cry and wait. Over one Church a cloud of blessing hangs, continually
letting fall showers of refreshment. Beneath its influence all is verdant, fresh and
lovely. But yonder is another Church the very contrast to this. The heavens above it
seem as brass. The piety of its members seems to lack freshness and their leaf

160. withers. Converts are almost unknown. Let not those Churches that have the
blessing despise those that lack it. The only difference is that the time to favour them
“has come and the time to favour the others shall come.”
2. It came suddenly and in a moment. Revivals’ very often do. With man’s work the
process as well as the result is visible. Is a temple to be built, the plans are exhibited,
the foundations dug out, the scaffolding reared, and for months the chipping of the
chisel and the clicking of the trowel are heard. God can build His temple in a night,
and like Solomon’s, no sound of tool be heard. At any moment, without any previous
warning, the revival may come.
3. It spread far and wide. From the upper room it soon flew along the streets of
Jerusalem like an electric current. There is no telling where the influence of a revival
in a Church may spread. It creeps into homes shut against the tract distributor. It
glides into darkest places of vice. A revived Church will be certain to draw the
multitude together. This is the secret of getting at the masses.
III. The question of our text. “What meaneth this?” Why, it means—
1. That Christ is ascended, and has received gifts for men. An ascended, glorified
Christ warrants the Church in expecting any measure of blessing, any number of
conversions. “What meaneth this”?
2. That all instrumentality is nothing without the Holy Ghost, but that the meanest
instrumentality with the Spirit is mighty enough to accomplish anything. Alas, what
an amount of powerless machinery we have in the so-called “religious world,”
because it has no unction, because it is the work of man, not the working of God
through the man, because it is dry and official. Instrumentality is almost
worshipped, whilst the Holy Ghost is well-nigh ignored.
3. That God is pleased to work on the world through the Church. Far be it from us to
call in question the good that has been accomplished by many of our “societies,” but
we believe that half of them could be spared with ease did a greater unction but rest
upon the Church.
4. That these are the seasons God’s Church is to seek at His hands. I will close with
an illustration. Once upon the sea-shore, watching the “getting off” of a fishing
smack, I saw in it a union of work and dependence that charmed me. The fishermen
brought the craft clown the beach as far as they could and then left her awhile until
the tide, which was flowing, neared her. Meantime two anchors had been cast out to
sea, from which were ropes to a windlass in the centre of the vessel. Soon the surf
(for the sea was fresh) began to run round her as she lay a dead weight upon the
shore. Then the waves began to curl over and break upon her side. The men at the
windlass took a turn and made the rope fast. And now every moment the tide had
more power over her. She was never still. Twenty times did I say “now she is off”;
and twenty times did she settle down again upon the shore, and twenty times did the
men at the windlass put on the strain. At last one wave swept higher than any before;
she shook—rose—glided down towards the deep—the men turning the handle of the
windlass quickly as possible. A wave she met threatened to sweep her back upon the
shore, but the anchors held her, and right through the surf the men wound her, and
half an hour after she was flying away before the breeze, a very contrast to the dead
weight she looked upon the beach. That vessel is the Church. The Holy Ghost is the
tide. The ropes and the windlass are human agencies only to be used in dependence
on the tide. The tide is coming in. The Church feels its power. She moves—she rises.
Oh God send the billow that shall float her now, and send her careering on her

161. course, with the breeze of the Spirit. (A. G. Brown.)
The multitude in amazement
I. A multitude gathered from all parts of the world.
II. A multitude gathered for religious purposes. They had come to the feast of Pentecost.
III. A multitude astonished by a miracle. The subject was one, the languages many. So—
1. In the gospel we have proof that by the foolishness of preaching God confounds
the wisdom of the world.
2. Note the wonderful adaptation of the gospel to the entire world. It appeals to all
natures and dispositions, and equally meets the wants of all.
IV. A multitude variously affected. All were amazed. Some inquired, some mocked.
Some said (probably the devout men mentioned in Act_2:5), “What meaneth this?” This
language betokened a desire to learn. Others (Act_2:13) said, “They are full of new
wine”; regarding the religion of Jesus Christ as fanaticism. How does the gospel affect
us? (F. Wagstaff.)
A miracle the object of derision
Of all the expressions of our distaste, a scoff is the worst. Admonition may be physic, a
reproof balm, a blow ointment; but derision is as poison and a sword. It was the height
of Job’s complaint that persons made jests on him; and it was the depth of Samson’s
calamity (Jdg_16:25). That which raises our anger presents some magnitude to our eyes;
but that which we scorn is less than nothing. But now everything is not always as it
appears, especially to the eye of the scoffer; for here we see things of excellency may be
submitted to jests. Note
I.
the object of their derision. A. miracle. In every miracle there is “the thing done,” which
must transcend the course of nature, and “the end,” which is also supernatural. In
respect of the power of God there is no miracle; but in His goodness He was pleased to
work wonders, not for show, but for our instruction. And as He had borne witness to His
Son by miracles, so doth He here to the Holy Ghost. This was the end of this miraculous
operation.
II. The persons.
1. What entertainment finds the miracle? What welcome hath the Holy Ghost? No
other than what befals all extraordinary events. Every man lays hold of it and shapes
it in such a form as he may please. To some it is a matter of wonder; to others, of
mirth.
2. We should account it a strange stupidity in any one not to be more affected at the
sight of the sun than of a taper, and to esteem the great palace of heaven but as a
furnace. But when God stretcheth forth His hands to produce effects which follow
not the force of secondary causes, then, not to put-on wonder, not to conclude that it
is for some great end, is not folly, but infidelity, the daughter of malice and envy and
affected ignorance.

162. 3. Miracles are signs; and if they signify nothing it is evident that a stubborn heart
and froward mind will not understand the meaning of them. And then what are
miracles but trifles, matter of scoff and derision? “Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God by miracles” (verse 22), a juggler; a voice from heaven, but
“thunder”; to make the blind to see, etc., witchcraft; to be full of the Spirit, “to be full
of drink.” When Julian had read a Defence of Christianity, he remarked, “I have read,
understood, and condemned it.” To which St. Basil replied, “Had you understood it,
you would never have condemned it.” The same befalls men prepossessed and too far
engaged in the world, and the father’s reply will reach home to them.
4. To this day our behaviour is little better than mocking. Our lust, which waits for
the twilight, mocks at God’s Omniscience (Psa_73:11); our distrust argues against
His power (Psa_78:20; 2Ki_8:2); our impatience questions His truth; and those who
acknowledge Him to be the Giver of life, have confined His goodness to a few. His
mercy “triumpheth over” His justice; yet Novatian made every fall as low as hell: and
what is despair but a mocking of God’s mercy?
5. The ground of all is infidelity, the proper issue of obstinate and wilful ignorance.
Plato well observeth, that none can taste and judge of that sweetness which truth
affords but the philosopher, because they want that instrument of judgment which
he useth; and that cannot be applied by covetousness, ambition, and lust; “the
philosopher’s instrument is reason.” So in Divine mysteries and miracles, we cannot
reach the meaning of them without a humble, pure, and free spirit, the best
instrument of a Christian.
6. Indeed, reason might have taught these men that this was a miracle. For rude and
illiterate men to speak on a sudden all languages, was more than all the linguists in
the world could teach. And from no other principle arose the question of verse 12.
But, to “read the riddle, we must plough with another heifer” than reason (Jdg_
14:18). To dive into the sense of the miracle can proceed from no other Spirit than
that whose miracle it was, even Him wire enlightens them that sit in darkness, and
who makes the humble and docile soul both His school and His scholar. Reason is a
light, but obnoxious to fogs and mists, till this great light dispel and scatter them.
Julian was a man as well furnished as any; yet he wounded religion more with his
scoffs than with his sword. When he had received his death’s wound, he confessed it
came from the power of Christ, in a phrase of scorn, “The day is Thine, O Galilean!”
Indeed the greatest scoffers have been for the most part eminent in natural abilities,
whose reason, notwithstanding, could not show them their own fluctuations, the
storms and tempest of their souls, she being eclipsed with her own beams.
III. The scoff itself.
1. It was not only a scoff, but an accusation, and there be divers reasons which make
men accusers, ambition, hatred, hope of reward. Ecumenius tells us it was here that
perverseness which indifferently passeth censure upon any cause, or “no cause at
all.” And this is bred by opinion, and not by truth. If they understood not what the
apostles spake, how could they say they were drunk? and if they did understand, why
did they scoff? They were men settled in the very dregs of error and malice; and,
having taken up an opinion, they would not let it go, no not at the sight of a miracle.
2. But yet though there were no reason nor probability to justify their scoff, some
show there was to countenance it. The apostles, after this gift of tongues, talked
much: they were full indeed with the wine of the New Testament; and, as drunken
men, they were merry and cheerful; they publish secrets, they fear no face, regard no

163. power, regard not themselves.
3. This hath always been, and to this day is, the great error of the world—to make
shadows substances, similitudes indentities, the faintest representations truth (1Sa_
1:13-14; 2Sa_6:20; Mar_3:21). Upon this ground faith is called “presumption”
because it is like it; Christianity is called “madness”; for when we mortify the flesh,
and estrange ourselves from the world, most that behold us think us not well in our
wits. At this day true devotion goes for fancy, reverence for superstition, bowing for
idolatry. Our Saviour’s counsel is, “Judge not according to the appearance” (Joh_
7:24). For how easy is it to paint and present things as we please! Many times an evil
eye makes an evil face, puts horror upon religion itself, and, where devotion shines
out in the full beauty of holiness, draws a Pope or a devil. As “‘charity covers a
multitude of sins” (Jas_5:20), so doth malice cover a multitude of virtues with the
black mantle of vice. (A. Farindon, D. D.)
What meaneth this? (text and verse 37).—
Two great questions
These questions are the outcome of two widely different but intimately associated states
of experience—the one intellectual, the other moral. The first is an inquiry of the mind in
the face of a problem which unassisted it cannot solve; the second is an inquisition of the
soul in the presence of a danger from which unaided it cannot flee. An extraordinary
event had taken place at which the perplexed beholders exclaimed “What meaneth this?”
When the reply came it was found to involve such tremendous issues that they cried in
despair “What shall we do?”
I. What meaneth this? The inquiry was—
1. Natural. The mind instinctively rebels against the unexplained. It was made for
and is fed by knowledge. Just as the animal instincts are urged by thirst and hunger
to search for food and drink, so the intellect is stimulated by a sense of void to
inquire for the knowledge that will fill and satisfy it. These men were confronted by a
mysterious fact, and were “troubled in mind” until it was accounted for.
2. Right. The liberty to inquire is one of the inalienable, inborn, and crown rights of
humanity. That it may exercise this function, God has endowed it with the requisite
faculties. The hunger of the mind for knowledge is a stamp of its Divine original, and
a prophecy of its immortality. Inquiry makes all the difference between savagedom
and civilisation, between weakness and strength. The feeble and superstitious shun
it, and perish in darkness; the strong and wise welcome it and are rewarded by the
light. We must carefully distinguish, however—
(1) between aimless inquiry, i.e., curiosity, and the search for true wisdom, and
(2) between legitimate and illegitimate inquiry. “The secret things belong unto
God.” The present inquiry was in many respects legitimate and commendable.
3. Was addressed to the wrong persons with unsatisfactory results. Twice, we are
told, they questioned one to another. They were prevented by a too hasty
generalisation and by prejudice from asking those on whom these wonders were
wrought what they meant.
(1) It was enough for “strangers” to know that they were “Galileans,” a name

164. which embodied all that was ignorant and vile.
(2) The “dwellers at Jerusalem” would recognise them as the fanatical followers
of one who was set down as “a man gluttonous and winebibber.” These
manifestations, therefore, were treated as the ravings of men excited with
enthusiasm or with drink. But Galileans as they were, drunk or mad as they
considered, there was the phenomenon. They could not account for it, but they
felt it must be accounted for. And instead of asking those from whom only a reply
could be obtained, they engaged in a fruitless inquiry among themselves. How
like modern scepticism!
4. Suggests an important line of argument in favour of Christianity. There are certain
facts equally inexplicable to the human mind to-day. We do not see cloven tongues,
etc., but we are witnesses of events even more wonderful.
(1) The conversion of infidels. Lord Lyttleton, Gilbert West, and some within
personal knowledge.
(2) The conversion of men immoral and profane. Bunyan and John Newton, etc.
(3) The conversion of men of merely moral habits. John Wesley and William
Wilberforce. Each case forces the question upon us. They are not isolated but
common occurrences. How are they to be accounted for? On the score of
weakness, wrought upon by terror or excitement, or on the score of ignorance?
The known character of these men forbid these explanations. These wonders
should set us inquiring, and the inquiry is as natural and proper in the one case
as in the other, and furthermore by inquiring matters will be disclosed that
seriously concern us all.
II. What shall we do? Although not invited Peter undertook to reply to the first question.
The general explanation was verses 14-21; the particular application verses 22-36. So
with the modern facts adduced. Does this explanation satisfy? Is this explanation taken
home? Then both will now as of old lead to the second question. This inquiry—
1. Expressed a sense of utter helplessness. “What shall we do?” These men were
convinced of the crime and mistake of a whole life, and of the human impossibility of
rectification.
2. Was to the point, “What shall we do?” Not like the other question theoretical, but
practical. They felt that they were in an unsatisfactory state, and that something
must be done. What?
3. Was, like the first inquiry, answered.
(1) Repent. Change your mind, forsake your sins.
(2) Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; implying faith, union with the
Church and public profession. Conclusion: Both inquiries were at length crowned
with blessed results. Three thousand received forgiveness for the past, comfort
for the present, hope for the future (verses 38-47). (J. W. Burn.)

165. 13Some, however, made fun of them and said,
"They have had too much wine.[b]"
Some people solve mystery so easily and these do by saying they are just a bunch of
drunkards babbling out of their minds. That is all there is to it. So lets go home and
forget the whole thing. Mockery is their way of escape from asking questions and
getting answers.
BARNES,"Others, mocking, said - The word rendered “mocking” means “to cavil,
to deride.” It occurs in the New Testament in only one other place: Act_17:32, “And
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.” This was an effect that
was not confined to the day of Pentecost. There has seldom been a revival of religion, a
remarkable manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, that has not given occasion for
profane mockery and merriment. One characteristic of wicked people is to deride those
things which are done to promote their own welfare. Hence, the Saviour himself was
mocked; and the efforts of Christians to save others have been the subject of derision.
Derision, and mockery, and a jeer, have been far more effectual in deterring people from
becoming Christians than any attempts at sober argument. God will treat people as they
treat him, Psa_18:26. And hence, he says to the wicked, “Because I have called and ye
refused ...but ye have set at naught my counsel; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will
mock when your fear cometh,” Pro_1:24-26.
These men are full of new wine - These men are drunk. In times of a revival of
religion men will have some way of accounting for the effects of the gospel, and the way
is commonly about as wise and rational as the one adopted on this occasion. “To escape
the absurdity of acknowledging their own ignorance, they adopted the theory that strong
drink can teach languages” (Dr. McLelland). In modern times it has been usual to
denominate such scenes fanaticism, or wildfire, or enthusiasm. When people fail in
argument, it is common to attempt to confute a doctrine or bring reproach upon a
transaction by “giving it an ill name.” Hence, the names Puritan, Quaker, Methodist, etc.,
were at first given in derision, to account for some remarkable effect of religion on the
world. Compare Mat_11:19; Joh_7:20; Joh_8:48. And thus people endeavor to trace
revivals to ungoverned and heated passions, and they are regarded as the mere offspring
of fanaticism. The friends of revivals should not be discouraged by this; but they should
remember that the very first revival of religion was by many supposed to be the effect of
a drunken frolic.
New wine - γλεύκους gleukous. This word properly means the juice of the grape
which distils before a pressure is applied, and called must. It was sweet wine, and hence,
the word in Greek meaning “sweet” was given to it. The ancients, it is said, had the art of
preserving their new wine with the special flavor before fermentation for a considerable
time, and were in the habit of drinking it in the morning. See Horace, Sat., b. 2:iv. One of
the methods in use among the Greeks and Romans of doing this was the following: An
amphora or jar was taken and coated with pitch within and without, and was then filled
with the juice which flowed from the grapes before they had been fully trodden, and was

166. then corked so as to be air-tight. It was then immersed in a tank of cold water or buried
in the sand, and allowed to remain six weeks or two months. The contents after this
process were found to remain unchanged for a year, and hence, the name ᅊεί γλεύκος aei
gleukos - always sweet. The process was not much unlike what is so common now of
preserving fruits and vegetables. Sweet wine, which was probably the same as that
mentioned here, is also mentioned in the Old Testament, Isa_49:26; Amo_9:13.
CLARKE, "These men are full of new wine - Rather sweet wine, for γλευκους,
cannot mean the mustum, or new wine, as there could be none in Judea so early as
pentecost. The Γλευκος, gleucus, seems to have been a peculiar kind of wine, and is thus
described by Hesychius and Suidas: Γλευκος, το αποσταγµα της σταφυλης, πριν πατηθᇽ.
Gleucus is that which distils from the grape before it is pressed. This must be at once
both the strongest and sweetest wine. Calmet observes that the ancients had the secret of
preserving wine sweet through the whole year, and were fond of taking morning
draughts of it: to this Horace appears to refer, Sat. l. ii. s. iv. ver. 24.
Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno.
Mendose: quoniam vacuis committere venis
Nil nisi lene decet: leni praecordia mulso
Prolueris melius.
Aufidius first, most injudicious, quaffed
Strong wine and honey for his morning draught.
With lenient bev’rage fill your empty veins,
For lenient must will better cleanse the reins.
Francis.
GILL, "Others mocking, said,.... These were the native inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
common people; and it may be also the Scribes and Pharisees, who did not understand
the languages in which the apostles spake, and therefore derided them both by words
and gestures:
these men are full of new wine; the Syriac, version adds, "and are drunk"; a very
foolish and impertinent cavil this; there was, at this time of the year, no new wine, just
pressed, or in the fat; and if there had been any, and they were full of it, it could never
have furnished them with a faculty of speaking with many tongues; men generally lose
their tongues by intemperance. They were indeed filled with wine, but not with wine, the
juice of the grape, either new or old; but with spiritual wine, with the gifts of the Spirit of
God, by which they spake with divers tongues. They might hope this insinuation, that
they were drunk with wine, would take and be received, since it was a feasting time, the
feast of Pentecost; though, as Peter afterwards observes; it was too early in the day to
imagine this to be their case.
HENRY Not that they were so absurd as to think that wine in the head would enable

167. men to speak languages which they never learned; but these, being native Jews, knew
not, as the others did, that what was spoken was really the languages of other nations,
and therefore took it to be gibberish and nonsense, such as drunkards, those fools in
Israel, sometimes talk. As when they resolved not to believe the finger of the Spirit in
Christ's miracles, they turned it off with this, “He casteth out devils by compact with the
prince of the devils;” so, when they resolved not to believe the voice of the Spirit in the
apostles' preaching, they turned it off with this, These men are full of new wine. And, if
they called the Master of the house a wine-bibber, no marvel if they so call those of his
household.
UNKNOWN, "V. 13 - new wine - The Greek word means a wine that is sweet. Since the
time was spring, no "new" grape juice had been made from "sweet" grapes and preserved
by one of several methods. If the skeptics・remarks are taken at face value, "new wine"
could produce inebriation.
mocking - Some were predisposed to explain the phenomena in terms contrary to the
truth. Such had always been so, and would continue to be. Consider the parable of Jesus
in Luke 8, the comment and quote of an O.T. text from Isaiah in Matthew 13:14-15; and
Paul痴 use of a like text from Habakkuk 1:5 in Acts 13:41; and use of the Isaiah text in
Acts 28:26-28. (The basic Greek term was used in ch. 17:32 to describe what some did
when Paul preached about the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.) They jeered at
the signs and perhaps also those who were minded to accept said signs as from God. Peter
had a ready response to the amazement of some, the skepticism of others.
COKE, "Acts 2:13. These men are full of new wine.— Though there was no must or new
wine at Pentecost, yet if they preserved the wine cool, it kept sweet a long time, and
tasted like must. So Plutarch; "Must, if a vessel be kept in a cool place, will continue
sweet, γλευκυ, for a long time." Such wines were remarkably intoxicating. See Isaiah
49:26. Sweet wine, such as the prophet there speaks of, was used in royal palaces for its
gratefulness; was capable of being kept to a great age, and consequently was very
inebriating. A few generations ago, sweet wines were those most esteemed in England.
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised
his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews
and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me
explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.

168. WIT ESS LEE
Peter’s first message to the Jews was his first use of the keys to open the door of the
kingdom for the Jews. After Peter saw the vision concerning the Lord Jesus being
the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), the Lord said to him, “I will give
to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth
shall be what has been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth
shall be what has been loosed in the heavens” (v. 19). According to history, the keys
have been two. Peter used one key to open the door for the Jewish believers to enter
the kingdom on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-42). Later, he used the other key to
open the door for the Gentile believers to enter the kingdom in the house of
Cornelius (10:34-48). Therefore, on the day of Pentecost, Peter used the first of these
two keys.
GILL Act 2:14 - But Peter standing up with the eleven,.... Apostles; their number
being now complete, Matthias being chosen in the room of Judas. These all at once rose
up, as abhorring the fact they were charged with, and to show the falsehood of it, and to
vindicate themselves; when Peter, as their mouth, stood "in the midst" of them, as the
Ethiopic version reads, with great courage, boldness, and intrepidity of mind: and "lift
up his voice"; that he might be heard by the whole multitude, that was gathered
together, as well as to show his zeal and fervour of spirit, and fortitude of mind; for being
endued with the Spirit from on high, he was fearless of men, who but a little while ago
was frightened by a servant maid,
And said unto them, ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem;
which shows that they were the natives and citizens of Jerusalem that mocked and
scoffed; for to these the apostle addresses himself,
Be this known unto you, and hearken to my words; as follows.
CLARKE
Act 2:14 -
Peter, standing up with the eleven - They probably spoke by turns, not
altogether; but Peter began the discourse.
All ye that dwell at Jerusalem - Οᅷ κατοικουντες would be better translated by the
word sojourn, because these were not inhabitants of Judea, but the strangers mentioned
in Act_2:9-11, who had come up to the feast.
BARNES
Act 2:14 -
But Peter - This was in accordance with the natural temperament of Peter. He was
bold, forward, ardent; and he rose now to defend the apostles of Jesus Christ, and Christ
himself, from an injurious charge. Not daunted by ridicule or opposition, he felt that
now was the time for preaching the gospel to the crowd that had been assembled by
curiosity. No ridicule should deter Christians from an honest avowal of their opinions,
and a defense of the operations of the Holy Spirit.
With the eleven - Matthias was now one of the apostles, and now appeared as one of

169. the witnesses for the truth. They probably all arose, and took part in the discourse.
Possibly Peter began to discourse, and either all spoke together in different languages, or
one succeeded another.
Ye men of Judea - People who are Jews; that is, Jews by birth. The original does not
mean that they were permanent dwellers in Judea, but that they were Jews, of Jewish
families. Literally, “men, Jews.”
And all ye that dwell ... - All others besides native-born Jews, whether proselytes
or strangers, who were abiding at Jerusalem. This comprised, of course, the whole
assembly, and was a respectful and conciliatory introduction to his discourse. Though
they had mocked them, yet he treated them with respect, and did not render railing for
railing 1Pe_3:9, but sought to convince them of their error.
Be this known ... - Peter did not intimate that this was a doubtful matter, or one
that could not be explained. His address was respectful, yet firm. He proceeded calmly to
show them their error. When the enemies of religion deride us or the gospel, we should
answer them kindly and respectfully, yet firmly. We should reason with them coolly, and
convince them of their error, Pro_15:1. In this case Peter acted on the principle which he
afterward enjoined on all, 1Pe_3:15, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” The design
of Peter was to vindicate the conduct of the apostles from the reproach of intoxication; to
show that this could be no other than the work of God; and to make an application of the
truth to his hearers. This he did:
(1) By showing that this could not be reasonably supposed to be the effect of new
wine, Act_2:15.
(2) By showing that what had occurred had been expressly predicted in the writings of
the Jewish prophets, Act_2:16-21.
(3) By a calm argument, proving the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and
showing that this also was in accordance with the Jewish Scriptures, Act_2:22-35.
We are not to suppose that this was the whole of Peter’s discourse, but that these
were the topics on which he insisted, and the main points of his argument.
HENRY, "We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in the sermon which Peter preached
immediately, directed, not to those of other nations in a strange language (we are not
told what answer he gave to those that were amazed, and said, What meaneth this?) but
to the Jews in the vulgar language, even to those that mocked; for he begins with the
notice of that (Act_2:15), and addresses his discourse (Act_2:14) to the men of Judea
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but we have reason enough to think that the other
disciples continued to speak to those who understood them (and therefore flocked about
them), in the languages of their respective countries, the wonderful works of God. And it
was not by Peter's preaching only, but that of all, or most, of the rest of the hundred and
twenty, that three thousand souls were that day converted, and added to the church; but
Peter's sermon only is recorded, to be an evidence for him that he was thoroughly
recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the divine favour. He that had
sneakingly denied Christ now as courageously confesses him. Observe,
I. His introduction or preface, wherein he craves the attention of the auditory, or
demands it rather: Peter stood up (Act_2:14), to show that he was not drunk, with the
eleven, who concurred with him in what he said, and probably in their turns spoke
likewise to the same purport; those that were of greatest authority stood up to speak to
the scoffing Jews, and to confront those who contradicted and blasphemed, but left the
seventy disciples to speak to the willing proselytes from other nations, who were not so

170. prejudiced, in their own language. Thus among Christ's ministers, some of greater gifts
are called out to instruct those that oppose themselves, to take hold of sword and spear;
others of meaner abilities are employed in instructing those that resign themselves, and
to be vine-dressers and husband-men. Peter lifted up his voice, as one that was both well
assured of and much affected with what he said, and was neither afraid nor ashamed to
own it. He applied himself to the men of Judea, andres Ioudaioi - the men that were
Jews; so it should be read; “and you especially that dwell at Jerusalem, who were
accessory to the death of Jesus, be this known unto you, which you did not know before,
and which you are concerned to know now, and hearken to my words, who would draw
you to Christ, and not to the words of the scribes and Pharisees, that would draw you
from him. My Master is gone, whose words you have often heard in vain, and shall hear
no more as you have done, but he speaks to you by us; hearken now to our words.”
UNKNOWN, "V. 14 - Peter - He will now begin a sermon, not only intended to allay the
charge of some (v. 13) but to show that the Jews should have been prepared for what had
happened to Jesus, and what was now beginning to happen in the "church age."
The first major task of the apostles was to show the Jews the cross as it related to God’s
plan for the Messiah. Their problem was manifold, but basically involved seeing Jesus as
both God and man, and both a Messiah and a suffering servant.
the eleven - As with another term, "the twelve," those who accompanied Jesus were
meant, and excludes the "120" as remarked above.
men of Judea - He addressed the crowd, though we know not if all understood, or if
some did, because we know not if the crowd could all understand a common language, or
if only some did (hence the need to have other languages spoken by the apostles). As
obvious, but not able to be settled, we don稚 know if, in addition to the miracle of sound,
sight, speech, there was also a miracle of hearing.
This was the local crowd that Peter addresses. He does not get angry at the mockers
but seeks to explain and give them reason to listen.
He raised his voice for had no loud speaker system.
ELLICOTT, "(13) These men are full of new wine.—Literally, of sweet
drink—the word “wine” not being used—stronger and more intoxicating than
the lighter and thinner wines that were ordinarily drunk. The Greek word was
sometimes used, like the Latin mustum, for the unfermented grape-juice. Here,
however, the context shows that wine, in the strict sense of the word, was
intended, and the use of the same word in the LXX. of Job 32:19 confirms this
meaning. The word for “new wine” in Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, is different,
but there also (see Notes) fermentation is implied. The words, as has been said
above (Note on Acts 2:4), point to a certain appearance of excitement in tone,
manner, and words.
BARCLAY, "THE FIRST CHRISTIAN PREACHING (Acts 2:14-41)
(i) There was kerugma (Greek #2782). Kerugma (Greek #2782) literally
means a herald's announcement and is the plain statement of the facts of the
Christian message, about which, as the early preachers saw it, there can be no

171. argument or doubt.
(ii) There was didache (Greek #1322). Didache (Greek #1322) literally means
teaching and elucidated the meaning of the facts which had been proclaimed.
(iii) There was paraklesis (Greek #3874) which literally means exhortation.
This kind of preaching urged upon men the duty of fitting their lives to match
the kerugma (Greek #2782) and the didache (Greek #1322) which had been
given.
(iv) There was homilia (Greek #3657) which means the treatment of any
subject or department of life in light of the Christian message.
Fully rounded preaching has something of all four elements. There is the plain
proclamation of the facts of the Christian gospel; the explanation of the
meaning and the relevance of these facts; the exhortation to fit life to them;
and the treatment of all the activities of life in the light of the Christian
message.
In Acts we shall meet mainly with kerugma (Greek #2782) because Acts tells
of the proclamation of the facts of the gospel to those who had never heard
them before. This kerugma (Greek #2782) follows a pattern which repeats
itself over and over again all over the New Testament.
(i) There is the proof that Jesus and all that happened to him is the fulfillment
of Old Testament prophecy. In modern times less and less stress has been laid
on the fulfillment of prophecy. We have come to see that the prophets were
not nearly so much fore-tellers of events to come as forth-tellers of God's truth
to men. But this stress of early preaching on prophecy conserved the great
truth that history is not haphazard and that there is meaning to it. To believe in
the possibility of prophecy is to believe that God is in control and that he is
working out his purposes.
(ii) In Jesus the Messiah has come, the Messianic prophecies are fulfilled and
the and the New Age has dawned. The early Church had a tremendous sense
that Jesus was the hinge of all history; that with his coming, eternity had
invaded time; and that, therefore, life and the world could never be the same
again.
(iii) The kerugma (Greek #2782) went on to state that Jesus had been born of
the line of David, that he had taught, that he had worked miracles, that he had
been crucified, that he had been raised from the dead and that he was now at
the right hand of God. The early Church was sure that the Christian religion
was based on the earthly life of Christ. But it was also certain that that earthly
life and death were not the end and that after them came the resurrection.
Jesus was not merely someone about whom they read or heard; he was
someone whom they met and knew, a living presence.

172. (iv) The early preachers went on to insist that Jesus would return in glory to
establish his kingdom upon earth. In other words, the early Church believed
intensely in the Second Coming. This doctrine has to some extent passed out
of modern preaching but it does conserve the truth that history is going
somewhere and that some day there will be a consummation; and that a man is
therefore in the way or on the way.
(v) The preaching finished with the statement that in Jesus alone was
salvation, that he who believed on him would receive the Holy Spirit and that
he who would not believe was destined for terrible things. That is to say, it
finished with both a promise and a threat. It is exactly like that voice which
Bunyan heard as if at his very shoulder demanding, "Wilt thou leave thy sins
and go to heaven, or wilt thou have thy sins and go to hell?"
If we read through Peter's sermon as a whole we will see how these five
strands are woven into it.
God's Day Has Come (Acts 2:14-21)
2:14-21 But Peter stood up with the eleven and raised his voice and said to
them, "You who are Jews and you who are staying in Jerusalem, let this be
known to you and listen to my words. These men are not, as you suppose,
drunk; for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken
by the prophet Joel, 'It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out
from my Spirit upon all men, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy
and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams,
And I will pour out from my Spirit upon my men servants and my maid
servants in these days and they will prophesy. I will send wonders in the
heaven above and signs upon the earth below, blood and fire and vapour of
smoke. The sun will be changed into darkness and the moon into blood before
there comes the great and famous day of the Lord. And it shall be that all
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."'
This passage brings us face to face with one of the basic conceptions of both
the Old and the New Testaments--that of The Day of the Lord. Much in both
the Old and in the New Testaments is not fully intelligible unless we know the
basic principles underlying that conception.
The Jews never lost the conviction that they were God's chosen people. They
interpreted that status to mean that they were chosen for special privilege
among the nations. They were always a small nation. History had been for
them one long disaster. It was clear to them that by human means they would
never reach the status they deserved as the chosen people. So, bit by bit, they
reached the conclusion that what man could not do God must do; and began to
look forward to a day when God would intervene directly in history and exalt

173. them to the honour they dreamed of The day of that intervention was The Day
of the Lord.
They divided all time into two ages. There was The Present Age which was
utterly evil and doomed to destruction; there was The Age to Come which
would be the golden age of God. Between the two there was to be The Day of
the Lord which was to be the terrible birth pangs of the new age. It would
come suddenly like a thief in the night; it would be a day when the world
would be shaken to its very foundations; it would be a day of judgment and of
terror. All over the prophetic books of the Old Testament and in much of the
New Testament, are descriptions of that Day. Typical passages are Isaiah 2:12;
Isaiah 13:6 ff.; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:7; Joel 2:1-32 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:2
ff.; 2 Peter 3:10.
Here Peter is saying to the Jews--"For generations you have dreamed of the
Day of God, the Day when God would break into history. Now, in Jesus, that
Day has come." Behind all the outworn imagery stands the great truth that in
Jesus, God arrived in person on the scene of human history.
ELLICOTT, "(14) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, . . .—We are struck
at once with the marvellous change that has come over the character of the
Apostle. Timidity has become boldness; for the few hasty words recorded in
the Gospels we have elaborate discourses. There is a method and insight in the
way he deals with the prophecies of the Christ altogether unlike anything that
we have seen in him before. If we were reading a fictitious history, we should
rightly criticise the author for the want of consistency in his portraiture of the
same character in the first and second volumes of his work. As it is, the
inconsistency becomes almost an evidence of the truth of the narratives that
contain it. The writer of a made-up-history, bent only upon reconciling the
followers of Peter and of Paul, would have made the former more prominent
in the Gospels or less prominent in the Acts. And the facts which St. Luke
narrates are an adequate explanation of the phenomena. In the interval that had
passed, Peter’s mind had been opened by his Lord’s teaching to understand the
Scriptures (Luke 24:45), and then he had been endued, by the gift of the Holy
Spirit, with power from on high. That which he now speaks is the first
utterance of the new gift of prophecy, and followed rightly on I the portent of
the “tongues” to bring about the work of conversion which they had no power
to accomplish. The speech which follows was spoken either in the Aramaic of
Palestine, or, more probably, in the Greek, which was common in Galilee, and
which would be intelligible to all, or nearly all, of the pilgrims from distant
countries.
And said unto them.—The verb is not the word commonly so rendered, but
that which is translated “utterance,” or “to utter,” in Acts 2:4. The unusual
word was probably repeated here to indicate that what follows was just as

174. much an “utterance” of the Holy Spirit, working on and through the spiritual
powers of man, as the marvel of the “tongues” had been.
Hearken to my words.—Literally, give ear to. The verb is an unusual one, and
is found here only in the New Testament. It is used not unfrequently in the
LXX., as, e.g., in Genesis 4:22; Job 23:18.
COFFMAN, "Peter standing up with the eleven ... In Acts 1:26, Luke said that
Matthias was "numbered with the eleven," meaning that Matthias was the
twelfth man. In the same way, Peter's standing up "with the eleven," as here,
means that Peter was the twelfth man. Thus the Twelve participated in the
events of this day.
The sensational speeches made by all of the Twelve earlier were at this point
concluded, and the Twelve came together, and Peter, speaking upon behalf of
all of them, delivered the inspired sermon which is the feature of this chapter.
All were the object of Peter's sermon, but he addressed, particularly and
primarily, "men of Judaea." It is neither affirmed nor denied that they heard
Peter in their native languages.
Peter's taking the lead here was within full harmony with the Lord's promise
that he should have "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 16:19);
and, accordingly, Peter flung wide the gates of the kingdom, preaching the
first sermon of the gospel age.
PETER'S SERMON ON PENTECOST
The classical judgment of any public address must take account of: (1) the
occasion, (2) the speaker, (3) the subject matter, and (4) the results; and by any
or all of these criteria, Peter's address recorded here must be hailed as the most
wonderful ever given. It was the birthday of the New Institution, the official
emergence of the kingdom of God among men. That occasion was the precise
moment toward which all the prophecies for thousands of years had pointed.
The "new creation" was wrought that day.
Regarding the speaker, the rugged fisherman of Galilee, the bold outdoorsman
with the ready tongue and fiery disposition, the man who shortly before had
denied the Christ whom he was then to proclaim, the natural leader of the
Twelve, and the type of man who could command the respect of all, - that man
was the speaker, and no more effective a person for such a task could be
imagined.
The subject matter was human salvation and the procurement of it in Jesus
Christ the risen Lord. Where was ever a nobler theme?
And the results: three thousand souls believed in the Lord, repented of their

175. sins, and were baptized into Christ in a single day! Let men study this speech,
and like those who first heard it, they will be amazed and marvel. Concerning
this sermon, McGarvey said:
Never did mortal lips announce in so brief a space so many facts of import to
the hearers. We might challenge the world to find a parallel to it in the
speeches of her orators, or the songs of her poets. There is not such a
thunderbolt in all the burdens of the prophets of Israel, or among the voices
which thunder in the Apocalypse.[22]
The postulations of critics who would if they could, erode the authority of this
sermon through allegations that Luke, rather than Peter, composed it, are
completely frustrated by the evident marks of its genuineness that distinguish
every line of it. Dummelow said:
The genuineness of this speech is vouched for by the simplicity of its
theology, and by its resemblances to 1Peter (e.g. "foreknowledge," 1 Peter 1:2;
"to call upon (God)," 1 Peter 1:17; "rejoicing," 1 Peter 1:6,8; 4:13; "the right
hand of God," 1 Peter 3:22; "exalt," 1 Peter 5:6; "the house" (Israel), 1 Peter
2:5; 4:17 etc.[23]
These are not drunken ... This malicious comment by the mockers deserved
little attention, and little it received from Peter. He merely pointed out that the
time of day alone was grounds for rejecting such a slander. On a festival like
Pentecost, no Jew ever ate or drank anything until after 9:00 A.M.
This is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel ... Not Joel, but
God was the speaker in that prophet's writings.
This is that ... identifies the events initiated at Pentecost as fulfilling the
prophecy about to be quoted from Joel.
[22] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 30.
[23] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 821.
SBC, "The first Gospel Sermon
There are four links in St. Peter’s chain of evidence. The first two, lying within the
knowledge of his hearers, are briefly handled; the last two, being facts lying outside their
observation, are confirmed at length by Scripture and living testimony.
I. God’s hand first appeared in the public ministry of Jesus by the miracles which He had
wrought. On these proofs the preacher had no need to dwell. They were known to all.
II. But now came the stumbling block with the audience. This Man of Nazareth, the fame
of whose words had filled Palestine, had been by the national rulers solemnly adjudged a
cheat and a blasphemer; and the people in a fickle hour had turned upon their former

176. favourite, and demanded His blood. Nakedly Peter recalls the harsh and horrid deeds of
seven weeks before, and bluntly charges them on the crowd before him, so that each
man’s share in that Friday’s work might rise up out of memory before his soul and tear
his conscience with remorse and shame. Only his proof of the Messiahship of the
Crucified is still far too incomplete to justify his dwelling on so irritating a theme, and
therefore, without giving time for pause, or even breaking off his sentence, he goes on to
announce—
III. That novel and astounding fact of resurrection, by which God had set His seal for
ever beyond all cavil to the innocence and the claims and sonship of the Lord Jesus,
"whom God raised up." What any devout and thoughtful Jew ought to have been looking
for, as the chief mark of Messiah when He came, as God’s crowning attestation to
David’s Son, could not be a thing incredible when at last affirmed of a Man who declared
to the death that He was Messiah. If Jesus should be after all what He said He was, God
must have raised Him up; but God had raised Him up, "whereof," adds the preacher, "we
all are witnesses."
IV. One more proof, and only one, remained. David had not ascended into heaven to sit
there in the seat of supreme, celestial monarchy and thence subdue all earthly foes; but
Peter was prepared to say that Jesus had. In the change which the anointing Holy Ghost
had wrought, the disciples were living proofs that their Master, though refused, baffled,
slain on earth, had been exalted and enthroned in heaven, and had received of the
Father—what He had now sent down to them—the promise of the Holy Ghost. Pentecost
itself is the supreme demonstration of Peter’s thesis that Jesus is the Christ; for on
Jesus’ friends, and. on none else, has come what prophets promised and the just have
waited for.
J. Oswald Dykes, From Jerusalem to Antioch, p. 63.
EBC, "ST. PETER’S FIRST SERMON.
THIS verse contains the opening words of St. Peter’s address to the multitude who were
roused to wonder arid inquiry by the miraculous manifestations of Pentecost: That
address is full of interest when viewed aright, freed from all the haze which the long
familiarity of ages has brought with it. In this second chapter we have the report of a
sermon preached within a few days of Christ’s ascension, addressed to men many of
whom knew Jesus Christ, all of whom had heard of His work, His life, and His death,
and setting forth the apostolic estimate of Christ, His miracles, His teaching, His
ascended condition and glory. We cannot realise, unless by an intellectual effort, the
special worth of these apostolic reports contained in the Acts. Men are sometimes
sceptical about them, asking, how did we get them at all? how were they handed down?
This is, however, an easier question to answer than some think. If we take, for instance,
this Pentecostal address alone, we know that St. Luke had many opportunities of
personal communication with St. Peter. He may have learned from St. Peter’s own
mouth what he said on this occasion, and he could compare this verbal report with the
impressions and remembrances of hundreds who then were present. But there is
another solution of the difficulty less known to the ordinary student of Holy Scripture.
The ancients made a great use of shorthand, and were quite well accustomed to take
down spoken discourses, transmitting them thus to future ages. Shorthand was, in fact,
much more commonly used among the ancients than among ourselves. The younger

177. Pliny, for instance, who was a contemporary of the Apostles, never travelled without a
shorthand writer, whose business it was to transcribe passages which struck his master
in the books he was perpetually studying. The sermons of Chrysostom were all
extemporaneous effusions. In fact, the golden-mouthed patriarch of Constantinople was
such an indefatigable pulpit-orator, preaching almost daily, that it would have been
impossible to have made any copious preparation. The extensive reports of his sermons
which have come down to us, the volumes of his expositions on the books of Scripture
which we possess, prove that shorthand must have been constantly used by his hearers.
Now what would we give for a few shorthand reports of sermons by Clement of Rome, by
St. Luke, by Timothy, by Apollos, preached in Rome, Alexandria, or Antioch? Suppose
they were discovered, like the numerous Egyptian manuscripts which have of late years
come to light, deposited in the desert sands, and were found to set forth the miracles, the
ministry, and the person of Christ exactly as now we preach them, what a marvellous
confirmation of the faith we should esteem them! And yet what should we then possess
more than we already have in the sermons and discourses of St. Peter and St. Paul,
reported by an eye- and ear-witness who wrote the Acts of the Apostles?
I. The congregation assembled to listen to this first Gospel discourse preached by a
human agent was a notable and representative one. There were Parthians, and Medes,
and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judaea, - or, as an ancient
expositor (Tertullian) puts it, in Armenia and Cappadocia, - in Pontus and Asia, in
Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers
of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. The enumeration of the various
nationalities listening to St. Peter begins from the extremest east; it proceeds then to the
north, from thence to the south, terminating with Rome, which represents the west.
They were all Jews or Jewish proselytes, showing how extremely wide, at the epoch of
the Incarnation, was the dispersion of God’s ancient people. St. Paul, in one profound
passage of the Epistle to the Galatians, notes that "God sent forth His Son in the fulness
of time," that is, at the exact moment when the world was prepared for the advent of the
truth. This "fulness of time" may be noted in many directions. Roman roads, Roman law,
commerce, and civilisation opened channels of communication which bore the tidings of
the gospel into every land. A sweet ginger of our own time, the late Sir Samuel Ferguson,
has depicted in his "Lays of the Western Gael" this diffusion of the gospel through the
military organisation of Rome. He represents a Celt from Ireland as present at the
crucifixion. This may seem at first somewhat improbable, as Ireland was never included
within the bounds of the Roman Empire; and yet the poet’s song can be justified from
history. Though never included formally within the Empire, Irishmen and Scotch
Highlanders must often have served in the ranks of the Roman army, just as at the
present day, and especially in India, men of foreign nationalities are often found serving
in the ranks of the British army. In later times Irishmen most certainly formed a Roman
legion all to themselves. St. Jerome tells us that he had seen them acting in that capacity
at Treves, in Germany. They were noted for their bravery, which, as Jerome believes,
they sustained by consuming human flesh Three hundred years earlier Irishmen may
often have enlisted in the service of those British legions which the Romans withdrew
from Britain and located in the East; and thus Sir Samuel Ferguson does not pass the
bounds of historic credibility when he represents a certain centurion, who had been
present at the crucifixion, as returning to his native land, and there proclaiming the
tidings of our Lord’s atoning sacrifice:-
"And they say, Centurion Altus, when he to Emania came And to Rome s subjection
called us, urging Caesar’s tribute claim, Told that half the world barbarian thrills already
with the faith, Taught them by the God-like Syrian Caesar lately put to death."

178. The dispersion of the Jews throughout not only the Roman Empire, but far beyond its
limits, served the same end, and hastened the fulness of time needed for the Messiah’s
appearance. We must remember, however, that the long list of varied nationalities
present at this Pentecostal feast were not Gentiles, they were Jews of the dispersion
scattered broadcast among the nations as far as Central Asia towards the east, as far as
southern Arabia and Aden on the south, and Spain and Britain on the west. The course
of modern investigation and discovery amply confirms the statement of this passage, as
well as the similar statement of the eighth chapter, which represents a Jewish statesman
of Abyssinia or Ethiopia as coming up to Jerusalem for the purposes of devotion. Jewish
inscriptions have been found in Aden dating back long before the Christian era. A Jewish
colony existed ages before Christ in the region of Southern Arabia, and continued to
flourish there down to the Middle Ages. At Rome, Alexandria, and Greece the Jews at
this period constituted an important factor in the total population. The dispersion of the
Jews had now done its work, and brought with it the fulness of time required by the
Divine purposes. The way of the Messiah had been effectually prepared by it. The Divine
seed fell upon no un-ploughed and unbroken soil. Pure and noble ideas of worship and
morality had been scattered broadcast throughout the world. Some years ago the
Judgment of Solomon was found depicted on the ceiling of a Pompeian house,
witnessing to the spread of scriptural knowledge through Jewish artists in the time of
Tiberius and of Nero. A race of missionaries, too, equipped for their work, was
developed through the discipline of exile. The thousands who hung upon Peter’s lips
needed nothing but instruction in the faith of Jesus Christ, together with the baptism of
the Spirit, and the finest, the most enthusiastic, and the most cosmopolitan of agencies
lay ready to the Church’s hand. While, again, the organisation of synagogues, which the
exigencies of the dispersion had called into existence, was just the one suited to the
various purposes of charity, worship, and teaching, which the Christian Church
required. Whether, indeed, we consider the persons whom St. Peter addressed, or the
machinery they had elaborated, or the diffusion of pure religious ideas they had
occasioned, we see in this passage a splendid illustration of the care and working of
Divine Providence bringing good out of evil and real victory out of apparent defeat.
Prophet and psalmist had lamented over Zion’s ruin and Israel’s exile into foreign lands,
but they saw not how that God was thereby working out His own purposes of wider
blessing to mankind at large, fitting Jews and Gentiles alike for that fulness of time when
the Eternal Son should be manifested.
II. The brave, outspoken tone of this sermon evidences the power and influence of the
Holy Spirit upon St. Peter’s mind. St. Chrysostom, in his famous lectures on the Acts of
the Apostles, notes the courageous tone of this address as a clear evidence of the truth of
the resurrection. This argument has been ever since a commonplace with apologists and
expositors, and yet it is only by an effort that we can realise how very strong it is. Here
were St. Peter and his fellow Apostles standing up proclaiming a glorified and ascended
Messiah. Just seven weeks before, they had fled from the messengers of the High Priest
sent to arrest their Master, leaving Him to His fate. They had seen Him crucified, knew
of His burial, and then, feeling utterly defeated, had as much as possible withdrawn
themselves from public notice. Seven weeks after, the same band, led by St. Peter,
himself a short time before afraid to confess Christ to a maidservant, boldly stand up,
charge upon the multitude, who knew all the circumstances of Christ’s execution, the
crime of having thus killed the Prince of Life, and appeal to the supernatural evidence of
the gift of tongues, to which they had just listened, as the best proof of the truth of their
message, St. Peter’s courage on this occasion is one of the clearest proofs of the truth of
his testimony. St. Peter was not naturally a courageous man. He was very impulsive and

179. very sympathetic. He was the creature of his surroundings. If he found himself in the
midst of Christ’s friends, he was the most forward to uphold Christ’s cause, but he had
not much moral stamina. He was sadly deficient in staying power. His mind was very
Celtic in its tone, to draw an illustration from national characteristics. The Celtic mind is
very sympathetic, ardent, enthusiastic. It is swept along in moments of excitement,
either of victory or of defeat, by the dominating power of numbers. How often has this
quality been manifested by the French people, for instance? They are resistless when
victorious; they collapse utterly and at once when defeated. St. Peter was just the same.
He was sympathetic, ardent, enthusiastic, and fell, in later as well as in earlier age, into
the perils which attend such temperaments. He denied his Master when surrounded by
the menials of the high priest. He was ready to die for that Master a few hours before,
when sitting surrounded by Christ’s disciples in the secrecy of the upper room. Divine
grace and the baptism of the Spirit did not at all change his natural character in this
respect. Divine grace, whether granted in ancient or in modern times, does not destroy
natural character, which is God’s gift to man. It merely refines, purifies, elevates it. We
find, indeed, a striking illustration of this law of the Divine life in St. Peter’s case.
One of the most convincing proofs of the truth of the New Testament is the identity of
character we behold in the representations given of St. Peter by writers who produced
their books quite independently of each other. St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians
long prior to any of the Gospel narratives. Yet St. Paul’s picture of St. Peter in the Epistle
to the Galatians is exactly the same as that drawn by the four Evangelists alike. St. Paul
depicts him as the same intensely sympathetic, and therefore the same unstable person
whom the Evangelists describe. The brave scene in the upper chamber, and the scene of
cowardice and disgrace in the high priest’s palace, were in principle re-enacted twenty
years after, about the year A.D. 53, at Antioch. St. Peter was very bold in maintaining the
right of Gentile freedom, and hesitated not to live like the Gentile Christians at Antioch,
so long as none of the strict Jewish Christians of Jerusalem knew about it. St. Peter
wished, in fact, to stand well with both parties, and therefore strove to conciliate both.
He was, for the time, a type of that famous character Mr. Facing-two-ways. He lived,
therefore, as a Gentile, until some of the Jerusalem brethren arrived at Antioch, when he
at once quailed before them and retreated, betraying the cause of Christian freedom, and
sacrificing, just as men do still, Christian principle and honesty upon the altar of self-
seeking popularity. St. Peter, we therefore maintain, always remained at heart the same
character. He was bold and forward for Christ so long as all went well, because he was
intensely sympathetic; but he had very little of that power of standing alone which
marked St. Paul, and nerved him, even though a solitary witness, when the cause of truth
was involved. This somewhat lengthened argument is absolutely necessary to show the
strength of our conclusion: that it must have been an overpowering sense of the awful
reality of Christ’s resurrection and ascension which alone could have overcome this
natural weakness of St. Peter, and made him on the day of Pentecost as brave in
proclaiming Jesus Christ to his red-handed murderers as he was bold to propose a new
Apostle in place of the hapless traitor to the assembled disciples in the upper chamber.
St. Peter evidently believed, and believed with an intense, overwhelming, resistless
conviction, in the truth of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, which thus became to him
the source of personal courage and of individual power.
III. Again, the tone of St. Peter’s sermon was remarkable because of its enlarged and
enlightened spirituality. It proved the Spirit’s power in illuminating the human
consciousness. St. Peter was rapidly gaining a true conception of the nature of the
kingdom of God. He enunciates that conception in this sermon. He proclaims
Christianity, in its catholic and universal aspect, when he quotes the prophet Joel as

180. predicting the time when the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. St. Peter
does not indeed seem to have realised all at once the full significance of his own
teaching. He did not see that his words applied to the Gentiles equally with the Jews,
sounding the death-knell of all national exclusiveness in religion. Had he seen the full
meaning of his own words, he would not have hesitated so much about the baptism of
Cornelius and the admission of the Gentiles. It has been found true, not only of St. Peter,
but of teachers, reformers, politicians, statesmen, that they have not at once recognised
all the vast issues and undeveloped principles which lay wrapped up m their original
message. The stress and trial of life alone draw them out, at times compelling their
authors to regret their earlier actions, at other times leading them to follow out with
intensified vigour the principles and movements which they had themselves set in
operation. Luther, when he protested against indulgences; Erasmus, when he ridiculed
the ignorance of the monks and advocated the study of the Greek New Testament; John
Hampden, when he refused to pay ship money; or Bishop Ken, when he declined
obedience to the orders of King James II; -none of them saw whereunto their principles
would necessarily grow till time had thoroughly threshed their teaching and their
actions, separating the husk of external circumstances, which are so variable, from the
kernel of principle, which is eternally the same, stern, severe, inexorable, in its
operations. So it was with St. Peter, and still earlier with the prophets. They sang of and
preached a universal religion, as in this passage, but yet none of them realised the full
scope and meaning of the words they had used, till a special revelation upon the
housetop at Joppa compelled St. Peter to grasp and understand and apply the principles
he had been already proclaiming.
In this respect, indeed, we recognise the greatness, the divinity of the Master Himself
towering above the noblest of His followers; above even Peter himself, upon whom He
pronounced such an eulogium, and bestowed such privileges. Our Lord Jesus Christ
taught this universality of Christianity, and expressly recognised it. St. Peter indeed
taught it in this sermon, but he did not recognise the force of his own words. Jesus
Christ not only taught it, but realised the meaning of His teaching. It was indeed no part
of Christ’s earthly ministry to preach to the Gentiles. He came to the house of Israel
alone. Yet how clearly He witnesses, how distinctly He prophesies of the future
universality of His kingdom. He heals a centurion’s servant, proclaiming at the same
time that many shall come from the east and west, and sit down in the kingdom, while
the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. He risks His life among the inhabitants of
the city where He had been brought up, in order that He may deliver this truth. He
repeats it to the woman of Samaria, in order that He may chase away her national
superstition. He embodies it in His great eucharistic prayer for His Apostles and for His
Church at large. The more carefully and the more devoutly we study Christ’s words, the
more lofty will be our conception of His personality and character, who from the very
beginning recognised the full force of His message, the true extent of that Divine society
He was about to establish. The avowed catholicity of Christ’s teaching is one of the surest
proofs of Christ’s divinity. He had not to wait as Peter waited, till events explained the
meaning of His words; from the beginning He knew all things which should happen.
Still the tone of St. Peter’s sermon proved that the Spirit had supernaturally enlightened
him. He had already risen to spiritual heights undreamt-of hitherto, even by himself. A
comparison of a few passages proves this. In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew we
have narrated for us the scene where our Lord extracts from St. Peter his celebrated
confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and then soon after bestows
upon him the equally celebrated rebuke, "Get thee behind Me, Satan! thou art a
stumbling-block unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of

181. men." St. Peter, with his horror-struck opposition to the very idea of Christ’s death and
suffering, evidently cherished the same notions of the kingdom of God, which Christ had
come to establish, as James and John did when they petitioned for the highest place in
the Master’s kingdom. This carnal conception of a temporal kingdom and earthly forces
and human weapons St. Peter retained when he armed himself with a sword and
prepared to defend his Master in the Garden of Gethsemane; and even later still when,
after the resurrection, the Apostles, acting doubtless through Peter as their spokesman,
demanded, "Dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" But the Spirit was
vouchsafed, and new power, of which the Master had spoken, was granted, and that
power raised Peter above all such low Jewish ideas, and the kingdom announced to the
Jews is no longer a kingdom of earth, with its carnal weapons and its dignities. He now
understood what the Master had taught when He witnessed before Pontius Pilate His
good confession, "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world,
then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My
kingdom not from hence." The carnal conception passes away under the influence of the
heavenly solvent, and St. Peter proclaimed a kingdom which was a purely spiritual
dominion, dealing with remission of sins and a purified interior life, through the
operation and indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The power of the Holy Ghost was shown in
St. Peter’s case by the vast and complete change which passed at once over his spiritual
ideas and outlook. The thoughts and expectations of the pious Jews of Galilee-the very
class from whom St. Peter sprang-were just then shaped and formed by the popular
apocalyptic literature of the period, as we have already pointed out in the second
chapter. The Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle of Jude prove that the Galileans
of that time were careful students of works like the Assumption of Moses, the Book of
Enoch, and the Ascension of Isaiah, which agree in representing the kingdom of God and
the reign of the Messiah as equivalent to the triumph of the Jewish nation over all
foreign dominion and bondage. St. Peter and the other eleven Apostles shared these
natural ideas and expectations till the Spirit was poured out, when they learned in a
profounder spiritual comprehension to estimate aright the scope and meaning of our
blessed Lord’s teaching. St. Peter dwells, therefore, in his sermon on Christ’s person, His
sufferings, His resurrection, His ascension, no longer indeed for the purpose of exalting
the Jewish nation, or predicting its triumph, but to point a purely spiritual lesson.
"Repent ye, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the
remission of your sins; and ye shall receive"-not honour, riches, temporal freedom, but
"ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The subject-matter of St. Peter’s sermon, the
change in his tone of teaching, is another great proof of a supernatural force and power
imparted on the Day of Pentecost.
IV. Let us look somewhat farther into the matter of this earliest Christian sermon, that
we may learn the apostolic view of the Christian scheme. Some persons have asserted
that the earliest Christians were Ebionites, and taught a system of doctrine akin to
modern Unitarianism. This theory can best be tested by an appeal to the Acts of the
Apostles. What, for instance, was the conception of Christ’s life, work, and ascended
state, which St. Peter presented to the astonished multitude? We must not expect,
indeed, to find in this sermon a formulated and scientific system of Christian doctrine.
St. Peter was as yet far too near the great events he declared, far too close to the
superhuman personality of Christ, to co-ordinate his ideas and arrange his views. It is a
matter of every-day experience that when a new discovery is suddenly made, when a new
revelation takes place in the region of nature, men do not grasp at once all the new
relations thereby involved, all the novel applications whereof it is capable. The human
mind is so limited in its power that it is not till we get some distance away from a great

182. object that we are enabled to survey it in the fulness of its outline. Inspiration assisted
St. Peter, elevated his mind, raised his tone of thought to a higher level, but it did not
reverse this fundamental law under which the human mind works. Yet St. Peter’s
discourse contains all the great principles of Catholic Christianity as opposed to that low
view which would represent the earliest Christians as preaching the purely humanitarian
scheme of modern Unitarianism. St. Peter taught boldly the miraculous element of
Christ’s life, describing Him as "a man approved of God by mighty works and wonders
and signs which God did by Him." Yet he did not dwell as much as we might have
expected upon the miraculous side of Christ’s ministry. In fact, the earliest heralds of the
Cross did not make as much use of the argument from miracles as we might have
expected them to have done. And that for a very simple reason. The inhabitants of the
East were so accustomed to the practices of magic that they simply classed the Christian
missionaries with magicians. The Jewish explanation of the miracles of our Lord is of
this description. The Talmudists do not deny that He worked miracles, but assert that
He achieved them by a special use of the Tetragammaton, or the sacred name of
Jehovah, which was known only to Himself. The sacred writers and preachers refer,
therefore, again and again to the miracles of our Saviour, as St. Peter does in the second
chapter, as well-known and admitted facts, whatever explanation may be offered of
them, and then turn to other aspects of the question. The Apostles had, however, a more
powerful argument in reserve. They preached a spiritual religion, a present peace with
God, a present forgiveness of sins; they point forward to a future life of which even here
below believers possess the earnest and the pledge. We, with our minds steeped in ages
of Christian thought and teaching, can have no idea of the convincing self-evidencing
force of teaching like that, to a Jew reared up in a system of barren formalism, and still
more to a Gentile, with spiritual instincts longing for satisfaction, and which he was
expected to satisfy with the bloodstained shows of the amphitheatre or with the
immoralities and impure banquetings of the pagan temples. To persons in that
condition, an argument derived from a mere wonderful work brought little conviction,
for they were well accustomed to behold very marvellous and apparently miraculous
actions, such as to this day the wandering jugglers of India exhibit. But when they beheld
lives transfused by the love of God, and heard pure spiritual teaching such as responded
to the profoundest depths of their own hearts, then deep answered unto deep. The
preaching of the Cross became indeed the power of God unto salvation, because the
human soul instinctively felt that the Cross was the medicine fittest for its spiritual
maladies.
V. Again, this sermon shows the method of interpreting the Psalms and Prophets
popular among the pious Jews of St. Peter’s time. St. Peter’s method of interpretation is
identical with that of our Lord, of St. Paul, and of the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews. He beholds in the Psalms hints and types of the profoundest doctrines of the
Creed. We can see this in both the quotations which he makes. St. Peter finds in the
sixteenth Psalm a prophecy of the intermediate state of souls and of the resurrection of
our Lord. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades" is a text which has furnished the basis
of the article in the Apostles’ Creed which teaches that Christ descended into hell. It is a
pity indeed that the translation which the last revisers have adopted, "Hades" instead of
"Hell," was not used in the English translation of the Apostles’ Creed; for the ordinary
reading has misled many a thoughtful and serious soul, as if the Creed taught that the
pure and sinless spirit of the Saviour had been made partaker of the horrors of eternal
misery. Whereas, in truth, the doctrine of Scripture and of the Creed alike merely asserts
that our Lord’s spirit, when separated from the body, entered and thereby sanctified and
prepared the place or state where Christian souls, while separated from their bodies,

183. await the general resurrection of the just and the completion of their happiness. The
doctrine of the intermediate state, as taught by Bishop Pearson and other great divines,
is primarily based on two texts, the passage before us and the words of our Saviour to
the penitent thief, "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise". (Luk_23:43) This
doctrine accurately corresponds with the catholic doctrine of our Lord’s Person. The
Arian heresy denied the true deity of our Lord. The second great heresy was the
Apollinarian, which denied His true and perfect humanity. The orthodox doctrine taught
the tripartite nature of man, that is, that there was in man, first, a body, secondly, the
animal soul which man possesses in common with the beasts, and which perishes at
death, and, lastly, the human spirit which is immortal and by which he maintains
communion with God. Now the Apollinarian heresy asserted that Jesus Christ possessed
a body and a soul, but denied His possession of a spirit. Its theory was that the Divine
nature took the place of a true human spirit in Christ, so that Christ was unlike His
brethren in this respect, that when the body died, and the animal soul perished, He had
no human spirit by which He might enter into Hades, or dwell in Paradise. The Divine
nature was the only portion of the Incarnate Lord which then survived. Against this view
the words of St. Peter testified beforehand, teaching, by his adaptation of David’s
prophecy, that our Lord possessed the fulness of humanity in its threefold division,
whereby He was enabled to share the experience and lot of His brethren, not only in this
life, but also in the intermediate state of Hades, wherein the spirits of the blessed dead
await re-union with their bodies, and expect in hope the second advent of their Lord.
St. Peter’s interpretation again of the Psalms recognised in David’s words a prophecy of
the resurrection: "Neither wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption,"-a rendering
of the New Testament revisers which, however literal, is not nearly as vigorous or
suggestive as the old translation, "Neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see
corruption." St. Peter then proceeds to point out how impossible it was that this
prediction could have been fulfilled in David. David’s flesh undoubtedly did see
corruption, because every one knew where his tomb was. St. Peter’s speech here touches
upon a point where we can confirm his accuracy out of ancient historians. David was
buried, according to ancient writers, in the city of David. (2Ki_2:10) The Rabbis went
even further, they determined the time of his death. According to a writer quoted by that
great seventeenth-century teacher, Dr. John Lightfoot, "David died at Pentecost, and all
Israel bewailed him, and offered their sacrifices the day following." After the return from
Babylon the site of the sepulchre was known, as Neh_3:16 reports, telling us that
Nehemiah the son Of Azbuk repaired the wall over against the sepulchre of David; while
still later Josephus tells us that Hyrcanus, the high priest, and Herod the Great opened
David’s tomb, and removed vast treasures from it. St. Peter’s words on this occasion
possess an important evidential aspect, and suggest one of the gravest difficulties which
the assailants of the resurrection have to face. St. Peter appealed to the evidence of
David’s tomb as demonstrating the fact that he was dead, and that death still held him in
its power. Why did not his opponents appeal to the testimony of Christ’s tomb? It is
evident from St. Peter’s argument that Christ’s tomb was empty, and was known to be
empty. The first witnesses to the resurrection insisted, within a few weeks of our Lord’s
crucifixion, upon this fact, proclaimed it everywhere, and the Jews made no attempt to
dispute their assertions. Our opponents may indeed say, we acknowledge the fact of the
emptiness of the tomb, but the body of Christ was removed by St. Peter and his
associates. How then, we reply, do you account for St. Peter’s action? Did conscious guilt
and hypocrisy make him brave and enthusiastic? If they say, indeed, Peter did not
remove the body, but that his associates did, then how are we to account for the
conversations St. Peter thought he had held with his risen Master, the appearances

184. vouchsafed to him, the close converse, "eating and drinking with him after He was risen
from the dead"? St. Peter, by his appeal to David’s tomb, and its bearing on the sixteenth
Psalm, proves that he believed in no ideal resurrection, no phantasm, -no ghost story, to
put it plainly; but that he taught the doctrine of the resurrection as the Church now
accepts it.
HAWKER 13-36, "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said
unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you,
and hearken to my words: (15) For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but
the third hour of the day. (16) But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (17)
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (18) And on my servants and on my
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (19)
And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and
fire, and vapor of smoke: (20) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: (21) And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (22) Ye men of Israel,
hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath
raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be
holden of it. (25) For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before
my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: (26) Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: (27)
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full
of joy with thy countenance. (29) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this
day. (30) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on
his throne; (31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul
was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised
up, whereof we all are witnesses. (33) Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this,
which ye now see and hear. (34) For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (35) Until I make thy
foes thy footstool. (36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
There must have been somewhat very striking, when Peter and the eleven all arose at
once, as if (and which indeed was the case,) all animated by a supernatural power, to
refute the foul calumny of drunkenness. And I beg the Reader to remark with me, how
mildly the Apostle expostulated with their accusers, appealing to their own principles of
religion, in proof of the falseness of what they had said, seeing it was now but the third
hour of the day, namely, nine of the clock in the morning, the well-known hour of the
morning sacrifice; before which, and especially on the Sabbath, which this was, it

185. became unlawful for any of the seed of Abraham to indulge in bodily refreshment.
Compare Num_28:1-10 with Exo_12:16. Reader! so will every preacher, yea, every child
of God, mildly reason with opposers, when under the blessed influences of God the Holy
Ghost, 2Ti_2:24-25.
I am constrained by the limits I must observe, from entering very largely into a
Commentary upon this sweet Sermon of the Apostles. For the text which Peter took from
the prophecy of Joel, I refer to some few observations I have already offered in my Poor
Man’s Commentary on the place. And in addition to what is there proposed, I would
here remark, that by the all flesh the Prophet speaks of, and the Apostle comments upon,
cannot be supposed to mean all mankind; but as other Scriptures explain the phrase, all
God’s people in all places; and not confined, as the early Prophets had supposed to be
the case, to the people of Judaea. Thus Haggai, when speaking of Christ, calls him the
desire of all nations, Hag_2:7, meaning the desire of his people in all nations. So Christ,
when speaking of the world, God so loved the world, that all that believe in him, etc.
meaning believers throughout the world, Joh_3:16. That the phrase must be understood
in this sense, is evident, from what is said in other parts of scripture concerning the
world, which cannot receive the Spirit of truth, and for whom Christ doth not pray. See
Joh_14:17 and Joh_17:9-10.
Let me particularly request the Reader to observe how Peter speaks of his divine Lord. A
man he calleth him approved of God, among them by miracles and wonders as they
knew. But while a man, truly and properly so, (for otherwise he could not have been the
seed of the woman promised, Gen_3:15.) yet, as truly and properly God, whom the pains
of death could not hold, because (saith Peter,) it was not possible that he should be
holden of it. Reader! what higher demonstrations can be wished in proof of Godhead.
Surely common sense must say, that had he not been God, the pains of death and the
power of the grave must have held him, as they would hold any man, and make every
man a prisoner. But, in the person of the God-man Christ Jesus, it was not possible, that
he who was both God and man should be holden of either. And, as another Apostle saith,
and under the same authority, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Rom_1:4. How very
blessed and precious are both testimonies to the union of the nature of God and man, in
the person of our Lord !
I request the Reader’s attention to another beautiful part in Peter’s sermon. He saith,
that Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, when
crucified and slain by wicked hands. Oh! what a very blessed relation is here, to the truth
as it is in Jesus? For what can be more blessed to every child of God, while rejoicing in
hope of the glory of God, through the blood and righteousness of Christ as a Savior; than
to see the hand of Jehovah in the appointment? In this united point of view, God our
Redeemer’s full equivalent sacrifice for sin, (yea, more than equivalent, as a ransom for
the sins of all his people,) we find a blessed plea before the mercy-seat in all our
approaches there; in that we find all the strength necessary to make it blessed, because it
is also from the appointment and ordination of Jehovah. Hence, we not only plead on
the footing of Christ’s blood and righteousness; but we plead, when we plead rightly, the
Lord’s appointment of it, and his approbation and pleasure in the Almighty work. Is it
not sweet then, yea, very sweet, to bear back to the throne, what comes first from the
throne, and to tell our God and Father, what our God and Father hath first told us; that
it was Jehovah which bruised our glorious Head, and put him to grief, when he made his
soul an offering for sin; that it was Jehovah which laid on Him the iniquities of us all,
when by the determinate counsel of God, by wicked hands he was taken, and crucified,
and slain? And, that the hand of the Lord was first in the great work, when Jesus was

186. delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification? Reader! what
correspondence is there from the teachings of God the Holy Ghost, in your heart with
these things? Oh! the blessedness of being able to join the voice of Old Testament saints,
now we have seen the accomplishment of the whole to New Testament believers, and say
as they did, Behold, 0 God! our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed? Happy
the man, who amidst all the remains of indwelling corruption within, and the ungodly
world without, the demands of law and justice, and all the accusations of Satan, can, and
doth, go daily to the pardon office of Jesus Christ, pleading his blood and righteousness,
and Jehovah’s covenant promises, the joint security of everlasting salvation. See Isa_
53:5-6; Rom_4:25; Psa_84:9.
Let me beg the Reader not to overlook the mercy and love of God the Holy Ghost, in
another sweet part of Peter’s sermon, namely, the explanation of the sixteenth Psalm, in
direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt from the manner in
which Peter spake upon it, in begging permission to speak freely of the Patriarch David,
but that the Jews of those days, considered that Psalm as written by David, in allusion to
himself. What a blessed scripture, therefore, it is, to have it thus explained with an eye to
Christ, and from such authority. And may we not observe that from the illustration of
this Psalm, we derive information upon many other occasions of a similar nature, to
make application to Christ? Reader! do not forget to notice Peter’s appeal from the
whole, to the hearts and minds of his hearers. How affectionate, yet how faithful the
Apostle is. Let them know, (saith he,) even the whole house of Israel, what the result of
this wonderful event is. To Jesus shall every knee bow. He whom ye crucified, is now the
Almighty and everlasting Lord of heaven and of earth! Reader! behold the bold, the
undaunted Apostle! Oh! what did grace accomplish in him! And why not in you, or me?
Lord! the Spirit! do thou in thy rich mercy make thy servants faithful! Speak, Lord, in
them and by them, and let all whom thou hast sent, do the work of Evangelists, and
make full proof of their ministry!
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 14-40, "But Peter standing up with the eleven.
The scene
Never was such an audience assembled as that before which this poor fisherman
appeared: men of different nations, rapidly and earnestly speaking in their different
tongues; one in Hebrew, mocking and saying, “These men are full of new wine”; another
inquiring in Latin; another disputing in Greek; another wondering in Arabic; and an
endless Babel beside expressing every variety of surprise, doubt, and curiosity. Amid
such a scene the fisherman stands up; his voice strikes across the hum which prevails all
down the street. He has no tongue of silver; for they say, “He is an unlearned and
ignorant man.” The rudeness of his Galilean speech still remains with him; yet, though
“unlearned and ignorant” in their sense—as to polite learning—in a higher sense he was a
scribe well instructed. On whatever other points the learned of Jerusalem might have
found Peter at fault, in the sacred writings he was more thoroughly furnished than they;
for though Christ took His apostles from among the poor, He left us no example for
those who have not well learned the Bible, to attempt to teach it. Yet Peter had no tongue
of silver, or of honey, no soothing, flattering speech, to allay the prejudices and to
captivate the passions of the multitude. Nor had he a tongue of thunder; no outbursts of
native eloquence distinguished his discourse. Indeed, some, if they had heard that
discourse from ordinary lips, would not have hesitated to pronounce it dry—some of a
class, too numerous, who do not like preachers who put them to the trouble of thinking,
but enjoy only those who regale their fancy, or move their feelings, without requiring any

187. labour of thought. Peter’s sermon is no more than quoting passages from the Word of
God, and reasoning upon them; yet, as in this strain he proceeds, the tongue of fire by
degrees burns its way to the feelings of the multitude. The murmur gradually subsides;
the mob becomes a congregation; the voice of the fisherman sweeps from end to end of
that multitude, unbroken by a single sound; and, as the words rush on, they act like a
stream of fire. Now, one coating of prejudice which covered the feelings is burned, and
rends away: now, another and another: now the fire touches the inmost covering of
prejudice, which lay close upon the heart, and it too gives way. Now, it touches the quick,
and burns the very soul of the man! Presently, you might think that in that throng there
was but one mind, that of the preacher, which had multiplied itself, had possessed itself
of thousands of hearts, and thousands of frames, and was pouring its own thoughts
through them all. At length, shame, and tears, and sobs overspread that whole assembly.
Here, a head bows; there, starts a groan; yonder, rises a deep sigh; here, tears are falling;
and some stern old Jew, who will neither bow nor weep, trembles with the effort to keep
himself still. At length, from the depth of the crowd, the voice of the preacher is crossed
by a cry, as if one was “mourning for his only son”; and it is answered by a cry, as if one
was in “bitterness for his first-born.” At this cry the whole multitude is carried away,
and, forgetful of everything but the overwhelming feeling of the moment, they exclaim,
“Men and brethren, what must we do?” (W. Arthur, M. A.)
St. Peter’s first sermon
Here we have the report of a sermon preached within a few days of Christ’s ascension,
addressed to men many of whom knew Jesus Christ, all of whom had heard of His work,
His life, and His death, and setting forth the apostolic estimate of Christ, His miracles,
His teaching, His ascended condition and glory. We cannot realise, unless by an
intellectual effort, the special worth of these apostolic reports contained in the Acts. Men
are sometimes sceptical about them asking, How did we get them at all? how were they
handed down? This is, however, an easier question to answer than some think. If we
take, for instance, this Pentecostal address alone, we know that St. Luke had many
opportunities of personal communication with St. Peter. But there is another solution.
The ancients made a great use of shorthand, and were quite well accustomed to take
down spoken discourses, transmitting them thus to future ages.
I. The congregation assembled to listen to this first gospel discourse preached by a
human agent was a notable and representative one. They were all Jews or Jewish
proselytes, showing how extremely wide, at the epoch of the Incarnation, was the
dispersion of God’s ancient people. The Divine seed fell upon no unploughed and
unroken soil. Pure and noble ideas of worship and morality had been scattered
broadcast throughout the world. Some years ago the judgment of Solomon was found
depicted on the ceiling of a Pompeian house, witnessing to the spread of Scriptural
knowledge through Jewish artists in the time of Tiberius and of Nero A race of
missionaries, too, equipped for their work, was developed through the discipline of exile.
The thousands who hung upon Peter’s lips needed nothing but instruction in the faith of
Jesus Christ, together with the baptism of the Spirit, and the finest, the most
enthusiastic, and the most cosmopolitan of agencies lay ready to the Church’s hand.
While, again, the organisation of synagogues, which the exigencies of the dispersion had
called into existence, was just the one suited to the various purposes of charity, worship,
and teaching, which the Christian Church required.
II. The brave, outspoken tone of this sermon evidences the power and influence of the

188. Holy Spirit upon St. Peter’s mind. Chrysostom notes the courageous tone of this address
as a clear evidence of the truth of the resurrection.
III. Again, the tone of St. Peter’s sermon was remarkable because of its enlarged and
enlightened spirituality. It proved the Spirit’s power in illuminating the human
consciousness. St. Peter was rapidly gaining a true conception of the nature of the
kingdom of God. He enunciates that conception in this sermon. He proclaims
Christianity, in its catholic and universal aspect, when he quotes Joel as predicting the
time when the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.
IV. Let us look somewhat farther into the matter of this earliest Christian sermon, that
we may learn the apostolic view of the Christian scheme. What was the conception of
Christ’s life, work, and ascended state, which St. Peter presented to the astonished
multitude? We must not expect, indeed, to find in this sermon a formulated and
scientific system of Christian doctrine. St. Peter was as yet far too near the great events
he declared, far too close to the superhuman personality of Christ, to coordinate his
ideas and arrange his views. Yet his discourse contains all the great principles of catholic
Christianity as opposed to that low view which would represent the earliest Christians as
preaching the purely humanitarian scheme of modern unitarianism. St. Peter taught
boldly the miraculous element of Christ’s life, describing Him as “a man approved of
God by mighty works,” etc. Yet he did not dwell as much as we might have expected
upon the miraculous side of Christ’s ministry. And that for a very simple reason. The
inhabitants of the East were so accustomed to the practices of magic that they simply
classed the Christian missionaries with magicians. The apostles had, however, a more
powerful argument in reserve. They preached a spiritual religion, a present peace with
God, a present forgiveness of sins; they pointed forward to a future life of which even
here below believers possess the earnest and pledge.
V. Again, the sermon shows the method of interpreting the psalms and prophets
popular among the pious Jews of St. Peter’s time. St. Peter’s method of interpretation is
identical with that of our Lord, of St. Paul, and of the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews. He beholds in the Psalms hints and types of the profoundest doctrines of the
Creed. He finds in the sixteenth Psalm a prophecy of the intermediate state of souls and
of the resurrection of our Lord. (G. T. Stokes, D. D.)
St. Peter to the multitude
1. We are struck first with the calmness and concentrated force of this address. How
difficult the task which St. Peter undertook! He had to speak on the spur of the
moment, and to a crowd excited as only an Eastern crowd can be. It is not easy for
the most practised orator to catch the ear, and hold the attention of a confused and
hostile crowd. Shakespeare means us to recognise consummate skill in Mark
Antony’s handling of the Roman citizens at Caesar’s funeral; but he used flattering
words, and he spoke in order to rouse the people against the assassins of Caesar, not
against themselves. St. Peter had to address the crowd on a theme which could not
be welcome, and to stir them to self-condemnation. Yet we see no trace of hesitation
or embarrassment. The speech was as well conceived and compacted as if it had been
premeditated for weeks. It soothed the tumult of unfriendly excitement, and stirred a
tumult of convicted conscience.
2. An opening for the address was made by the rude jeering of some as to the source
of that ardour which glowed in the faces and uttered itself in the words of the

189. brethren. This charge was easily disposed of. It was a fair specimen of the capacity of
carnal men to judge spiritual.
(1) But St. Peter brushed it away with a sentence. It was enough that it was but
the third hour of the day. What Jew would have drunk wine at all on such a
morning, and before the morning sacrifice i And even if one or two could be so
lost to shame, how absurd to accuse one hundred and twenty! Even the heathen
reckoned it disreputable to drink strong wines in the morning. Cicero tells us
indeed that the revelry at Antony’s villa began at nine o’clock; but this was
regarded as the foolish excess of debauchees.
(2) But the complete refutation of it was the whole tone and tenor of the address,
which was calm and well considered to a marvel. It showed that he and his
companions were certainly “not filled with wine, wherein is excess.” They were
“filled with the Spirit.” The apostle gave this as the true explanation, and
proceeded at once to illustrate and support it by a felicitous quotation from one
of the ancient prophets. He knew that in order to convince it was necessary to
proceed on the common ground of Scripture. No one in that multitude, however
prejudiced or impatient, could object to the citation from Joel. What St. Peter
taught was the beginning of a fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy. It was the sign of a
new era; the inauguration of a time, the length of which no man could define, but
ending with a “great and terrible day of the Lord.” Such was the exordium of St.
Peter’s speech. We can see the mockers silenced, some of them, let us hope,
ashamed. The crowd ceased to sway and shout, listening to the calm, clear,
strong statement which carried with it such a ring of certainty.
3. Then the speaker, pursuing his advantage, addressed himself to the main theme.
The Spirit had come upon them, that they might preach Christ with power. The
apostles never dragged in their great theme abruptly or awkwardly. Here St. Peter
found a starting-point for preaching Jesus in the concluding words of the passage he
had cited from Joel, “Whosoever should call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Who was the Lord, whose “great and notable day” should terminate the dispensation
of the Spirit? St. Peter and his colleagues were prepared to say and prove that it was
Jesus. And then for the first time the sin of the crucifixion was charged on the
conscience of the Jews, the fulness of the gospel made known. Not a few of those
present had joined in the cry, “Crucify Him!” That had not been, however,
spontaneous; but had been stirred up by the rulers. And now that hot blood had
cooled there must have been sore misgivings, which the apostle soon deepened. He
reminded his hearers of “the mighty works and wonders and signs” by which God
had accredited His prophet. He appealed to their own knowledge of those things;
and their silence intimated that they could not dispute the fact.
4. Having gained the point, St. Peter proceeded to show who the prophet Jesus
was—
(1) By reference to His crucifixion. Was this fatal to a claim of Messiahship?
Peter would once have said so; but now he stood there prepared to show that it
formed an essential part of the proof that He was indeed the Christ. It was God’s
purpose, and was predicted in the ancient oracles. Jewish teachers had turned
away from a suffering to an exclusively glorious Messiah. But none the less was
He so predicted, and none the less was the fulfilment secured by God’s
“determinate counsel.” Therefore was Jesus delivered into the hands of those
who hated Him, who crucified Him by the hand of “men without the law”—the
Roman soldiers. But it was really on the Jews and their children that the blood of

190. the Just One lay—“Ye did crucify and slay.”
(2) Then, in a breath, the speaker announced a fact which gave a new turn to the
whole history in the resurrection of the Crucified One. “Whom God raised up,”
etc. This, indeed, had been announced immediately after; but a counter story had
been set afloat that the body had been stolen. These conflicting rumours had left
the whole matter in a haze of doubt. But, before adducing witnesses, St. Peter
referred again to the Old Testament. With a fine skill which the Holy Ghost had
taught him, he prepared the Jews for receiving evidence, by showing that it was
far from incredible, since it had been clearly foretold in one of the prophetic
Psalms. Of course this did not prove that Jesus was that Christ. But, if it could be
proved that Jesus had risen, His fulfilment of this oracle would go far to place it
beyond doubt that He was the Messiah. And then the proof was adduced.
Pointing to the Christian company, St. Peter said boldly, “This Jesus did God
raise up, whereof we all are witnesses.” How could any fact of the kind have
better attestation?
(3) The argument had to be carried one step further; and the speaker, not
knowing how long the crowd might continue to listen, proceeded at once to say
that the risen Jesus was exalted by the right hand of God. On this point, too, St.
Peter found support in the Old Testament—“Jehovah said to Adonai” (Psa_110:1-
7.). Every one knew who was meant by Jehovah: but who was Adonai? David
could not have meant himself, for he was not his own Lord; far less could he have
given such a title to any of the kings of the earth. The Spirit had inspired him to
sing thus of the Lord Christ, and the proof of His ascension was before the eyes of
the multitude. On the followers of Jesus, and on them only, had descended the
new energy from heaven.
5. Thus the proof was completed at every point. There was no declamation but
compact statement and close reasoning, leading up to the conclusion that God had
made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ. And now the Christians beheld the
crowd no longer mocking, but subdued, ashamed, conscience-stricken. Pricked in
their hearts, many cried out, “What shall we do?” A welcome interruption! It showed
St. Peter that he had struck the right chord, and that the Holy Spirit was speaking
through him to the people. It enabled him to follow up his address with a very
pointed application, and a very earnest appeal. They could not undo their own act,
but God had done that already. This, however, they might and should do without
delay:
(1) “Repent.”—It was not enough to be pricked in heart. Repentance is more than
vexation with one’s self, or even poignant sorrow. The apostle bade them
reconsider the whole matter, and so change their minds regarding the Nazarene,
and consequently their attitude.
(2) “And be baptised every one of you unto the remission of sins.”—This implied
that they should believe, and confess their faith-for faith is always allied with
repentance unto life, and is the instrument of forgiveness. Those who sincerely
repented of their rejection of Jesus, must now believe in Him as the Christ; and
in token thereof were called to join the company of His followers by openly
receiving that baptism, which Christ had authorised them to administer. The
consequence of this would be, that they would obtain not only pardon, but the
Holy Ghost; for the promise was to their nation first, though also, God be
praised, to the Gentiles—“as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

191. 6. Such was the speech of St. Peter; and the result was glorious. The fisher of men let
down a good net into the deep, and caught a great draught—drew to the shore of
faith and peace three thousand souls. He wrought no miracle to astonish and
impress them. It was better that no sign or prodigy performed by the apostles should
interfere with the direct and solemn application of truth to the conscience. He
performed no ceremony. The notion of a Christianity that trusts to ceremonial and
celebration was quite foreign to the apostolic conception. The speaker prevailed by
the word of his testimony. The three thousand felt the power of the truth and yielded
to it—the Spirit of the Lord disposing and enabling them so to do. Thus they
repented, believed, were baptized, were pardoned, were quickened to newness of life.
7. In one day! It was the typical and significant day of our dispensation, a day which
should be expected to repeat itself. True, there cannot be a second descent of the
Holy Spirit, any more than there can be a second incarnation of the Son. But the
Church should ask and look for a continuance of the mighty working of the Holy
Ghost, and so for conversions by thousands. The Church wants no other means of
increase than those by which it was founded—
(1) the fire of the Holy Ghost, and
(2) the testimony of anointed witnesses in sound speech that cannot be gainsaid,
testifying to Jesus, the Saviour, that He is the Christ of Israel, and the Lord of all.
(D. Fraser, D. D.)
The first apostolic appeal to the multitude
The wondering, the questioning, and the mockery compelled the apostles to explain. So
have young Christians often been constrained by what they saw or knew to attempt work
for which they had little inclination. In making this appeal the apostles—
I. Had a leader. All had been speaking with tongues, and when that sign had answered
its first purpose it was necessary for one to appeal to the intelligence of all. Peter now
“stood up.”
1. A man of confidence and quick decision. What a change since his denial.
2. A man who could command attention. For this end he “lifted up his voice.” Having
to plead for Christ and truth, he gladly used his best powers.
3. A man of knowledge; “be it known unto you.” Some were guessing and
misinterpreting, and honesty demanded a hearing for one who said he had certain
knowledge.
4. A man of words. “Hearken to my words.” He proceeded to prove what he had
boldly affirmed. In this he is an example. He gave the sense of Scripture, and did his
work with sobriety and earnestness, and without reflections on the spirit of the
crowd.
II. Had to rebut error. There were misconceptions which had to be removed, and in
doing this Peter did not mock the mockers, or show irritation. He calmly and kindly
rooted out error that truth might take its place. Note that—
1. Peter denied the false charge of drunkenness, but not as a malicious calumny, but
as the actual opinion of intelligent men. “As ye suppose.” In this way we may
introduce an argument against the false doctrines of the day. But denial was not

192. enough, so—
2. He gave a clear reason—the hour was too early and too sacred for intoxication.
Religious controversy ought to be based on undeniable facts. Yet this was not
enough, so Peter—
3. Interpreted the facts which the mockers had misinterpreted. It was the fulfilment
of Joel’s prophecy. Would that all preachers would meet the demand for facts by the
positive truth of the Word of God.
III. Realised that there is given to believers what men’s natural suppositions
misrepresent. It was natural for men to think that they could explain the strange signs;
but the error was brought home in due time. How many to-day are like this multitude.
They observe the profession and zeal of Christians, and hear about their experiences, but
put it all down to superstition, weakness, or delusion. (W. Hudson.)
Preaching on the day of Pentecost
The restoration of Peter was fully recognised by his brethren. They felt bound to imitate
Christ’s conduct. He knew what underlay the weakness of His servant, and having
received him to favour, sent him forth with fresh power to feed the lambs, etc. Whom
God receives, let no man refuse. A tempted Christian may fall, but if he repent, his fellow
Christians should receive him back. Let us contemplate—
I. The circumstances in which Peter preached.
1. He preached upon the day of Pentecost. All the memories of God’s goodness in
seedtime, summer, and autumn, were then occupying the minds of the Hebrews.
And Peter rose to appropriately publish God’s glorious gospel of mercy.
2. His audience was peculiarly stimulating. Like Simeon they waited for the
consolation of Israel. They had come from distant parts, and presented, in their
diversified wants, a type of the world’s necessities. Following the law they found the
gospel. The law was a schoolmaster that brought them to Christ. An appreciative
assembly has a stimulating effect upon any orator; and this audience, composed of
devout inquirers, anxious to learn the whole truth about Christ, was sufficient to give
the eloquence of true earnestness of Peter’s preaching.
3. His position was that of spokesman for and defender of his brethren.
4. He preached under the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost and with a
tongue of fire.
II. The sermon that Peter delivered. We cannot say it was a great sermon, in the modern
sense. There is no profound and far-reaching grasp of Divine truth; no display of mental
and spiritual genius; no soaring flight of imagination; none of those marvellous
revelations which are given in Isaiah and Ezekiel; none of those mighty sentences,
lightning-like in their flash, thunder-like in their sound, that rolled from the mouth of
Cicero or Demosthenes; and certainly none of that loud-coloured grandiloquence, which
is so much admired by a sensation-loving world. The preaching of Peter, or Paul, or
Christ, is usually destitute of these artistic qualities, and yet conspicuously fitted to serve
its heavenly purpose. The characteristics of Peter’s sermon are very distinct.
1. It was Scriptural. His subject was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He brings a
text from Joel (Act_2:28-32), to show that the Spirit was promised, and should have

193. been expected in some such way as that in which He had actually come. The use
which Peter makes of his proof-text is simple, yet skilful; displays good powers of
reasoning, and above all, reveals a clear knowledge of the Scriptures; and the
finishing stroke brings out, most happily, the grand design of God in His wonderful
promise, and its more wonderful fulfilment—“That whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.”
2. Most faithful. The trumpet at his mouth gave no uncertain sound. He spake no
smooth things, and minced no truth to suit fastidious tastes. Speaking, though he
was, against the great men of his nation, and among an excited populace, who had a
few weeks ago destroyed his Master, the earnest preacher was unconscious of
timidity, and he did not hesitate to tell them plainly, that they had taken with wicked
hands and crucified and slain the Lord’s anointed. Harsh words, no doubt; but words
like the hammer that breaks the rocky heart. And the man who would preach the
Word of God with true faithfulness to his fellow-sinners must be prepared at any risk
to expose and condemn every sort of wickedness.
3. Evangelical. It contained very prominently the three R’s which Rowland Hill has
made proverbial in our country
(1) Ruin by the fall. The apostle gave prominence to the ruinous effects of sin.
Jerusalem sinners had committed an awful crime in killing the Son of God.
(2) Redemption through the death of Jesus.
(3) Regeneration through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Repent, and be
baptized,” etc.
III. The success of Peter’s sermon. We find it very difficult to realise the impression
produced. There is nothing like it in modern times. People assemble in great crowds to
hear the best of preachers, and go away in a state of stolid indifference. From week to
week the whole preaching of the Christian sabbath, in every village and town, passes
over without the smallest degree of spiritual excitement. We surely need more of that
earnest, heaven-reaching prayer, that will bring the Spirit of God, like a rushing mighty
wind, to fill our house and every heart with spiritual animation. This was the prime
result of Pentecostal preaching. Thousands of sleeping souls were awakened. We have
heard of men sailing towards the rapids of Niagara, all unconscious of danger, until they
felt their boat quiver in the struggling water, and stars away with alarming speed. In a
moment they were filled with anxiety, and began to pull and cry with all their might for
safety. So with Jerusalem sinners under the sermon of Pentecost. The whole crowd was
shaking like fields of corn in the autumn wind, or tossing like troubled waves upon the
stormy ocean. And with one loud cry that went ringing through the holy city, and up to
the Holy God, they said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Blessed question from a
sinner’s heart! And the question must have gone with a grateful thrill to the preacher’s
heart, as it surely went like a shout of triumph to the heart of Jesus on the throne. We
have read somewhere of a Russian prince, coming in the course of hunting to a river’s
side, where a few peasants had brought to the bank a person apparently drowned. The
prince had previously been reading some directions which had been issued by a humane
society, about the mode of restoring animation to people who have been rescued from
under water. He leaped from his horse, stripped off his flowing robes, gave instructions
to the peasants how to assist, and commenced the work of rubbing the cold limbs of the
unfortunate man with all his might. The work was continued by the prince for a whole
hour, without any appearance of success. At length the lifeless-looking bosom began to
heave and give signs of animation. On seeing which, the prince looked up, with beaming

194. countenance, and exclaimed: “This is the happiest moment of my life.” He had saved a
man from death. Not less would it be a happy moment for the heart of Elisha, when he
felt the flesh of the Shunamite’s child waxing warm, and saw him open his eyes in life
and happiness. But we can believe it was even a happier moment for the apostle of Christ
on the day of Pentecost, when the people cried, “What shall we do?” and so gave signs of
being raised from spiritual death to Christian vitality. No time was lost in telling the
inquirers their path of duty. “Look to Jesus and be saved.” (J. Thompson, A. M.)
A varied ministry blessed by the Holy Spirit
Mark the course of a river like the Thames; how it winds and twists according to its own
sweet will. Yet there is a reason for every bend and curve: the geologist, studying the soil
and marking the conformation of the rock, sees a reason why the river’s bed diverges to
the right or to the left; and so, though the Spirit of God blesses one preacher more than
another, and the reason cannot be such that any man could congratulate himself upon
his own goodness, yet there are certain things about Christian ministers which God
blesses, and certain other things which hinder success. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The first sermon
1. The gospel is not a system of doctrines, a code of laws, still less a fabric of fancies
or theories: it is a record of facts. It is this characteristic which makes it—
(1) So satisfactory; we can plant the foot firmly upon it, for it is founded upon a
rock.
(2) So universal: not the religion of a few philosophers, capable of arguing out
deep truths or of rising to lofty mysteries, but the religion of a world, as suitable
to the simple as to the learned.
2. And as the gospel rests upon fact, so also it prompts to action. No sooner is the
persecutor of the Church struck to the earth by the bright light of the Divine
presence than we hear him asking, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” And no
sooner does the jailer at Philippi recognise in his prisoners the servants of the Most
High God, than he asks the practical question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And no sooner does the astonished multitude hear from Peter’s lips the explanation
of the marvellous sign which has gathered them to listen, than they exclaim, “Men
and brethren, what shall we do?” What they heard was a narrative of facts: what they
understood by it was a summons to action. God grant to us also a spirit of faith in
gospel fact, a spirit of readiness for gospel action!
3. St. Peter sets us the example of repeating a text for his sermon. The Bible then was
the Old Testament. Out of it Christian teachers were able to plead for God and to
prove the gospel. In our thankfulness for the New Testament we must never learn to
despise the Old. St. Peter’s text was taken from Joel. That Book was probably
composed 850 years before Christ. The prophets of the Old Testament were not
instructed to reveal the long interval which should elapse between the two advents.
The delay of the second coming was not even a revelation of the gospel. Each age was
to expect it. The taunt, “Where is the promise of His coming?” was to have scope to
operate, because no generation was to be made aware that the advent might not take
place within its duration. And thus it is that Joel here speaks of the outpouring of the

195. Spirit as a sign of the last days. The gospel age, however long it has continued or may
continue, is the dispensation of the last times: after it comes none other, and itself is
to be viewed as one whole, from the redemption which contained in itself not the
promise only but the germ of all, until the coming of the very kingdom of heaven in
power and great glory. “In the last days, saith God,” etc.
4. After this quotation the discourse addresses itself pointedly to the audience. “Ye
men of Israel, hear these words. A Man, as you deemed Him, and as He was, has
within these few weeks been put to death by you; the blood of that Man is at this
moment upon your hands!” But was, then, that murder effectual? No; “God raised
Him up because it was not possible that He should be holden of death.” Not possible,
by reason of His Divine nature. Not possible, because the voice of inspired prophecy
had declared the contrary (Psa_16:1-11.). Could words like these have found their full
accomplishment in their human author? The words which David thus spake, he
spake as God’s prophet. For himself the words could only express that assurance of a
life beyond death, the hope of the saints. But in relation to Christ the words have a
fuller meaning. His soul was recalled from its brief sojourn in Hades, before it bad
taken up its abode there as a recognised inmate. Of this revival from death we His
apostles are the witnesses. Now, therefore, the events of this day become intelligible
and natural. The risen Saviour hath fulfilled His promise. He promised to send—He
hath sent—His Holy Spirit upon His disciples. And hereunto agree those other words
of the Psalmist, “The Lord said unto my Lord,” etc. That prophecy, like the former,
points, not to David, but to David’s Son; even to Him who is as truly the Lord of
David in right of His Godhead, as He is the Son of David by reason of His manhood.
“Therefore let every family of Israel know,” etc.
5. Such was the discourse, to which blessing was vouchsafed such as has been
granted to no other. God works where and as and by whom He will; choosing
oftentimes the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. We may read St.
Peter’s words unmoved. But not so did they to whom he addressed himself.
Compunction was the first fruit of his preaching. Conscience now awoke. The sign
before them was a sign of power: how could this be, save by the hand of God? But
beyond this, it was a sign foretold by Jesus. All things had come to pass, even as He
had said to them. Yes, all is now clear and consistent, though the inference is one of
shame and condemnation for themselves. “When they heard, they were pricked in
their heart, and said unto Peter,” etc. We will not answer the question now, rather let
it press upon us as a question of deep moment for ourselves. Hearing of Christ
caused—
I. Compunction. What they heard was extremely simple. It was nothing more than what
we have all heard ten thousand times. The words of Zechariah were fulfilled, “They shall
look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn.” They had pierced Him,
and now the arrow of conviction pierced them.
1. I know not that any words of man could bring to our minds the same conviction of
sin without the grace of God by His Holy Spirit. And yet we do read of such a crime
as that of “crucifying the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame.” The
Epistle to the Hebrews even says of such persons that “it is impossible to renew them
again unto repentance.” God grant, therefore, that, in its worst form, that of actual
apostasy, none of us may yet have committed it! But there are approaches to that
crime. There are those who make very light of the purposes for which Christ died,
who contradict and go against the very object of that death; that He might put away
sin; that He might redeem us from all iniquity. Is there no one here who ever helped

196. to undo Christ’s dying work in another person’s soul? who ever tempted another
person to commit sin; either by ridiculing his scruples, or by making the way to sin
known to him, or by suggesting to his mind sinful images, or raising in his mind
sinful desires? That man, whoever he is, has done worse things than even the Jews
who gave Jesus to be crucified. Nothing, however cruel, done to the body, can be so
heinous as the least injury done to the soul. Alas! there are those now amongst us
who have more cause to be “pricked in their heart” than ever had those men on the
day of Pentecost.
2. And if not in this gravest sense, yet which of you has not cause to be sorrowful
when he thinks of his Lord and his God? What is a day to you but one succession of
slights done to your Saviour? How did it begin? Was not your morning prayer a poor,
cold, reluctant service? And so the day went full of anything and everything rather
than the thought and the love of Christ; full of the world, of vanity, of self. Then have
not you, have not we all, cause to feel compunction, and to cry, “God be merciful to
me a sinner”?
II. This compunction may well work in us anxiety; the conviction of sin the desire for
direction. “What shall we do?” It is the want of this desire which make our meetings for
worship too often cold and lifeless. What would preaching be, if it were in deed and in
truth addressed to a number of human hearts, every one of which was inwardly asking,
“What must I do? Preaching is a finger-post marking the traveller’s way, and saying to
wayfaring men, “This is the way; walk ye in it!” Let us come together, Sunday by Sunday,
in this spirit; crying, “What shall I do?” and doubt not but your cry will be heard: if man
should fail you, God Himself will be your preacher; your inward ear shall hear the voice
of His Spirit, warning, counselling, comforting, according to your need. (Dean
Vaughan.)
A new style of religious ministry
Peter’s sermon is something strikingly fresh in the history of preaching. Moses, Joshua,
the prophets, the Baptist, Christ had preached, but this preaching was in many respects
a new thing in the earth.
1. The occasion was new—the spiritual excitement of the disciples, produced by
Divine influence and leading to strange thoughts.
2. The substance was new. It was not a prophetic or a present, but an historic Christ
who had risen from the grave to the throne of the universe. No one had ever
preached Christ in this form before.
3. The impression of the sermon was new. In analysing the discourse we find—
I. A statement for refuting the charge of the scoffer.
1. The negative part includes three distinguishable points.
(1) A categorical denial: “These men are not drunken.” It is a libel.
(2) An intimation of the groundless-ness of the charge: “As ye suppose.” It was a
mere empty assumption.
(3) A suggestion of high improbability: “Seeing it is but the third hour.”
2. The positive part asserts that the phenomenon was the effect of Divine
inspiration: “It shall come to pass,” etc. The days of the Messiah are “the last days”;

197. no other dispensation of mercy will succeed them. The passage teaches that these
last days—
(1) Would be connected with an extraordinary effusion of the Spirit, not
limited—
(a) To any class.
(b) To any sex.
(c) To any age.
(2) Would be connected with prodigious revolutions. The words “I will show
wonders,” etc., may probably be regarded as a highly poetic representation of
what would follow, in government and churches, the working out of Divine ideas
and spiritual influences (Isa_13:10; Isa_34:4).
(3) Would be succeeded by a notable day—probably the destruction of Jerusalem
as a type of the Judgment.
(4) Would be connected with a possibility of salvation to all who seek it.
II. An argument for convicting the hearts of the hardened—an argument resolving itself
into four facts.
1. That Jesus had wrought miracles among them while living.
2. That His crucifixion was only the working out of the Divine plan. So great is God
that He can make His greatest enemies serve Him.
3. That His resurrection, which they could not deny, was a fact which accorded with
their Scriptures. In this quotation from the Psalms Peter—
(1) Assumes that the document which he quotes will be admitted by them as of
Divine authority.
(2) Takes for granted that the document refers to the resurrection of some one of
distinguished excellence.
(3) Reasons that the resurrection of the distinguished one predicted could not be
David.
(4) Concludes that the resurrection predicted must have referred to Christ.
III. An exhortation to the awakened. Peter directs them—
1. To the only blessings that could meet their case: Divine pardon and Divine
influence.
2. To the course of conduct essential to the attainment of those blessings.
3. To the precious promise of heaven to encourage them in the course of conduct
required. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Elements of power in Peter’s sermon
I. Adaptation to circumstances. There was a startling event; the sermon applied its
lessons. It was spontaneous: Peter had no time to prepare a history or even notes.
II. A scriptural basis. The main points were proved by the Bible. Nature and experience

198. are important, but do not carry conviction like the living Word.
III. Unsparing rebuke of sin. Their guilt was so pressed home that they were “pricked in
their hearts.”
IV. Christ at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.
V. The presence of the Holy Ghost. (Homiletic Monthly.)
Peter’s impulsiveness useful because wisely directed
Turn water into a proper receptacle, and its power is well-nigh overwhelming. Turn fire
into its proper channel, and it proves an unparalleled power. And these elements thus
controlled and brought into their legitimate course, will prove a blessing to man, but left
uncurbed, though still a power, it is destructive in its character. Even so it is with
impulsiveness, if sanctified by God’s grace, and thus turned within the divinely
appointed channel of redemption, it will prove a great blessing to an individual and
those with whom he associates; but left uncurbed, it becomes a destructive power to
happiness, peace, usefulness, and real success. (W. H. Blake.)
The power of the human voice
The true preacher has nothing to fear from any rival, for the human voice has no
adequate substitute. Even a gospel written is not equal to a gospel spoken. The heart will
not disdain any instrument of expression, but the instrument which it loves with all its
love is the human voice—all instruments in one, and all inspired. (J. Parker.)
A sermon to prick the conscience
If a man is able to produce beautiful roses and delight his congregation with them
Sunday after Sunday, by all means let him produce them: only let him take care to make
his roses as God makes His—never a rose without a thorn, to prick the conscience of the
hearer, and to spur him onward in his Divine life. Let the sermon please if possible; but,
like Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, it ought to prick the consciences of men. (J.
C. Jones.)
Plain preaching
In some churches the creed and commandments are painted so grand, in such fantastic
characters, and with such perplexing convolutions, that a plain man cannot possibly
make them out; and the truth is sometimes treated in the pulpit by the preacher as the
painter has painted it—the language is so grand, and the rhetoric so gorgeous, that the
people fail to realise the truth it may be supposed to embody.
Different styles of preaching
We are often told with great earnestness what is the best style for preaching; but the fact
is, that what would be the very best style for one man would perhaps be the worst
possible for another. In the most fervid declamation, the deepest principles may be
stated and pressed home; in the calmest and most logical reasoning, powerful motives

199. may be forced close upon the feelings; in discussing some general principle, precious
portions of the text of Scripture may be elucidated; and in simple exposition, general
principles may be effectively set forth. Let but the powers given to any man play with
their full force, aided by all the stores of Divine knowledge which continuous acquisition
from its fountain and its purest channels can obtain for him, and, the fire being
present—the fire of the Spirit’s power and influence—spiritual effects will result. The
discussion about style amounts very much to a discussion whether the rifle, the carbine,
the pistol, or the cannon, is the best weapon. Each is best in its place. The great point is,
that every one shall use the weapon best suited to him, that he charge it well, and see
that it is in a condition to strike fire. The criticisms which we often hear amount to this:
We admit that such-an-one is a good exhortational preacher, or a good doctrinal
preacher, or a good practical preacher, or a good expository preacher; but because he
has not the qualities of another—qualities, perhaps, the very opposite of his own—we
think lightly of him. That is, we admit that the carbine is a good carbine; but because it is
not a rifle, we condemn it; and because the rifle is not a cannon, we condemn it. (W.
Arthur, M. A.)
CONSTABLE, "Peter, again representing the apostles (cf. Acts 1:15), addressed the
assembled crowd. He probably gave this speech in the Temple outer courtyard (the court
of the Gentiles). He probably spoke in the vernacular, in Aramaic or possibly in Koine
(common) Greek, rather than in tongues. Peter had previously denied that he knew
Jesus, but now he was publicly representing Him. The apostle distinguished two types of
Jews in his audience: native Jews living within the province of Judea, and all who were
living in Jerusalem. The Diaspora contingent was probably the group most curious
about the tongues phenomenon. Peter began by refuting the charge of drunkenness. It
was too early in the day for that since it was only 9:00 a.m. The Jews began each day at
sundown. There were about 12 hours of darkness, and then there were 12 hours of
daylight. So the third hour of the day would have been about 9:00 a.m.
"Unfortunately, this argument was more telling in antiquity than today." [Note:
Longenecker, p. 275.]
"Scrupulous Jews drank wine only with flesh, and, on the authority of Exodus 16:8, ate
bread in the morning and flesh only in the evening. Hence wine could be drunk only in
the evening. This is the point of Peter's remark." [Note: Blaiklock, p. 58]
15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's
only nine in the morning!
BARNESAct 2:15 -
For these are not drunken ... - The word these here includes Peter himself, as well
as the others. The charge doubtless extended to all.

200. The third hour of the day - The Jews divided their day into twelve equal parts,
reckoning from sunrise to sunset. Of course the hours were longer in summer than in
winter. The third hour would correspond to our nine o’clock in the morning. The reasons
why it was so improbable that they would be drunk at that time were the following:
(1) It was the hour of morning worship, or sacrifice. It was highly improbable that, at
an hour usually devoted to public worship, they would be intoxicated.
(2) It was not usual for even drunkards to become drunk in the daytime, 1Th_5:7,
“They that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
(3) The charge was, that they had become drunk with wine. Ardent spirits, or alcohol,
that curse of our times, was unknown. It was very improbable that so much of the weak
wine commonly used in Judea should have been taken at that early hour as to produce
intoxication.
(4) It was a regular practice with the Jews not to eat or drink anything until after the
third hour of the day, especially on the Sabbath, and on all festival occasions. Sometimes
this abstinence was maintained until noon. So universal was this custom, that the
apostle could appeal to it with confidence, as a full refutation of the charge of
drunkenness at that hour. Even the intemperate were not accustomed to drink before
that hour. The following testimonies on this subject from Jewish writers are from
Lightfoot: “This was the custom of pious people in ancient times, that each one should
offer his morning prayers with additions in the synagogue, and then return home and
take refreshment” (Maimonides, Shabb., chapter 30). “They remained in the synagogue
until the sixth hour and a half, and then each one offered the prayer of the Minchah
before he returned home, and then he ate.” “The fourth is the hour of repast, when all
eat.” One of the Jewish writers says that the difference between thieves and honest men
might be known by the fact that the former might be seen in the morning at the fourth
hour eating and sleeping, and holding a cup in his hand. But for those who made
pretensions to religion, as the apostles did, such a thing was altogether improbable.
CLARKE, "But the third hour of the day - That is, about nine o’clock in the
morning, previously to which the Jews scarcely ever ate or drank, for that hour was the
hour of prayer. This custom appears to have been so common that even the most
intemperate among the Jews were not known to transgress it; Peter therefore spoke with
confidence when he said, these are not drunken - seeing it is but the third hour of the
day, previously to which even the intemperate did not use wine.
GILL Verse 15. For these are not drunken,.... Meaning not only the eleven apostles, but
the rest of the hundred and twenty, on whom also the Spirit was poured forth, and who
were endowed with his extraordinary gifts:
as ye suppose; and had given out that they were: and this shows the sense of being filled
with new wine; that they meant that they were really drunk, and which they believed, or at
least would have had others believe it; the unreasonableness of which supposition and
suggestion the apostle argues from the time of day:
seeing it is but the third hour of the day; or nine of the clock in the morning: for till this
time it was not usual with the Jews, if men of any sobriety or religion, so much as to taste
anything: the rules are these {h}, "it is forbidden a man to taste anything, or do any work
after break of day, until he has prayed the morning prayer."

201. Now "the morning prayer, the precept concerning it is, that a man should begin to pray as
soon as the sun shines out; and its time is until the end of the fourth hour, which is the
third part of the day {i}." So that a man might not taste anything, either of eatables or
drinkables, until the fourth hour, or ten o'clock in the morning: hence it is said {k}, that
"after they offered the daily sacrifice they ate bread, Nyev ebra Nmzb, "at the time of four
hours":" or on the fourth hour, and sooner than this it was not lawful to eat, even ever so
little; and whoever did, was not reckoned fit to be conversed with.
"Says R. Isaac {l}, whoever eats a green or herb before the fourth hour, it is forbidden to
converse with him; and the same says, it is unlawful to eat a raw herb before the fourth
hour. Amemar, and Mar Zutra, and Rab Ashe were sitting, and they brought before them
a raw herb before the fourth hour. Amemar and Rab Ashe ate, and Mar Zutra did not eat:
they said to him, what is thy meaning? (he replied) that R. Isaac said, whoever eats a herb
before the fourth hour, it is forbidden to converse with him."
The time for taking food by persons of different characters, is thus expressed by them:
"the first hour is the time of eating for the Lydians, the second for thieves, the third for
heirs, the fourth for labourers, the fifth for every man; is it not so? Saith R. Papa, the
fourth is the time of repast for every man; but (the truth is) the fourth is the time of eating
for every man, the fifth for labourers, and the sixth for the disciples of the wise men
{m}." Hence that advice {n}, "'at the fourth hour,' go into a cook's shop, (or tavern,) if
thou seest a man drinking wine, and holding the cup in his hands, and slumbering, inquire
about him, if he is one of the wise doctors, &c." The "gloss" upon it is, "at the fourth
hour, for that is the time of eating, when all go into the shops (or taverns) to eat."
Now whereas they that are drunken are drunken in the night, and not in the day, and much
less so soon in the day, when it was not usual, at least with religious men, to have tasted
anything by this time; and whereas the apostles, and their company, were sober and
religious men, and had never done thing to forfeit their character, it was unreasonable to
suppose anything of this kind in them.
HENRY, "His answer to their blasphemous calumny (Act_2:15): “These men are not
drunken, as you suppose. These disciples of Christ, that now speak with other tongues,
speak good sense, and know what they say, and so do those they speak to, who are led by
their discourses into the knowledge of the wonderful works of God. You cannot think
they are drunk, for it is but the third hour of the day,” nine of the clock in the morning;
and before this time, on the sabbaths and solemn feasts, the Jews did not eat nor drink:
nay, ordinarily, those that are drunk are drunk in the night, and not in the morning;
those are besotted drunkards indeed who, when they awake, immediately seek it yet
again, Pro_23:35.
III. His account of the miraculous effusion of the Spirit, which is designed to awaken
them all to embrace the faith of Christ, and to join themselves to his church. Two things
he resolves it into: - that it was the fulfilling of the scripture, and the fruit of Christ's
resurrection and ascension, and consequently the proof of both.
1. That it was the accomplishment of the prophecies of the Old Testament which related
to the kingdom of the Messiah, and therefore an evidence that this kingdom is come, and
the other predictions of it are fulfilled. He specifies one, that of the prophet Joel, Joe_

202. 2:28. It is observable that though Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spoke with
tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance, yet he did not set aside the scriptures, nor
think himself above them; nay, much of his discourse is quotation out of the Old
Testament, to which he appeals, and with which he proves what he says. Christ's
scholars never learn above their Bible; and the Spirit is given not to supersede the
scriptures, but to enable us to understand and improve the scriptures.
COKE, "Acts 2:15. Seeing it is but the third hour of the day.— Such of the Jews as
shamefullyimitatedtheirHeathenneighbours,anddranktoolargelyatthefestival,did not use to
take such criminal liberties till after the sacrifices were offered, and the oblations made;
but the morning sacrifices had not been now offered, to which, as some think, St. Peter
might allude. Josephus tells us, that, on the feast days, the Jews seldom ate or drank till
noon; which, if true, would render the calumny here referred to the more incredible
Jews were to abstain from drink before the first hour of prayer and so inconceivable
that faithful Jews would be drunk this early in the moring.
ELLICOTT, "(15) Seeing it is but the third hour of the day.—The appeal is made to the
common standard of right feeling. Drunkenness belonged to the night (1 Thessalonians
5:7). It was a mark of extremest baseness for men to “rise up early in the morning that
they may follow strong drink” (Isaiah 5:11; comp. also Ecclesiastes 10:16). “Were the
disciples likely to be drunk at 9 a. m., and that on the morning of the Day of Pentecost,
after a night spent in devotion, and when all decent Jews were fasting?
UNKNOWN, "V. 15 - These are not drunkThese are not drunkThese are not drunkThese are not drunk - Whether or not the scoffers really
meant what they said is anybody痴 guess. They may have suggested it to avoid
praise (cf. v.11) or because they did not understand the phenomenon, or
because they understood, but did not wish to believe, etc. As Peter stated,
drunkenness was unlikely, and offered a more reasonable interpretation of the
manifestation.
16 o, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
BARNES, "This is that - This is the fulfillment of that, or this was predicted. This
was the second part of Peter’s argument, to show that this was in accordance with the

203. predictions in their own Scriptures.
By the prophet Joel - Joe_2:28-32. This is not quoted literally, either from the
Hebrew or the Septuagint. The substance, however, is preserved.
CLARKE,"Spoken by the prophet Joel - The prophecy which he delivered so long
ago is just now fulfilled; and this is another proof that Jesus whom ye have crucified is
the Messiah.
GILL Verse 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. This affair, which
is a matter of wonder and amazement with some, and of speculation with others, and of
ridicule and contempt with the most, not the effect of wine, but the fulfilment of a
prophecy in Joel 2:28 and is that effusion of the Spirit there foretold; and this prophecy is
by the Jews themselves allowed to belong to the world to come, or to the times of the
Messiah. Some of their commentators {o} say, that it refers dytel, "to time to come"; by
which they frequently mean the times of the Messiah; and another says {p} expressly, that
they belong xyvmh tymyl, "to the days of the Messiah"; and in one of their Midrashes {q}
it is observed, that "the holy blessed God says in this world they prophesy single,
(particular persons,) but "in the world to come" all "Israel" shall become prophets, as it is
said, Joel 2:28 "and it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men," &c. So
expounds R. Tanchums with R. Aba."
COKE, "Acts 2:16. This is that which was spoken, &c.— Respecting this remarkable
prophesy, we refer to the notes on Joel 2:28; Joel 2:32 just observing, that if this
miraculous effusion of the Holy Spirit had not been foretold, the argument for the truth of
Christianity from it, would have been fully conclusive; but as it was referred to in the Old
Testament, it might dispose the minds of the Jews still more to regard it, as it was indeed
the more remarkable. The reader will not omit to compare the passages in the margin.
UNKNOWN,"V. 16 - this is what - Peter asserts that God had planned just such an event
to usher in a new era, the last days, in which the pouring out of the Spirit would be one
event. Turn it around, and Peter said: what was spoken by the prophet Joel is fulfilled in
what you are hearing, seeing, etc. Peter said, in effect, that everything he quoted from Joel
was then being fulfilled. Many try to take the prophecy apart, and asserts each piece must
be more or less literally fulfilled. Peter seems to assert the opposite. The gist of Joel was
the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. The subsequent events were results of
this cause. It is then unnecessary to look for or expect any fulfillment of Joel beyond the
apostles.
As a general conclusion in consideration of N.T. quotes from O.T. texts, one should not
assert what the N.T. does not assert. Contrariwise, if the N.T. asserts a fulfillment, then
the safest and best course is to accept it. As illustrations, see Matthew 1:23; 2:15, 17;
4:15-16; Acts 13:33-41; 15:15-17; etc. Peter certainly interprets Joel by that which he
said, and the interpretation was inspired. That is hard to argue with.
CONSTABLE 16-21, "Was Peter claiming that the Spirit's outpouring on the day of
Pentecost fulfilled Joel's prophecy (Joel 2:28-32)? Conservative commentators express

204. considerable difference of opinion on this point. This is an interpretive problem because
not only Joel but other Old Testament prophets prophesied that God would give His
Spirit to individual believers in the future (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:27;
Ezekiel 37:14; Ezekiel 39:29; Zechariah 12:10). Moreover John the Baptist also predicted
the pouring out of God's Spirit on believers (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John
1:33).
Some commentators believe that Peter was claiming that all of what Joel prophesied
happened that day.
"The fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel which the people had just witnessed was a sign
of the beginning of the Messianic age ..." [Note: F. J. Foakes-Jackson, The Acts of the
Apostles, p. 15.]
"What was happening was to be seen as the fulfillment of a prophecy by Joel.... Peter
regards Joel's prophecy as applying to the last days, and claims that his hearers are now
living in the last days. God's final act of salvation has begun to take place." [Note:
Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 73. For refutation of the view that the fulfillment of Joel 2 in
Acts 2 has removed any barriers to women clergy, see Bruce A. Baker, "The New
Covenant and Egalitarianism," Journal of Dispensational Theology 12:37 (December
2008):27-51.]
"For Peter, this outpouring of the Spirit began the period known in Scripture as the 'last
days' or the 'last hour' (1 John 2:18), and thus the whole Christian era is included in the
expression." [Note: Kent, p. 32. See also Longenecker, pp. 275-76; John R. W. Stott, The
Message of Acts, p. 73; Barrett, 1:135-39; and Robertson, 3:26-28.]
Other scholars believe God fulfilled Joel's prophecy only partially. Some of these, for
example, believed that He fulfilled Acts 2:17-18 on the day of Pentecost, but He will yet
fulfill Acts 2:19-21 in the future. [Note: Ironside, pp. 46-48; Zane C. Hodges, "A
Dispensational Understanding of Acts 2," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 168-71. See
also Homer Heater Jr., "Evidence from Joel and Amos," in A Case for Premillennialism:
A New Consensus, pp. 157-64; Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Back Toward the Future: Hints for
Interpreting Biblical Prophecy, p. 43; and Daniel J. Treier, "The Fulfillment of Joel 2:28-
32: A Multiple-Lens Approach," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40:1
(March 1997):13-26.] I believe the following explanation falls into this category.
"This clause does not mean, 'This is like that'; it means Pentecost fulfilled what Joel had
described. However, the prophecies of Joel quoted in Acts 2:19-20 were not fulfilled. The
implication is that the remainder would be fulfilled if Israel would repent." [Note:
Toussaint, p. 358. Cf. Pentecost, p. 271.]
"Certainly the outpouring of the Spirit on a hundred and twenty Jews could not in itself
fulfill the prediction of such outpouring 'upon all flesh'; but it was the beginning of the
fulfillment." [Note: Bruce, Commentary on . . ., p. 68. See also Bock, Dispensationalism,
. . ., pp. 47-48; Ladd, pp. 1127-28; Kenneth L. Barker, "The Scope and Center of Old and
New Testament Theology and Hope," in Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church, pp.
325-27; Robert L. Saucy, The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism, pp. 74, 178-80;
and D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, p. 61.]
Still others believe Peter was not claiming the fulfillment of any of Joel's prophecy. They
believe he was only comparing what had happened with what would happen in the future

205. as Joel predicted.
"Peter was not saying that the prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost or even that it was
partially fulfilled; knowing from Joel what the Spirit could do, he was simply reminding
the Jews that they should have recognized what they were then seeing as a work of the
Spirit also. He continued to quote from Joel at length only in order to be able to include
the salvation invitation recorded in Acts 2:21." [Note: Charles C. Ryrie, The Acts of the
Apostles, pp. 20-21. See also McGee, 4:519; and Warren W. Wiersbe, "Joel," in The
Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 333.]
"It seems quite obvious that Peter did not quote Joel's prophecy in the sense of its
fulfillment in the events of Pentecost, but purely as a prophetic illustration of those
events. As a matter of fact, to avoid confusion, Peter's quotation evidently purposely goes
beyond any possible fulfillment at Pentecost by including events in the still future day of
the Lord, preceding kingdom establishment (Acts 2:19-20).... In the reference there is not
the slightest hint at a continual fulfillment during the church age or a coming fulfillment
toward the end of the church age." [Note: Merrill F. Unger, "The Significance of
Pentecost," Bibliotheca Sacra 122:486 (April-June 1965):176-77. See also John Nelson
Darby, Meditations on the Acts of the Apostles, 1:17; and idem, Synopsis of the Books of
the Bible, 4:13. Underlining added for clarification.]
"Virtually nothing that happened in Acts 2 is predicted in Joel 2. What actually did
happen in Acts two (the speaking in tongues) was not mentioned by Joel. What Joel did
mention (dreams, visions, the sun darkened, the moon turned into blood) did not happen
in Acts two. Joel was speaking of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the whole of the
nation of Israel in the last days, while Acts two speaks of the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on the Twelve Apostles or, at most, on the 120 in the Upper Room. This is a far cry
from Joel's all flesh. However, there was one point of similarity, an outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, resulting in unusual manifestations. Acts two does not change or reinterpret
Joel two, nor does it deny that Joel two will have a literal fulfillment when the Holy Spirit
will be poured out on the whole nation of Israel. It is simply applying it to a New
Testament event because of one point of similarity." [Note: Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum,
Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, pp. 844-45. See also Arno C.
Gaebelein, The Acts of the Apostles: An Exposition, p. 53; Thomas D. Ice,
"Dispensational Hermeneutics," in Issues in Dispensationalism, p. 41; Renald E.
Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church,
pp. 36-38; Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah, p. 215; and Wiersbe, 1:409. Underlining added
for clarification.]
"Peter did not state that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The details
of Joel 2:30-32 (cp. Acts 2:19-20) were not realized at that time. Peter quoted Joel's
prediction as an illustration of what was taking place in his day, and as a guarantee that
God would yet completely fulfill all that Joel had prophesied. The time of that fulfillment
is stated here ('aferward,' cp. Hosea 3:5), i.e. in the latter days when Israel turns to the
LORD." [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 930. Underlining added for
clarification.]
I prefer this second view. Some writers have pointed out that the phrase "this is what"
(touto estin to) was a particular type of expression called a "pesher."
"His [Peter's] use of the Joel passage is in line with what since the discovery of the DSS

206. [Dead Sea Scrolls] we have learned to call a 'pesher' (from Heb. peser, 'interpretation'). It
lays all emphasis on fulfillment without attempting to exegete the details of the biblical
prophecy it 'interprets.'" [Note: Longenecker, p. 275.]
Peter seems to have been claiming that what God had predicted through Joel for the end
times was analogous to the events of Pentecost. The omission of "fulfilled" here may be
deliberate to help his hearers avoid concluding that what was happening was the complete
fulfillment of what Joel predicted. It was similar to what Joel predicted.
Peter made a significant change in Joel's prophecy as he quoted it from the Septuagint,
and this change supports the view that he was not claiming complete fulfillment. First, he
changed "after this" (Joel 2:28) to "in the last days" (Acts 2:17). In the context of Joel's
prophecy the time in view is the day of the Lord: the Tribulation (Joel 2:30-31) and the
Millennium (Joel 2:28-29). Peter interpreted this time as the last days. Many modern
interpreters believe that when Peter said "the last days" he meant the days in which he
lived. However, he was not in the Tribulation or the Millennium. Thus he looked forward
to the last days as being future. The "last days" is a phrase that some New Testament
writers used to describe the age in which we live (2 Timothy 3:1; Hebrews 1:2; James
5:3; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 Peter 1:20; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18; Judges 1:18), but in view of what
Joel wrote that must not be its meaning here. In the Old Testament "the last days" refers
to the days before the age to come, namely, the age of Messiah's earthly reign. That is
what it means here.
There are some similarities between what Joel prophesied would come "after this" (Joel
2:28) and what happened on Pentecost. The similarities are why Peter quoted Joel. Yet
the differences are what enable us to see that this prophecy was not completely fulfilled
then. For example, God had not poured out His Spirit on "all mankind" (Acts 2:17), as He
will in the future. He had only poured out His Spirit on some believers in Jesus. Joel
referred to deliverance in the Tribulation (Joel 2:32), but Peter applied this offer to those
who needed salvation in his audience. Joel referred to Yahweh as the LORD, but Peter
probably referred to Jesus as the Lord (cf. Acts 1:24).
Many dispensationalists understand Peter as saying that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled
initially or partially on Pentecost (view two above). Progressive dispensationalists believe
that the eschatological kingdom age of which Joel spoke had begun. Therefore the
kingdom had come in its first phase, which they view as the church. The New Covenant
had begun, and the Holy Spirit's indwelling was a sign of that, but that does not mean the
messianic reign had begun. The Old Covenant went into effect some 500 years before any
king reigned over Israel, and the New Covenant went into effect at least 2,000 years
before Messiah will reign over Israel and the world. The beginning of these covenants did
not signal the beginning of a king's reign. One progressive dispensationalist wrote, "... the
new covenant is correlative to the kingdom of God ..." [Note: Saucy, The Case . . ., p.
134.] I disagree with this.
Not all normative dispensationalists agree on the interpretation. By "normative
dispensationalists" I mean traditional dispensationalists, not progressives, including
classical and revised varieties. [Note: See Craig A. Blaising, Progressive
Dispensationalism, pp. 9-56, for these labels.] Some of them, like Toussaint, see a partial

207. fulfillment on Pentecost, while others, like Ryrie, see no fulfillment then.
How one views the church will affect how he or she understands this passage. If one
views the church as the first stage of the messianic kingdom, as progressive
dispensationalists do, then he or she may see this as the fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecies about the outpouring of the Spirit in the eschatological age. If one views the
church as distinct from the messianic (Davidic) kingdom, then one may or may not see
this as a partial fulfillment. It seems more consistent to me to see it as a partial fulfillment
and as a similar outpouring, specifically the one Jesus predicted in the Upper Room (John
14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7). Some normative dispensationalists who
hold the no fulfillment position distinguish baptism with the Spirit, the future event, from
baptism by the Spirit, the Pentecost event. [Note: E.g., Merrill F. Unger, The Baptizing
Work of the Holy Spirit.] There does not seem to me to be adequate exegetical basis for
this distinction. [Note: See Saucy, The Case . . ., p. 181.]
"Realized eschatologists and amillennialists usually take Peter's inclusion of such
physical imagery [i.e., "blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke," and "the sun will be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood"] in a spiritual way, finding in what happened at
Pentecost the spiritual fulfillment of Joel's prophecy-a fulfillment not necessarily tied to
any natural phenomena. This, they suggest, offers an interpretative key to the
understanding of similar portrayals of natural phenomena and apocalyptic imagery in the
OT." [Note: Longenecker, p. 276.]
By repeating, "And they will prophesy" (Acts 2:18), which is not in Joel's text, Peter
stressed prophecy as a most important similarity between what Joel predicted and what
his hearers were witnessing. God was revealing something new through the apostles.
Peter proceeded to explain what that was.
Another variation of interpretation concerning the Joel passage that some
dispensationalists espouse is this. They believe that Peter thought Joel's prophecy could
have been fulfilled quite soon if the Jewish leaders had repented and believed in Jesus.
This may be what Peter thought, but it is very difficult to be dogmatic about what might
have been in Peter's mind when he did not explain it. Jesus had told the parable of the
talents to correct those "who supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear
immediately" (Luke 19:11-27). He also predicted that "the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you [Jews], and given to a nation producing the fruit of it" (Matthew 21:43).
Daniel predicted that seven years of terrible trouble were coming on the Jews (Daniel
9:24-27; cf. Matthew 24-25). So there had to be at least seven years of tribulation
between Jesus' ascension and His return. If advocates of this view are correct, Peter either
did not know this, or he forgot it, or he interpreted the Tribulation as a judgment that God
would not send if Israel repented. Of course, Peter did not understand, or he forgot, what
the Old Testament revealed about God's acceptance of Gentiles (cf. ch. 10). Peter may
have thought that Jesus would return and set up the kingdom immediately if the Jewish
leaders repented, but it is hard to prove conclusively that God was reoffering the kingdom
to Israel at this time. There are no direct statements to that effect in the text. More
comments about this reoffer of the kingdom view will follow later.

208. 17" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
The last days began with the first coming and they will end with his second coming.
The last days mentioned in verse 17 denote the closing period of the present age (2
Pet. 3:3; Jude 18), which began from Christ’s first coming (1 Pet. 1:20) and will last
until Christ’s second coming (see note 12 in 2 Tim. 3).
BARNES, "It shall come to pass - It shall happen, or shall occur.
In the last days - Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, after these things, or
afterward. The expression the last days, however, occurs frequently in the Old
Testament: Gen_49:1, Jacob called his sons, that he might tell them what should happen
to them in the last days, that is, in future times - Heb. in after times; Mic_4:1, “In the
last days (Hebrew: in later times) the mountain of the Lord’s house,” etc.; Isa_2:2, “in
the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the
mountains,” etc. The expression then properly denoted “the future times” in general.
But, as the coming of the Messiah was to the eye of a Jew the most important event in
the coming ages - the great, glorious, and crowning scene in all the vast futurity, the
phrase came to be regarded as properly expressive of that. It stood in opposition to the
usual denomination of earlier times.
It was a phrase in contrast with the days of the patriarchs, the kings, the prophets, etc.
The last days, or the closing period of the world, were the days of the Messiah. It does
not appear from this, and it certainly is not implied in the expression, that they supposed
the world would then come to an end. Their views were just the contrary. They
anticipated a long and glorious time under the dominion of the Messiah, and to this
expectation they were led by the promise that his kingdom should be forever; that of the
increase of his government there should be no end, etc. This expression was understood
by the writers of the New Testament as referring undoubtedly to the times of the gospel.
And hence they often used it as denoting that the time of the expected Messiah had
come, but not to imply that the world was drawing near to an end: Heb_1:2, “God hath
spoken in these last days by his Son”; 1Pe_1:20, “Was manifested in these last times for
you”; 2Pe_3:3; 1Pe_1:5; 1Jo_2:18, “Little children, it is the last time,” etc.; Jud_1:18.
The expression the last day is applied by our Saviour to the resurrection and the day of
judgment, Joh_6:39-40, Joh_6:44-45; Joh_11:24; Joh_12:48. Here the expression
means simply “in those future times, when the Messiah shall have come.”

209. I will pour out of my Spirit - The expression in Hebrew is, “I will pour out my
Spirit.” The word “pour” is commonly applied to water or to blood, “to pour it out,” or
“to shed it,” Isa_57:6; to tears, “to pour them out,” that is,” to weep, etc., Psa_42:4; 1Sa_
1:15. It is applied to water, to wine, or to blood, in the New Testament, Mat_9:17; Rev_
16:1; Act_22:20, “The blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed.” It conveys also the idea of
“communicating largely or freely,” as water is poured freely from a fountain, Tit_3:5-6,
“The renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly.” Thus, Job_36:27,
“They (the clouds) pour down rain according to the vapor thereof”; Isa_44:3, “I will
pour water on him that is thirsty”; Isa_45:8, “Let the skies pour down righteousness”;
Mal_3:10, “I will pour you out a blessing.” It is also applied to fury and anger, when God
intends to say that he will not spare, but will signally punish, Psa_69:24; Jer_10:25. It is
not infrequently applied to the Spirit, Pro_1:23; Isa_44:3; Zec_12:10. As thus used it
means that he will bestow large measures of spiritual influences. As the Spirit renews
and sanctifies people, so to pour out the Spirit is to grant freely his influences to renew
and sanctify the soul.
My Spirit - The Spirit here denotes the Third Person of the Trinity, promised by the
Saviour, and sent to finish his work, and apply it to people. The Holy Spirit is regarded
as the source or conveyer of all the blessings which Christians experience. Hence, he
renews the heart, Joh_3:5-6. He is the source of all proper feelings and principles in
Christians, or he produces the Christian graces, Gal_5:22-25; Tit_3:5-7. The spread and
success of the gospel is attributed to him, Isa_32:15-16. Miraculous gifts are traced to
him, especially the various gifts with which the early Christians were endowed, 1Co_
12:4-10. The promise that he would pour out his Spirit means that he would, in the time
of the Messiah, impart a large measure of those influences which it was his special
province to communicate to people. A part of them were communicated on the day of
Pentecost, in the miraculous endowment of the power of speaking foreign languages, in
the wisdom of the apostles, and in the conversion of the three thousand,
Upon all flesh - The word “flesh” here means “persons,” or “people.” See the notes
on Rom_1:3. The word “all” here does not mean every individual, but every class or rank
of individuals. It is to be limited to the cases specified immediately. The influences were
not to be confined to any one class, but were to be communicated to all kinds of persons
- old men, youth, servants, etc. Compare 1Ti_2:1-4.
And your sons and your daughters - Your children. It would seem that females
shared in the remarkable influences of the Holy Spirit. Philip the Evangelist had four
daughters which did prophesy, Act_21:9. It is probable also that the females of the
church of Corinth partook of this gift, though they were forbidden to exercise it in
public, 1Co_14:34. The office of prophesying, whatever was meant by that, was not
confined to the people among the Jews: Exo_15:20, “Miriam, the prophetess, took a
timbrel,” etc.; Jdg_4:4, “Deborah, a prophetess, judged Israel”; 2Ki_22:14. See also
Luk_2:36, “There was one Anna, a prophetess,” etc.
Shall prophesy - The word “prophesy” is used in a great variety of senses:
(1) It means to predict or foretell future events, Mat_11:13; Mat_15:7.
(2) To divine, to conjecture, to declare as a prophet might, Mat_26:68, “Prophesy who
smote thee.”
(3) To celebrate the praises of God, being under a divine influence, Luk_1:67. This
seems to have been a considerable part of the employment in the ancient schools of the
prophet, 1Sa_10:5; 1Sa_19:20; 1Sa_30:15.
(4) To teach - as no small part of the office of the prophets was to teach the doctrines
of religion, Mat_7:22, “Have we not prophesied in thy name?”

210. (5) It denotes, then, in general, “to speak under a divine influence,” whether in
foretelling future events, in celebrating the praises of God, in instructing others in the
duties of religion, or “in speaking foreign languages under that influence.” In this last
sense the word is used in the New Testament, to denote those who were miraculously
endowed with the power of speaking foreign languages, Act_19:6. The word is also used
to denote “teaching, or speaking in intelligible language, in opposition to speaking a
foreign tongue,” 1Co_14:1-5. In this place it means that they would speak under a divine
influence, and is specially applied to the power of speaking in a foreign tongue.
Your young men shall see visions - The will of God in former times was
communicated to the prophets in various ways. One was by visions, and hence one of the
most usual names of the prophets was seers. The name seer was first given to that class
of men, and was superseded by the name prophet, 1Sa_9:9, “He that is now called a
prophet was beforetime called a seer”; 1Sa_9:11, 1Sa_9:18-19; 2Sa_24:11; 1Ch_29:29,
etc. This name was given from the manner in which the divine will was communicated,
which seems to have been by throwing the prophet into an ecstasy, and then by causing
the vision, or the appearance of the objects or events to pass before the mind. The
prophet looked upon the passing scene, the often splendid diorama as it actually
occurred, and recorded it as it appeared to his mind. Hence, he recorded rather the
succession of images than the times in which they would occur. These visions occurred
sometimes when they were asleep, and sometimes during a prophetic ecstasy, Dan_
2:28; Dan_7:1-2, Dan_7:15; Dan_8:2; Eze_11:24; Gen_15:1; Num_12:6; Job_4:13; Job_
7:14; Eze_1:1; Eze_8:3.
Often the prophet seemed to be transferred or transported to another place from
where he was, and the scene in a distant land or age passed before the mind, Eze_8:3;
Eze_40:2; Eze_11:24; Dan_8:2. In this case the distant scene or time passed before the
prophet, and he recorded it as it appeared to him. That this did not cease before the
times of the gospel is evident: Act_9:10, “To Ananias said the Lord in a vision,” etc.;
Act_9:12, “and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias,” etc.; that is, Paul hath seen
Ananias represented to him, though absent; he has had an image of him coming in to
him; Act_10:3, Cornelius “saw in a vision evidently an angel of God coming to him,” etc.
This was one of the modes by which in former times God made known his will; and the
language of the Jews came to express a revelation in this manner. Though there were
strictly no visions on the day of Pentecost, yet that was one scene under the great
economy of the Messiah under which God would make known his will in a manner as
clear as he did to the ancient Jews.
Your old men shall dream dreams - The will of God in former times was made
known often in this manner; and there are several instances recorded in which it was
done under the gospel. God informed Abimelech in a dream that Sarah was the wife of
Abraham, Gen_20:3. He spoke to Jacob in a dream, Gen_31:11; to Laban, Gen_31:24; to
Joseph, Gen_37:5; to the butler and baker, Gen_40:5; to Pharaoh, Gen_41:1-7; to
Solomon, 1Ki_3:5; to Daniel, Dan_2:3; Dan_7:1. It was prophesied by Moses that in this
way God would make known his will, Num_12:6. It occurred even in the times of the
gospel. Joseph was warned in a dream, Mat_1:20; Mat_2:12-13, Mat_2:19, Mat_2:22.
Pilate’s wife was also troubled in this manner about the conduct of the Jews to Christ,
Mat_27:19. As this was one way in which the will of God was made known formerly to
people, so the expression here denotes simply that His will would be made known; that it
would be one characteristic of the times of the gospel that God would reveal Himself to
mankind. The ancients probably had some mode of determining whether their dreams
were divine communications, or whether they were, as they are now, the mere erratic
wanderings of the mind when unrestrained and unchecked by the will. At present no

211. confidence is to be put in dreams. Compare the introduction to Isaiah, section 7, 12.
CLARKE, "In the last days - The time of the Messiah; and so the phrase was
understood among the Jews.
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh - Rabbi Tanchum says, “When Moses
laid his hands upon Joshua, the holy blessed God said, In the time of the old text, each
individual prophet prophesied; but, in the times of the Messiah, all the Israelites shall be
prophets.” And this they build on the prophecy quoted in this place by Peter.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - The word prophesy is not to be
understood here as implying the knowledge and discovery of future events; but signifies
to teach and proclaim the great truths of God, especially those which concerned
redemption by Jesus Christ.
Your young men shall see visions, etc. - These were two of the various ways in
which God revealed himself under the Old Testament. Sometimes he revealed himself by
a symbol, which was a sufficient proof of the Divine presence: fire was the most
ordinary, as it was the most expressive, symbol. Thus he appeared to Moses on Mount
Horeb, and afterwards at Sinai; to Abraham, Genesis 15:1-21; to Elijah, 1Ki_19:11, 1Ki_
19:12. At other times he revealed himself by angelic ministry: this was frequent,
especially in the days of the patriarchs, of which we find many instances in the book of
Genesis.
By dreams he discovered his will in numerous instances: see the remarkable case of
Joseph, Gen_37:5, Gen_37:9; of Jacob, Gen_28:1, etc.; Gen_46:2, etc.; of Pharaoh,
Gen_41:1-7; of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan_4:10-17. For the different ways in which God
communicated the knowledge of his will to mankind, see the note on Gen_15:1.
GILL Verse 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days,.... In Joel it is, "afterwards";
instead of which Peter puts, "in the last days"; the sense is the same: and so R. David
Kimchi, a celebrated commentator with the Jews, observes, that "afterwards" is the same
"as in the last days," and which design the times of the Messiah; for according to a rule
given by the same writer on Isaiah 2:2 wherever the last days are mentioned, the days of
the Messiah are intended.
Saith God, or "the Lord," as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read. This clause is
added by Peter, and is not in Joel; and very rightly, since what follow are the words of
God speaking in his own person:
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; not "upon every animal," as the Ethiopic version
renders it: this is extending the sense too far, as the interpretation the above named
Jewish writer gives, limits it too much, restraining it to the people of Israel. It being a
maxim with them, that the Shekinah does not dwell but in the land of Israel; and also that
prophecy, or a spirit of prophecy, does not dwell on any but in the holy land {r}. For
though as it regards the first times of the Gospel, it may chiefly respect some persons
among the Jews, yet not to the exclusion of the Gentiles; and it designs all sorts of
persons of every age, sex, state, and condition, as the distribution afterwards shows.
Jarchi's note upon it is, "upon everyone whose heart is made as tender as flesh; as for
example, "and I will give an heart of flesh," Ezekiel 36:26." By the Spirit is meant the

212. gifts of the Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge, of understanding the mysteries of
the Gospel, of explaining the Scriptures, and of speaking with tongues; and by the
pouring of it out, is intended the abundance and great plenty of the gifts and graces of the
Spirit bestowed; but yet not all of him, or all his gifts and grace in the large extent of
them: therefore it is said, not "my Spirit," but "of my Spirit," or "out of it"; as out of an
unfathomable, immeasurable, and inexhaustible fountain and fulness:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: or foretell things to come, as Agabus,
and the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, Acts 21:9
and your young men shall see visions; as Ananias, Acts 9:10, and Peter, Acts 10:17 and
Paul when a young man, Acts 22:17 and John, the youngest of the apostles, Revelation
1:10 though he was in years, when he saw the visions in the Revelations:
and your old men shall dream dreams; or shall have night visions, as Paul at Troas, Acts
16:9 and in his voyage when at sea, Acts 27:23. The order of the words is inverted, this
last clause stands first in Joel; perhaps the change is made, because the apostles were
young men, on whom the Spirit was poured; and the thing was the more wonderful that so
it should be, than if they had been old men.
HENRY, 17-21, "The text itself that Peter quotes, Act_2:17-21. It refers to the last
days, the times of the gospel, which are called the last days because the dispensation of
God's kingdom among men, which the gospel sets up, is the last dispensation of divine
grace, and we are to look for no other than the continuation of this to the end of time.
Or, in the last days, that is, a great while after the ceasing of prophecy in the Old
Testament church. Or, in the days immediately preceding the destruction of the Jewish
nation, in the last days of that people, just before that great and notable day of the Lord
spoken of, Act_2:20. “It was prophesied of and promised, and therefore you ought to
expect it, and not to be surprised at it; to desire it, and bid it welcome, and not to dispute
it, as not worth taking notice of.” The apostle quotes the whole paragraph, for it is good
to take scripture entire; now it was foretold,
[1.] That there should be a more plentiful and extensive effusion of the Spirit of grace
from on high than had ever yet been. The prophets of the Old Testament had been filled
with the Holy Ghost, and it was said of the people of Israel that God gave them his good
Spirit to instruct them, Neh_9:20. But now the Spirit shall be poured out, not only upon
the Jews, but upon all flesh, Gentiles as well as Jews, though yet Peter himself did not
understand it so, as appears, Act_11:17. Or, upon all flesh, that is, upon some of all ranks
and conditions of men. The Jewish doctors taught that the Spirit came only upon wise
and rich men, and such as were of the seed of Israel; but God will not tie himself to their
rules.
[2.] That the Spirit should be in them a Spirit of prophecy; by the Spirit they should be
enabled to foretel things to come, and to preach the gospel to every creature. This power
shall be given without distinction of sex - not only your sons, but your daughters shall
prophesy; without distinction of age - both your young men and your old men shall see
visions, and dream dreams, and in them receive divine revelations, to be communicated
to the church; and without distinction of outward condition - even the servants and
handmaids shall receive of the Spirit, and shall prophesy (Act_2:18); or, in general, men
and women, whom God calls his servants and his handmaids. In the beginning of the age
of prophecy in the Old Testament there were schools of the prophets, and, before that,

213. the Spirit of prophecy came upon the elders of Israel that were appointed to the
government; but now the Spirit shall be poured out upon persons of inferior rank, and
such as were not brought up in the schools of the prophets, for the kingdom of the
Messiah is to be purely spiritual. The mention of the daughters (Act_2:17) and the
handmaidens (Act_2:18) would make one think that the women who were taken notice
of (Act_1:14) received the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as well as the men.
Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters who did prophesy (Act_21:9), and St. Paul,
finding abundance of the gifts both of tongues and prophecy in the church of Corinth,
saw it needful to prohibit women's use of those gifts in public, 1Co_14:26, 1Co_14:34.
[3.] That one great thing which they should prophesy of should be the judgment that
was coming upon the Jewish nation, for this was the chief thing that Christ himself had
foretold (Mt. 24) at his entrance into Jerusalem (Luk_19:41); and when he was going to
die (Luk_23:29); and these judgments were to be brought upon them to punish for their
contempt of the gospel, and their opposition to it, though it came to them thus proved.
Those that would not submit to the power of God's grace, in this wonderful effusion of
his Spirit, should fall and lie under the pourings out of the vials of his wrath. Those shall
break that will not bend. First, The destruction of Jerusalem, which was about forty
years after Christ's death, is here called that great and notable day of the Lord, because
it put a final period to the Mosaic economy; the Levitical priesthood and the ceremonial
law were thereby for ever abolished and done away. The desolation itself was such as was
never brought upon any place or nation, either before or since. It was the day of the
Lord, for it was the day of his vengeance upon that people for crucifying Christ, and
persecuting his ministers; it was the year of recompences for that controversy; yea, and
for all the blood of the saints and martyrs, from the blood of righteous Abel, Mat_23:35.
It was a little day of judgment; it was a notable day: in Joel it is called a terrible day, for
so it was to men on earth; but here epiphanē (after the Septuagint), a glorious, illustrious
day, for so it was to Christ in heaven; it was the epiphany, his appearing, so he himself
spoke of it, Mat_24:30. The destruction of the Jews was the deliverance of the
Christians, who were hated and persecuted by them; and therefore that day was often
spoken of by the prophets of that time, for the encouragement of suffering Christians,
that the Lord was at hand, the coming of the Lord drew nigh, the Judge stood before
the door, Jam_5:8, Jam_5:9. Secondly, The terrible presages of that destruction are
here foretold: There shall be wonders in heaven above, the sun turned into darkness
and the moon into blood; and signs too in the earth beneath, blood and fire. Josephus,
in his preface to his history of the wars of the Jews, speaks of the signs and prodigies
that preceded them, terrible thunders, lightnings, and earthquakes; there was a fiery
comet that hung over the city for a year, and a flaming sword was seen pointing down
upon it; a light shone upon the temple and the altar at midnight, as if it had been noon-
day. Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of these presages: The blood of the Son of God, the
fire of the Holy Ghost now appearing, the vapour of the smoke in which Christ ascended,
the sun darkened, and the moon made blood, at the time of Christ's passion, were all
loud warnings given to that unbelieving people to prepare for the judgments coming
upon them. Or, it may be applied, and very fitly, to the previous judgments themselves
by which that desolation was brought on. The blood points at the wars of the Jews with
the neighbouring nations, with the Samaritans, Syrians, and Greeks, in which
abundance of blood was shed, as there was also in their civil wars, and the struggles of
the seditious (as they called them), which were very bloody; there was no peace to him
that went out nor to him that came in. The fire and vapour of smoke, here foretold,
literally came to pass in the burning of their cities, and towns, and synagogues, and
temple at last. And this turning of the sun into darkness, and the moon into blood,

214. bespeaks the dissolution of their government, civil and sacred, and the extinguishing of
all their lights. Thirdly, The signal preservation of the Lord's people is here promised
(Act_2:21): Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus (which is the
description of a true Christian, 1Co_1:2) shall be saved, shall escape that judgment
which shall be a type and earnest of everlasting salvation. In the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, there was a remnant sealed to be hid in the day of the
Lord's anger; and in the destruction by the Romans not one Christian perished. Those
that distinguish themselves by singular piety shall be distinguished by special
preservation. And observe, the saved remnant are described by this, that they are a
praying people: they call on the name of the Lord, which intimates that they are not
saved by any merit or righteousness of their own, but purely by the favour of God, which
must be sued out by prayer. It is the name of the Lord which they call upon that is their
strong tower.
(2.) The application of this prophecy to the present event (Act_2:16): This is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel; it is the accomplishment of that, it is the full
accomplishment of it. This is that effusion of the Spirit upon all flesh which should
come, and we are to look for no other, no more than we are to look for another Messiah;
for as our Messiah ever lives in heaven, reigning and interceding for his church on earth,
so this Spirit of grace, the Advocate, or Comforter, that was given now, according to the
promise, will, according to the same promise, continue with the church on earth to the
end, and will work all its works in it and for it, and every member of it, ordinary and
extraordinary, by means of the scriptures and the ministry.
JAMISON,"in the last days — meaning, the days of the Messiah (Isa_2:2); as
closing all preparatory arrangements, and constituting the final dispensation of God’s
kingdom on earth.
pour out of my Spirit — in contrast with the mere drops of all preceding time.
upon all flesh — hitherto confined to the seed of Abraham.
sons ... daughters ... young men ... old men ... servants ... handmaidens —
without distinction of sex, age, or rank.
see visions ... dream dreams — This is a mere accommodation to the ways in
which the Spirit operated under the ancient economy, when the prediction was
delivered; for in the New Testament, visions and dreams are rather the exception than
the rule.
UNKNOWN, "V. 17 - pour out my spiritpour out my spiritpour out my spiritpour out my spirit - As with 2:38, the question is: was the
Spirit Himself given (poured out) or gifts from the Spirit? The O.T. Hebrew text
says "poured out" but that doesn稚 settle the matter. It seems from various texts
that either position could be true insofar as the apostles were concerned.
Certainly if the person of the Holy Spirit is meant, it can only be in a manner of
speaking, as best we know, since we can稚 conceive of one distinct person
being in twelve different bodies at the same time. However, since God is not
limited as we are, such is quite possible. See John 14:23; Rom. 5:59; Eph. 1:13;

215. I Cor. 6:19; II Cor. 1:21,22; I Thess. 4:8. The end result was what was important,
and we can see that for ourselves.
CALVIN, "17. It shall be in the last days. By this effect he proveth that the
Messiah is already revealed. Joel, indeed, doth not express the last days, (Joel
2:29;) but for as much as he intreateth of the perfect restoring of the Church, it
is not to be doubted but that that prophecy belongeth unto the last age alone.
Wherefore, that which Peter bringeth doth no whit dissent from Joel's
meaning; but he doth only add this word for exposition sake, that the Jews
might know that the Church could by no other means be restored, which was
then decayed, but by being renewed by the Spirit of God. Again, because the
repairing of the Church should be like unto a new world, therefore Peter saith
that it shall be in the last days. And surely this was a common and familiar
thing among the Jews, that all those great promises concerning the blessed and
well-ordered state of the Church should not be fulfilled until Christ, by his
coming, should restore all things. Wherefore, it was out of all doubt amongst
them, that that which is cited out of Joel doth appertain unto the last time.
Now, by the last days, or fullness of time, is meant the stable and firm
condition of the Church, in the manifestation or revealing of Christ.
I will pour out my Spirit. He intendeth to prove, (as we have already said,) that
the Church can be repaired by no other means, saving only by the giving of the
Holy Spirit. Therefore, forasmuch as they did all hope that the restoring drew
near, he accuseth them of sluggishness, because they do not once think upon
the way and means thereof. And when the prophet saith, "I will pour out," it is,
without all question, that he meant by this word to note the great abundance of
the Spirit. And we must take I will pour out of my Spirit in the same sense, as
if he had said simply, I will pour out my Spirit. For these latter words are the
words of the prophet. But Peter followed the Grecians, who translate the
Hebrew word x, (cheth,) apo. Therefore, some men do in vain more subtlely
play the philosophers; because, howsoever the words be changed, yet must we
still retain and keep the prophet's meaning. Nevertheless, when God is said to
pour out his Spirit, I confess it must be thus understood, that he maketh
manifold variety and change of gifts to flow unto men from his Spirit, as it
were out of the only fountain, the fountain which can never be drawn dry. For,
as Paul doth testify, there be divers gifts, and yet but one Spirit, (1 Corinthians
12:4.) And hence do we gather a profitable doctrine, that we can have no more
excellent thing given us of God than the grace of the Spirit; yea, that all other
things are nothing worth if this be wanting. For, when God will briefly
promise salvation to his people, he affirmeth that he will give them his Spirit.
Hereupon it followeth that we can obtain no good things until we have the
Spirit given us. And truly it is, as it were, the key which openeth unto us the
door, that we may enter into all the treasures of spiritual good things; and that
we may also have entrance into the kingdom of God.
Upon all flesh. It appeareth, by that which followeth, of what force this

216. generality is; for, first, it is set down generally, all flesh; after that the partition
is added, whereby the prophet doth signify that there shall be no difference of
age or kind, but that God admitteth all, one with another, unto the partaking of
his grace. It is said, therefore, all flesh, because both young and old, men and
women, are thereby signified; yet here may a question be moved, why Clod
doth promise that unto his people, as some new and unwonted good thing,
which he was wont to do for them from the beginning throughout all ages; for
there was no age void of the grace of the Spirit. The answer of this question is
set down in these two sentences: "I will pour out," and, "Upon all flesh;" for
we must here note a double contrariety, 6 between the time of the Old and
New Testament; for the pouring out (as I have said) doth signify great plenty,
when as there was under the law a more scarce distribution; for which cause
John also doth say that the Holy Ghost was not given until Christ ascended
into heaven. All flesh cloth signify an infinite multitude, whereas God in times
past did vouchsafe to bestow such plenty of his Spirit only upon a few.
Furthermore, in both comparisons we do not deny but that the fathers under
the law were partakers of the self, same grace whereof we are partakers; but
the Lord doth show that we are above them, as we are indeed. I say, that all
godly men since the beginning of the world were endued with the same spirit
of understanding, of righteousness, and sanctification, wherewith the Lord
doth at this day illuminate and regenerate us; but there were but a few which
had the light of knowledge given them then, if they be compared with the
great multitude of the faithful, which Christ did suddenly gather together by
his coming. Again, their knowledge was but obscure and slender, and, as it
were, covered with a veil, if it be compared with that which we have at this
day out of the gospel, where Christ, the Sun of righteousness, doth shine with
perfect brightness, as it were at noon day. Neither doth that any whit hurt or
hinder that a few had such an excellent faith, that peradventure they have no
equal at this day. For their understanding did nevertheless smell or savor of
the instruction and schoolmastership7 of the law. For that is always true, that
godly kings and prophets have not seen nor heard those things which Christ
hath revealed by his coming. Therefore, to the end the prophet Joel may
commend the excellency of the New Testament, he affirmeth and foretelleth
that the grace of the Spirit shall be more plentiful in time thereof; and, again,
that it shall come unto more men, (Matthew 13:17; Luke 10:24.)
And your sons shall prophesy. By the word prophesy he meant to note the rare
and singular gift of understanding. And to the same purpose tendeth that
partition which followeth afterwards, "your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams;" for we gather out of the twelfth chapter of
Numbers, that these were the two ordinary ways whereby God did reveal
himself to the prophets. For in that place, when the Lord exempteth Moses
from the common sort of prophets, he saith,
"I appear unto my servants by a vision, or by a dream; but I speak unto

217. Moses face to face," (Numbers 12:6.)
Therefore, we see that two kinds are put after the general word for a
confirmation; yet this is the sum, that they shall all be prophets so soon as the
Holy Ghost shall be poured out from heaven. But here it is objected, that there
was no such thing, even in the apostles themselves, neither yet in the whole
multitude of the faithful. I answer, that the prophets did commonly use to
shadow under tropes most fit for their time, 8 the kingdom of Christ. When
they speak of the worship of God, they name the altar, the sacrifices, the
offering of gold, silver, and frankincense. Notwithstanding, we know that the
altars do cease, the sacrifices are abolished, whereof there was some use in
time of the law; and that the Lord requireth some higher thing at our hands
than earthly riches. That is true, indeed; but the prophets, whilst they apply
their style unto the capacity of their time, comprehend under figures
(wherewith the people were then well acquainted) those things which we see
otherwise revealed and showed now, like as when he promiseth elsewhere that
he will make priests of Levites, and Levites of the common sort of men,
(Isaiah 66:21,) this is his meaning, that under the kingdom of Christ every
base person shall be extolled unto an honorable estate; therefore, if we desire
to ]lave the true and natural meaning of this place, we must not urge the words
which are taken out of the old order9 of the law; but we must only seek the
truth without figures, and this is it, that the apostles, through the sudden
inspiration of the Spirit, did intreat of the heavenly mysteries prophetically,
that is to say, divinely, and above the common order.
Therefore, this word prophesy doth signify nothing else save only the rare and
excellent gift of understanding, as if Joel should say, Under the kingdom of
Christ there shall not be a few prophets only, unto whom God may reveal his
secrets; but all men shall be endued with spiritual wisdom, even to the
prophetical excellency. As it is also in Jeremiah,
"Every man shall no longer teach his neighbor; because they shall all know
me, from the least unto the greatest,"
(Jeremiah 31:34.)
And in these words Peter inviteth the Jews, unto whom he speaketh, to be
partakers of the same grace. As if he should say, the Lord is ready to pour out
that Spirit far and wide which he hath poured upon us. Therefore, unless you
yourselves be the cause of let, ye shall receive with us of this fullness. And as
for us, let us know that the same is spoken to us at this day which was then
spoken to the Jews. For although those visible graces of the Spirit be ceased,
yet God hath not withdrawn his Spirit from his Church. Wherefore he offereth
him daily unto us all, by this same promise, without putting any difference.
Wherefore we are poor and needy only through our own sluggishness; and
also it appeareth manifestly, that those are wicked and sacrilegious enemies of
the Spirit which keep back the Christian common people from the knowledge
of God; and forasmuch as he himself doth not only admit, but also call by

218. name unto himself, women and men, young and old.
ELLICOTT,"(17) It shall come to pass in the last days.—The prophecy of Joel
takes its place, with the exception, perhaps, of Hosea, as the oldest of the
prophetic books of the Old Testament. The people were suffering from one of
the locust-plagues of the East and its consequent famine. The prophet calls
them to repentance, and promises this gift of the Spirit as the great blessing of
a far-off future. He had been taught that no true knowledge of God comes but
through that Spirit. So Elisha prayed that a double portion (i.e., the eldest
son’s inheritance) of the Spirit which God had given to Elijah might rest upon
him (2 Kings 2:9).
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.—The Old Testament use of the
word, in its wider generic sense, as, e.g., in the case of Saul, 1 Samuel 10:10;
1 Samuel 19:20-24, covered phenomena analogous to the gift of tongues as
well as that of prophecy in the New Testament sense. The words imply that
women as well as men had been filled with the Spirit, and had spoken with the
“tongues.”
Your young men shall see visions.—The “visions,” implying the full activity
of spiritual power, are thought of as belonging to the younger prophets. In the
calmer state of more advanced age, wisdom came, as in the speech of Elihu,
“in a dream, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men” (Job
33:15).
COFFMAN, "In the last days ... This refers to the Christian dispensation then
beginning. The same thought occurs often in the New Testament. Note such
passages as Hebrews 1:2,1 Peter 1:20, and 1 John 2:18. The day of Pentecost,
therefore, ushered in the "last days"; but the meaning is compound. (1) Those
were the last days in the sense of this being the final dispensation of God's
grace to men, the same thought appearing in Mark 12:6. (2) Those were the
last days in the sense that Israel's day of grace was running short. Their long
and repeated rebellions against God were soon to culminate and become final
in their rejection of Christ. (3) Those were last days in the sense that
Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jewish state would be utterly destroyed before
that generation died (in 70 A.D.). (4) Those were the last days in the sense that
the prophecies of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-35) and others of a new covenant
were fulfilled in the preaching of the gospel.
It is a gross error to suppose that the apostles all thought that the end of the
world was at hand. Jesus had plainly told them that some of them were to be
killed before Jerusalem fell, and that even the fall of the Holy City was but a
type of "the end" that would come long, long afterward. See in my

219. Commentary on Mark, under Mark 14:9.
The passage Peter here quoted from Joel Isaiah 2:28ff.
My Spirit upon all flesh ... The baptism of the Twelve in the Holy Spirit was
the enabling act that would propagate the gospel throughout all times and
nations, and it was for the benefit of "all flesh" that this endowment of the
apostles was given. As De Welt expressed it, "The pouring forth of the Spirit
upon all flesh was POTENTIALLY accomplished upon the day of
Pentecost."[24]
The other things mentioned here, such as sons and daughters prophesying,
young men seeing visions, and old men dreaming dreams, etc., refer to the
gifts of miracles which, through the imposition of the apostles' hands, would
bless and encourage the church during the apostolic period. Again from De
Welt, these things can be "understood as the spiritual gifts imparted by the
apostles."[25]
[24] Don DeWelt, op. cit., p. 42.
[25] Ibid.
MACLAREN,"THE FOURFOLD SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT
Act_2:2-3, Act_2:17; 1Jn_2:20
Wind, fire, water, oil,-these four are constant Scriptural symbols for the Spirit of God.
We have them all in these fragments of verses which I have taken for my text now, and
which I have isolated from their context for the purpose of bringing out simply these
symbolical references. I think that perhaps we may get some force and freshness to the
thoughts proper to this day [Footnote: Whit Sunday.] by looking at these rather than by
treating the subject in some more abstract form. We have then the Breath of the Spirit,
the Fire of the Spirit, the Water of the Spirit, and the Anointing Oil of the Spirit. And the
consideration of these four will bring out a great many of the principal Scriptural ideas
about the gift of the Spirit of God which belongs to all Christian souls.
I. First, ‘a rushing mighty wind.’
Of course, the symbol is but the putting into picturesque form of the idea that lies in the
name. ‘Spirit’ is ‘breath.’ Wind is but air in motion. Breath is the synonym for life. ‘Spirit’
and ‘life’ are two words for one thing. So then, in the symbol, the ‘rushing mighty wind,’
we have set forth the highest work of the Spirit-the communication of a new and
supernatural life.
We are carried hack to that grand vision of the prophet who saw the bones lying, very
many and very dry, sapless and disintegrated, a heap dead and ready to rot. The question
comes to him: ‘Son of man! Can these bones live?’ The only possible answer, if he consult
experience, is, ‘O Lord God! Thou knowest.’ Then follows the great invocation: ‘Come
from the four winds, O Breath! and breathe upon these slain that they may live.’ And the
Breath comes and ‘they stand up, an exceeding great army.’ ‘It is the Spirit that
quickeneth.’ The Scripture treats us all as dead, being separated from God, unless we are
united to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. According to the saying of the Evangelist, ‘They

220. which believe on Him receive’ the Spirit, and thereby receive the life which He gives, or,
as our Lord Himself speaks, are ‘born of the Spirit.’ The highest and most characteristic
office of the Spirit of God is to enkindle this new life, and hence His noblest name,
among the many by which He is called, is the Spirit of life.
Again, remember, ‘that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ If there be life given it must
be kindred with the life which is its source. Reflect upon those profound words of our
Lord: ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.’
They describe first the operation of the life-giving Spirit, but they describe also the
characteristics of the resulting life.
‘The wind bloweth where it listeth.’ That spiritual life, both in the divine source and in
the human recipient, is its own law. Of course the wind has its laws, as every physical
agent has; but these are so complicated and undiscovered that it has always been the
very symbol of freedom, and poets have spoken of these ‘chartered libertines,’ the winds,
and ‘free as the air’ has become a proverb. So that Divine Spirit is limited by no human
conditions or laws, but dispenses His gifts in superb disregard of conventionalities and
externalisms. Just as the lower gift of what we call ‘genius’ is above all limits of culture or
education or position, and falls on a wool-stapler in Stratford-on-Avon, or on a
ploughman in Ayrshire, so, in a similar manner, the altogether different gift of the
divine, life-giving Spirit follows no lines that Churches or institutions draw. It falls upon
an Augustinian monk in a convent, and he shakes Europe. It falls upon a tinker in
Bedford gaol, and he writes Pilgrim’s Progress. It falls upon a cobbler in Kettering, and
he founds modern Christian missions. It blows ‘where it listeth,’ sovereignly indifferent
to the expectations and limitations and the externalisms, even of organised Christianity,
and touching this man and that man, not arbitrarily but according to ‘the good pleasure’
that is a law to itself, because it is perfect in wisdom and in goodness.
And as thus the life-giving Spirit imparts Himself according to higher laws than we can
grasp, so in like manner the life that is derived from it is a life which is its own law. The
Christian conscience, touched by the Spirit of God, owes allegiance to no regulations or
external commandments laid down by man. The Christian conscience, enlightened by
the Spirit of God, at its peril will take its beliefs from any other than from that Divine
Spirit. All authority over conduct, all authority over belief is burnt up and disappears in
the presence of the grand democracy of the true Christian principle: ‘Ye are all the
children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’; and every one of you possesses the Spirit which
teaches, the Spirit which inspires, the Spirit which enlightens, the Spirit which is the
guide to all truth. So ‘the wind bloweth where it listeth,’ and the voice of that Divine
Quickener is,
‘Myself shall to My darling be
Both law and impulse.’
Under the impulse derived from the Divine Spirit, the human spirit ‘listeth’ what is right,
and is bound to follow the promptings of its highest desires. Those men only are free as
the air we breathe, who are vitalised by the Spirit of the Lord, for ‘where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there,’ and there alone, ‘is liberty.’
In this symbol there lies not only the thought of a life derived, kindred with the life
bestowed, and free like the life which is given, but there lies also the idea of power. The
wind which filled the house was not only mighty but ‘borne onward’-fitting type of the
strong impulse by which in olden times ‘holy men spake as they were “borne onward”‘
(the word is the same) ‘by the Holy Ghost.’ There are diversities of operations, but it is

221. the same breath of God, which sometimes blows in the softest pianissimo that scarcely
rustles the summer woods in the leafy month of June, and sometimes storms in wild
tempest that dashes the seas against the rocks. So this mighty lif-giving Agent moves in
gentleness and yet in power, and sometimes swells and rises almost to tempest, but is
ever the impelling force of all that is strong and true and fair in Christian hearts and
lives.
The history of the world, since that day of Pentecost, has been a commentary upon the
words of my text. With viewless, impalpable energy, the mighty breath of God swept
across the ancient world and ‘laid the lofty city’ of paganism ‘low; even to the ground,
and brought it even to the dust.’ A breath passed over the whole civilised world, like the
breath of the west wind upon the glaciers in the spring, melting the thick-ribbed ice, and
wooing forth the flowers, and the world was made over again. In our own hearts and
lives this is the one Power that will make us strong and good. The question is all-
important for each of us, ‘Have I this life, and does it move me, as the ships are borne
along by the wind?’ ‘As many as are impelled by the Spirit of God, they’-they-’are the
sons of God.’ Is that the breath that swells all the sails of your lives, and drives you upon
your course? If it be, you are Christians; if it be not, you are not.
II. And now a word as to the second of these symbols-’Cloven tongues as of
fire’-the fire of the Spirit.
I need not do more than remind you how frequently that emblem is employed both in
the Old and in the New Testament. John the Baptist contrasted the cold negative
efficiency of his baptism, which at its best, was but a baptism of repentance, with the
quickening power of the baptism of Him who was to follow him; when he said, ‘I indeed
baptise you with water, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I. He shall baptise
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ The two words mean but one thing, the fire being
the emblem of the Spirit.
You will remember, too, how our Lord Himself employs the same metaphor when He
speaks about His coming to bring fire on the earth, and His longing to see it kindled into
a beneficent blaze. In this connection the fire is a symbol of a quick, triumphant energy,
which will transform us into its own likeness. There are two sides to that emblem: one
destructive, one creative; one wrathful, one loving. There are the fire of love, and the fire
of anger. There is the fire of the sunshine which is the condition of life, as well as the fire
of the lightning which burns and consumes. The emblem of fire is selected to express the
work of the Spirit of God, by reason of its leaping, triumphant, transforming energy. See,
for instance, how, when you kindle a pile of dead green-wood, the tongues of fire spring
from point to point until they have conquered the whole mass, and turned it all into a
ruddy likeness of the parent flame. And so here, this fire of God, if it fall upon you, will
burn up all your coldness, and will make you glow with enthusiasm, working your
intellectual convictions in fire not in frost, making your creed a living power in your
lives, and kindling you into a flame of earnest consecration.
The same idea is expressed by the common phrases of every language. We speak of the
fervour of love, the warmth of affection, the blaze of enthusiasm, the fire of emotion, the
coldness of indifference. Christians are to be set on fire of God. If the Spirit dwell in us,
He will make us fiery like Himself, even as fire turns the wettest green-wood into fire.
We have more than enough of cold Christians who are afraid of nothing so much as of
being betrayed into warm emotion.
I believe, dear brethren, and I am bound to express the belief, that one of the chief wants
of the Christian Church of this generation, the Christian Church of this city, the

222. Christian Church of this chapel, is more of the fire of God! We are all icebergs compared
with what we ought to be. Look at yourselves; never mind about your brethren. Let each
of us look at his own heart, and say whether there is any trace in his Christianity of the
power of that Spirit who is fire. Is our religion flame or ice? Where among us are to be
found lives blazing with enthusiastic devotion and earnest love? Do not such words
sound like mockery when applied to us? Have we not to listen to that solemn old
warning that never loses its power, and, alas! seems never to lose its appropriateness:
‘Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.’ We ought to be
like the burning beings before God’s throne, the seraphim, the spirits that blaze and
serve. We ought to be like God Himself, all aflame with love. Let us seek penitently for
that Spirit of fire who will dwell in us all if we will.
The metaphor of fire suggests also-purifying. ‘The Spirit of burning’ will burn the filth
out of us. That is the only way by which a man can ever be made clean. You may wash
and wash and wash with the cold water of moral reformation, you will never get the dirt
out with it. No washing and no rubbing will ever cleanse sin. The way to purge a soul is
to do with it as they do with foul clay-thrust it into the fire and that will burn all the
blackness out of it. Get the love of God into your hearts, and the fire of His Divine Spirit
into your spirits to melt you down, as it were, and then the scum and the dross will come
to the top, and you can skim them off. Two powers conquer my sin: the one is the blood
of Jesus Christ, which washes me from all the guilt of the past; the other is the fiery
influence of that Divine Spirit which makes me pure and clean for all the time to come.
Pray to be kindled with the fire of God.
III. Then once more, take that other metaphor, ‘I will pour out of My Spirit.’
That implies an emblem which is very frequently used, both in the Old and in the New
Testament, viz., the Spirit as water. As our Lord said to Nicodemus: ‘Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’ The ‘water’
stands in the same relation to the ‘Spirit’ as the ‘fire’ does in the saying of John the
Baptist already referred to-that is to say, it is simply a symbol or material emblem of the
Spirit. I suppose nobody would say that there were two baptisms spoken of by John, one
of the Holy Ghost and one of fire,-and I suppose that just in the same way, there are not
two agents of regeneration pointed at in our Lord’s words, nor even two conditions, but
that the Spirit is the sole agent, and ‘water’ is but a figure to express some aspect of His
operations. So that there is no reference to the water of baptism in the words, and to see
such a reference is to be led astray by sound, and out of a metaphor to manufacture a
miracle.
There are other passages where, in like manner, the Spirit is compared to a flowing
stream, such as, for instance, when our Lord said, ‘He that believeth on Me, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water,’ and when John saw a ‘river of water of life
proceeding from the throne.’ The expressions, too, of ‘pouring out’ and ‘shedding forth’
the Spirit, point in the same direction, and are drawn from more than one passage of Old
Testament prophecy. What, then, is the significance of comparing that Divine Spirit with
a river of water? First, cleansing, of which I need not say any more, because I have dealt
with It in the previous part of my sermon. Then, further, refreshing, and satisfying. Ah!
dear brethren, there is only one thing that will slake the immortal thirst in your souls.
The world will never do it; love or ambition gratified and wealth possessed, will never do
it. You will be as thirsty after you have drunk of these streams as ever you were before.
There is one spring ‘of which if a man drink, he shall never thirst’ with unsatisfied,
painful longings, but shall never cease to thirst with the longing which is blessedness,
because it is fruition. Our thirst can be slaked by the deep draught of ‘the river of the

223. Water of Life, which proceeds from the Throne of God and the Lamb.’ The Spirit of God,
drunk in by my spirit, will still and satisfy my whole nature, and with it I shall be glad.
Drink of this. ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!’
The Spirit is not only refreshing and satisfying, but also productive and fertilising. In
Eastern lands a rill of water is all that is needed to make the wilderness rejoice. Turn that
stream on to the barrenness of your hearts, and fair flowers will grow that would never
grow without it. The one means of lofty and fruitful Christian living is a deep, inward
possession of the Spirit of God. The one way to fertilise barren souls is to let that stream
flood them all over, and then the flush of green will soon come, and that which is else a
desert will ‘rejoice and blossom as the rose.’
So this water will cleanse, it will satisfy and refresh, it will be productive and will
fertilise, and ‘everything shall live whithersoever that river cometh.’
IV. Then, lastly, we have the oil of the Spirit.
‘Ye have an unction,’ says St. John in our last text, ‘from the Holy One.’ I need not
remind you, I suppose, of how in the old system, prophets, priests, and kings were
anointed with consecrating oil, as a symbol of their calling, and of their fitness for their
special offices. The reason for the use of such a symbol, I presume, would lie in the
invigorating and in the supposed, and possibly real, health-giving effect of the use of oil
in those climates. Whatever may have been the reason for the use of oil in official
anointings, the meaning of the act was plain. It was a preparation for a specific and
distinct service. And so, when we read of the oil of the Spirit, we are to think that it is
that which fits us for being prophets, priests, and kings, and which calls us to, because it
fits us for, these functions.
You are anointed to be prophets that you may make known Him who has loved and
saved you, and may go about the world evidently inspired to show forth His praise, and
make His name glorious. That anointing calls and fits you to be priests, mediators
between God and man, bringing God to men, and by pleading and persuasion, and the
presentation of the truth, drawing men to God. That unction calls and fits you to be
kings, exercising authority over the little monarchy of your own natures, and over the
men round you, who will bow in submission whenever they come in contact with a man
all evidently aflame with the love of Jesus Christ, and filled with His Spirit. The world is
hard and rude; the world is blind and stupid; the world often fails to know its best
friends and its truest benefactors; but there is no crust of stupidity so crass and dense
but that through it there will pass the penetrating shafts of light that ray from the face of
a man who walks in fellowship with Jesus. The whole nation of old was honoured with
these sacred names. They were a kingdom of priests; and the divine Voice said of the
nation, ‘Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm!’ How much more are
all Christian men, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, made prophets, priests, and kings
to God! Alas for the difference between what they ought to be and what they are!
And then, do not forget also that when the Scriptures speak of Christian men as being
anointed, it really speaks of them as being Messiahs. ‘Christ’ means anointed, does it
not? ‘Messiah’ means anointed. And when we read in such a passage as that of my text,
‘Ye have an unction from the Holy One,’ we cannot but feel that the words point in the
same direction as the great words of our Master Himself, ‘As My Father hath sent Me,
even so send I you.’ By authority derived, no doubt, and in a subordinate and secondary
sense, of course, we are Messiahs, anointed with that Spirit which was given to Him, not
by measure, and which has passed from Him to us. ‘If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of His.’

224. So, dear brethren, all these things being certainly so, what are we to say about the
present state of Christendom? What are we to say about the present state of English
Christianity, Church and Dissent alike? Is Pentecost a vanished glory, then? Has that
‘rushing mighty wind’ blown itself out, and a dead calm followed? Has that leaping fire
died down into grey ashes? Has the great river that burst out then, like the stream from
the foot of the glaciers of Mont Blanc, full-grown in its birth, been all swallowed up in
the sand, like some of those rivers in the East? Has the oil dried in the cruse? People tell
us that Christianity is on its death-bed; and the aspect of a great many professing
Christians seems to confirm the statement. But let us thankfully recognise that ‘we are
not straitened in God, but in ourselves.’ To how many of us the question might be put:
‘Did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed?’ And how many of us by our lives
answer: ‘We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.’ Let us go
where we can receive Him; and remember the blessed words: ‘If ye, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him’!
18Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
BARNES, "And on my servants - The Hebrew text in Joel is “upon the servants.”
The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, however, render it “on my servants.” In Joel, the
prophet would seem to be enumerating the different conditions and ranks of society. The
influences of the Spirit would be confined to no class; they would descend on old and
young, and even on servants and handmaids. So the Chaldee Paraphrase understood it.
But the Septuagint and Peter evidently understood it in the sense of servants of God, as
the worshippers of God are often called servants in the Scriptures. See Rom_1:1. It is
possible, however, that Joel intended to refer to the servants of God. It is not “upon your
servants,” etc., as in the former expression, “your sons,” etc.; but the form is changed,
“upon servants and handmaids.” The language, therefore, will admit the construction of
the Septuagint and of Peter; and it was this variation in the original Hebrew which
suggested, doubtless, the mention of “my servants,” etc., instead of your servants.
And on my handmaids - Female servants. The name is several times given to pious
women, Psa_86:16; Psa_116:16; Luk_1:38, Luk_1:48. The meaning of this verse does
not materially differ from the former. In the times of the gospel, those who were brought
under its influence would be remarkably endowed with ability to declare the will of God.
CLARKE, "On my servants and on my handmaidens - This properly means
persons of the lowest condition, such as male and female slaves. As the Jews asserted
that the spirit of prophecy never rested upon a poor man, these words are quoted to

225. show that, under the Gospel dispensation, neither bond nor free, male nor female, is
excluded from sharing in the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit.
GILL Verse 18. And on my servants, and on my handmaidens,.... In Joel it is only the
servants and the handmaids; and which Kimchi interprets of strangers that should stand in
the land of Israel, and serve the Israelites. But these phrases do not seem so much to
describe the civil state and condition of those persons, as their religious character, being
such as were brought, by the power of divine grace, to yield a cheerful obedience to the
will of God; though it may also regard the former, and show, that with God there is no
distinction and difference of bond or free, of rich or poor; contrary to a maxim of the
Jews {s}, that the Shekinah does not dwell but upon a wise man, a mighty man, and a rich
man.
I will pour out, in those days, of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy; see the note on the
preceding verse, from whence this clause, "and they shall prophesy," is repeated; for it is
not in the text in Joel; which is done to point at the end and effect of the Spirit being
poured down upon them.
CALVIN, "18. Upon my servants. In these words the promise is restrained
unto the worshippers of God. For God doth not profane his Spirit; which he
should do, if he should make the stone common to the unbelieving and
despisers. It is certain that we are made the servants of God by the Spirit; and
that, therefore, we are not, until such time as we have received the same; but,
first, whom God hath adopted to be of his family, and whom he hath framed
by his Spirit to obey him, those doth he furnish with new gifts afterward.
Again, the prophet did not respect that order of thee, but his meaning was to
make this grace proper to the Church alone. And forasmuch as the Church was
only among the Jews, he calleth them honorably the servants and handmaids
of God. But after that God did gather unto himself on every side a Church, the
wall of separation being pulled down, so many as are received into the society
of the covenant are called by the same name. Only let us remember, that the
Spirit is appointed for the Church properly.
COFFMAN, "This is a continuation of the thought in the previous verse. The
mention of daughters, handmaidens, and servants shows that in Christ Jesus
"there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female"
(Galatians 3:28).
They shall prophesy ... The tremendous weight of prophecy is not fully
appreciated in these times, because men simply do not know how amazingly
the apostles of Christ foretold future events. Barclay relates how the ancient
writer Tatian was led to accept the Scriptures, quoting him as follows:
I was led to put faith in these by the unpretending cast of their language, the
inartificial character of the writers, the foreknowledge displayed of future

226. events, the excellent quality of the precepts, and the declaration of the
government of the universe in one Being.[26]
ENDNOTE:
[26] William Barclay, Turning to God (Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1964), p. 43.
ELLICOTT, "(18) And on my servants and on my handmaidens . . .—This
was the culminating point of the joyous prediction. Not on priests only, or
those who had been trained in the schools of the prophets, but on slaves, male
and female, should that gift be poured by Him who was no respecter of
persons. The life of Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, the “gatherer of sycomore
fruit” (Amos 1:1; Amos 7:14), was, perhaps, the earliest example of the gift so
bestowed. The apostolic age must have witnessed many. The fisherman of
Galilee, who was now speaking, was the forerunner of thousands in whom the
teaching of the Spirit has superseded the training of the schools.
19I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
BARNES, "I will show wonders - Literally, “I will give signs” - δώσω τέρατα dōsō
terata. The word in the Hebrew, ‫מופתים‬ mowpa
tiym, means properly “prodigies; wonderful
occurrences; miracles performed by God or his messengers,” Exo_4:21; Exo_7:3, Exo_
7:9; Exo_11:9; Deu_4:34, etc. It is the common word to denote a miracle in the Old
Testament. Here it means, however, a portentous appearance, a prodigy, a remarkable
occurrence. It is commonly joined in the New Testament with the word “signs” - “signs
and wonders,” Mat_24:24; Mar_13:22; Joh_4:48. In these places it does not of
necessity mean miracles, but unusual and remarkable appearances. Here it is used to
mean great and striking changes in the sky, the sun, moon, etc. The Hebrew is, “I will
give signs in the heaven and upon the earth.” Peter has quoted it according to the sense,
and not according to the letter. The Septuagint is here a literal translation of the
Hebrew; and this is one of the instances where the New Testament writers did not quote
from either.
Much of the difficulty of interpreting these verses consists in affixing the proper
meaning to the expression “that great and notable day of the Lord.” If it be limited to the
day of Pentecost, it is certain that no such events occurred at that time. But there is, it is
believed, no propriety in confining it to that time. The description here pertains to “the
last days” Act_2:17; that is, to the whole of that period of duration, however long, which

227. was known by the prophets as “the last times.” That period might be extended through
many centuries; and during that period all these events would take place. The day of the
Lord is the day when God will manifest himself in a special manner; a day when he will
so strikingly be seen in his wonders and his judgments that it may be called his day.
Thus, it is applied to the day of judgment as the day of the Son of man; the day in which
he will be the great attractive object, and will be signally glorified, Luk_17:24; 1Th_5:2;
Phi_1:6; 2Pe_3:12. If, as I suppose, “that notable day of the Lord” here refers to that
future time when God will manifest himself in judgment, then we are not to suppose that
Peter meant to say that these “wonders” would take place on the day of Pentecost, or had
their fulfillment then, “but would occur under that indefinite period called “the last
days,” the days of the Messiah, and before that period Was closed by the great day of the
Lord.” The gift of tongues was a partial fulfillment of the general prophecy pertaining to
those times. And as the prophecy was thus partially fulfilled, it was a pledge that it would
be entirely; and thus there was laid a foundation for the necessity of repentance, and for
calling on the Lord in order to be saved.
Blood - Blood is commonly used as an emblem of slaughter or of battle.
Fire - Fire is also an image of war, or the conflagration of towns and dwellings in time
of war.
Vapour of smoke - The word “vapor,” ᅊτµίς atmis, means commonly an exhalation
from the earth, etc., easily moved from one place to another. Here it means (Hebrew:
Joel) rising columbus or pillars of smoke, and is another image of the calamities of war
the smoke rising from burning towns. It has always been customary in war to burn the
towns of an enemy, and to render him as helpless as possible. Hence, the calamities
denoted here are those represented by such scenes. To what particular scenes there is
reference here it is impossible now to say. It may be remarked, however, that scenes of
this kind occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem, and there is a striking
resemblance between the description in Joel and that by which our Saviour foretells the
destruction of Jerusalem. See the notes on Mat_24:21-24. Dr. Thomson (Land and the
Book, vol. 2, p. 311) supposes that the reference in Joel may have been to the usual
appearances of the sirocco, or that they may have suggested the image used here. He
says: “We have two kinds of sirocco, one accompanied with vehement wind, which fills
the air with dust and fine sand. I have often seen the whole heavens veiled in gloom with
this sort of sandcloud, through which the sun, shorn of his beams, looked like a globe of
dull smouldering fire. It may have been this phenomenon which suggested that strong
prophetic figure of Joel, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost. Wonders in the heaven
and in the earth; blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood. The pillars of smoke are probably those columns of
sand and dust raised high in the air by local whirlwinds, which often accompany the
sirocco. On the great desert of the Hauran I have seen a score of them marching with
great rapidity over the plain, and they closely resemble ‘pillars of smoke.’”
CLARKE, "I will show wonders - It is likely that both the prophet and the apostle
refer to the calamities that fell upon the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the
fearful signs and portents that preceded those calamities. See the notes on Mat_24:5-7
(note), where these are distinctly related.
Blood, fire, and vapour of smoke - Skirmishes and assassinations over the land,
and wasting the country with fire and sword.

228. GILL Verse 19. And I will show wonders in heaven above,.... The word above is not in
Joel, nor in the Syriac version here, as neither the word "beneath," in the next clause. This
may refer either to the appearance of angels, and of an extraordinary star at the birth of
Christ; or rather to comets and blazing stars, and particularly to that comet which, in the
form of a flaming sword, hung over Jerusalem, and the forms of armies in the heavens
engaged together, which were seen before, and portended the destruction of that city {t}:
and signs in the earth beneath; meaning either the miracles done by Christ, and his
apostles, on earth; or those surprising events in Judea and in Jerusalem, a flame was seen
in the temple, the doors of it opened of themselves, and a voice was heard in it, saying, let
us go hence; and an idiot went about several years together, saying, woe to the people,
woe to the city, &c.
blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: by blood is meant not the blood of Christ, either his
bloody sweat in the garden, or what he shed on the cross, but the blood of the Jews, shed
in war, and in internal seditions and murders: and by "fire" is designed not the Holy
Ghost, who now appeared in cloven tongues, as of fire, but the conflagration of the city
and temple of Jerusalem, and of many other towns and villages. And by "vapours of
smoke"; or, as in the Hebrew text, "pillars of smoke," ascending in upright columns, like
palm trees, are intended literally, the vast quantities of smoke that would arise from such
burnings; so that the very heavens would be clouded and darkened with them, and sun
and moon appear in the following form.
JAMISON, "I will show wonders, etc. — referring to the signs which were to
precede the destruction of Jerusalem (see on Luk_21:25-28).
CALVIN, "19. And I will show wonders. We must first see what is meant by
this great day of the Lord. Some do expound it of the former coming of Christ
in the flesh; and others refer it unto the last day of the resurrection, I do allow
neither opinion. For, in my judgment, the prophet comprehendeth the whole
kingdom of Christ. And so he calleth it the great day, after that the Son of
God began to be revealed in the flesh, that he may lead us into the fulfilling of
his kingdom. Therefore, he appointeth no certain day, but he beginneth this
day at the first preaching of the gospel, and he extendeth the same unto the last
resurrection. Those which restrain it unto the time of the apostles are moved
with this reason, because the prophet joineth this member and that which
goeth next before together. But in that there is no absurdity at all, because the
prophet doth assign the time when these things began to come to pass,
howsoever they have a continual going forward even until the end of the
world. Furthermore, whereas he saith that the sun shall be turned to darkness,
and the moon into blood, they are figurative speeches, whereby he doth give
us to understand thus much, that the Lord will show tokens of his wrath
through the whole frame of the world, which shall bring men even to their
wit's end, as if there should be some horrible and fearful change of nature

229. wrought. For as the sun and moon are unto us witnesses of God's fatherly
favor towards us, whilst that by course they give light to the earth; so, on the
other side, the prophet saith, that they shall be messengers to foreshow God's
wrath and displeasure. And this is the second member of the prophecy. For
after that he had intreated of the spiritual grace which should be abundantly
poured out upon all flesh, lest any man should imagine that all things should
be quiet and prosperous together, therewithal he addeth that the estate of the
world shall be troublesome, and full of great fear under Christ; as Christ
himself doth more fully declare, Matthew 24 and Luke 21.
But this serveth greatly to the setting forth of grace, that whereas all things do
threaten destruction, yet whosoever doth call upon the name of the Lord is
sure to be saved. By the darkness of the sun, by the bloody streaming of the
moon, by the black vapor of smoke, the prophet meant to declare, that
whithersoever men turn their eyes, there shall many things appear, both
upward and downward, which may make them amazed and afraid, as he hath
already said. Therefore, this is as much as if he should have said, that the
world was never in a more miserable case, that there were never so many and
such cruel tokens of God's wrath. Hence may we gather how inestimable the
goodness of God is, who offereth a present remedy for so great evils; and
again, how unthankful they are towards God, and how froward, which do not
flee unto the sanctuary of salvation, which is nigh unto them, and doth meet
them. Again, it is out of all doubt, that God meaneth by this so doleful a
description, to stir up all godly men, that they may with a more fervent desire
seek for salvation. And Peter citeth it to the same end, that the Jews may know
that they shall be more miserable unless they receive that grace of the Spirit
which is offered unto them. Yet here may a question be asked, how this can
hang together, that when Christ is revealed, there should such a sea of miseries
overflow and break out therewithal? For it may seem to be a thing very
inconvenient,10 that he should be the only pledge of God's love toward
mankind, in whom the heavenly Father doth lay open all the treasure of his
goodness, yea, he poureth out the bowels of his mercy upon us, and that yet,
by the coming of the same, his Son, his wrath should be more hot than it was
wont, so that it should, as it were, quite consume both heaven and earth at
once.
But we must first mark, that because men are too slow to receive Christ, they
must be constrained by divers afflictions, as it were with whips. Secondly,
forasmuch as Christ doth call unto himself all those which are heavy laden and
labor, (Matthew 11:28,)we must first be tamed by many miseries, that we may
learn humility. For through great prosperity men do set up the horns of pride.
And he cannot but despise Christ fiercely, whosoever he be, that seemeth to
himself to be happy. Thirdly, because we are, more than we ought, set upon
the seeking of the peace of the flesh, whereby it cometh to pass that many tie
the grace of Christ unto the present life, it is expedient for us to be accustomed
to think otherwise, that we may know that the kingdom of Christ is spiritual.
Therefore, to the end God may teach us that the good things of Christ are

230. heavenly, he doth exercise us, according to the flesh, with many miseries;
whereby it cometh to pass that we do seek our felicity without the world.
Moreover, men do bring miseries upon themselves through their
unthankfulness; for the servant which knoweth his master's will, and doth not
obey, is worthy of greater and more stripes, (Luke 12:47.) The more familiarly
that God doth communicate with us in Christ, the more doth our ungodliness
grow and break out into open contumacy, so that it is no marvel if, when
Christ is revealed, there appear many tokens of God's vengeance on the other
side, forasmuch as men do hereby more grievously provoke God against them,
and kindle his wrath through wicked contempt. Surely, in that the day of
Christ is fearful, it is an accidental thing; whether God will correct our
slothfulness, to bring us under, which [who] are yet inapt to be taught, or
whether he will punish our unthankfulness. For it bringeth with it of itself
nothing but that which is pleasant; but the contempt of God's grace doth
provoke him to horrible anger not without cause.
COFFMAN, "Wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath ...
Several of the most spectacular wonders ever seen on earth had occurred right
there in Jerusalem the day Jesus was crucified only fifty-three days before
Peter thus spoke. The very sun's light failed; and, as it was the full moon, the
satellite appeared as blood. Pontius Pilate wrote to the Emperor Tiberius that
"The moon, being like blood, did not shine the whole night, and yet she
happened to be at the full."[27] Thus the sun and the moon were "wonders in
heaven"; and the earthquake, the rending of the veil of the temple, and the
resurrection of many of the dead, were signs on the earth beneath. See in my
Commentary on Matthew, pp. 483-495.
Certain commentators, such as Harrison, refer these verses to "the day of
Christ's coming in glory,"[28] apparently overlooking the most spectacular
fulfillment of them a little over seven weeks prior to Peter's message. Despite
this, it is not wrong to see in these words a prophecy of the final day also. As
Bruce pointed out,
"The last days" began with Christ's first advent and will end with the second
advent. They are the days during which the age to come overlaps the present
age; hence the assurance with which Peter could quote the words of Joel and
declare, "This is that."[29]
The blood and fire and vapor of smoke ... were spectacularly associated with
every great Jewish feast, such as Passover or Pentecost. It is difficult for any
modern to envision the sacrifice of a quarter of a million lambs and all of the
blood and "vapor of smoke" that inevitably accompanied such an event. These
words most certainly fix the occasion of the signs mentioned as occurring
upon one of the great Jewish festivals, which of course they did.
The awful events prophesied by Joel and here announced by Peter as fulfilled
(that is, beginning to be fulfilled) were omens of fearful judgments about to

231. fall upon the chosen people; but in concert with this, Peter also extended the
hope of grace and forgiveness, basing his whole sermon on the climactic final
sentence concluding the passage from Joel.
[27] Tertullian, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Pilate to Tiberius (Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1957), Vol. 3p. 463.
[28] Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 389.
[29] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 68.
COKE, "Acts 2:19. Vapour of smoke:— A cloud of smoke. Doddridge; who
paraphrases the passage thus: "Such destructive wars shall arise, as a
punishment for the wickedness of those who reject the mercy I offer, that there
shall be blood shed in abundance, and fire scattered abroad to consume your
cities and villages; so that a cloud of smoke shall ascend from the ruins of
them."
ELLICOTT,"(19) And I will shew wonders in heaven above.—St. Peter
quotes the words of terror that follow, apparently, for the sake of the promise
with which they end in Acts 2:21. But as it was not given to him as yet to
know the times and the seasons (Acts 1:7), it may well have been that he
looked for the “great and notable day” as about to come in his own time. The
imagery is drawn as from one of the great thunder-storms of Palestine. There
is the lurid blood-red hue of clouds and sky; there are the fiery flashes, the
columns or pillars of smoke-like clouds boiling from the abyss. These, in their
turn, were probably thought of as symbols of bloodshed, and fire and smoke,
such as are involved in the capture and destruction of a city like Jerusalem.
20The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious
day of the Lord.
Sun darkened when Jesus on the cross.
BARNES, "The sun shall be turned into darkness - See the notes on Mat_24:29.

232. The same images used here with reference to the sun and moon are used also there: They
occur not infrequently, Mar_13:24; 2Pe_3:7-10. The shining of the sun is an emblem of
prosperity; the withdrawing, the eclipse, or the setting of the sun is an emblem of
calamity, and is often thus need in the Scriptures, Isa_60:20; Jer_15:9; Eze_32:7; Amo_
8:9; Rev_6:12; Rev_8:12; Rev_9:2; Rev_16:8. To say that the sun is darkened, or turned
into darkness, is an image of calamity, and especially of the calamities of war, when the
smoke of burning cities rises to heaven and obscures his light. This is not, therefore, to
be taken literally, nor does it afford any indication of what will be at the end of the world
in regard to the sun.
The moon into blood - The word “blood” here means that obscure, sanguinary
color which the moon has when the atmosphere is filled with smoke and vapor, and
especially the lurid and alarming appearance which it assumes when smoke and flames
are thrown up by earthquakes and fiery eruptions, Rev_6:12, “And I beheld when he had
opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood,” Rev_8:8. In this place it denotes
great calamities. The figures used are indicative of wars, and conflagrations, and
earthquakes. As these things are Matt. 24 applied to the destruction of Jerusalem; as
they actually occurred previous to that event (see the notes on Matt. 24), it may be
supposed that the prophecy in Joel had an immediate reference to that. The meaning of
the quotation by Peter in this place therefore is, that what occurred on the day of
Pentecost was the beginning of the serges of wonders that was to take place during the
times of the Messiah. It is not intimated that those scenes were to close or to be
exhausted in that age. They may precede that great day of the Lord which is yet to come
in view of the whole earth.
That great and notable day of the Lord - This is called the great day of the Lord,
because on that day he will be signally manifested, more impressively and strikingly than
on other times. The word “notable,” ᅚπιφανᇿ epiphanē, means “signal, illustrious,
distinguished.” In Joel the word is “terrible or fearful”; a word applicable to days of
calamity, and trial, and judgment. The Greek word here rendered notable is also in the
Septuagint frequently used to denote “calamity” or “times of judgment,” Deu_10:21;
2Sa_7:23. This will apply to any day in which God signally manifests himself, but
particularly to a day when he shall come forth to punish people, as at the destruction of
Jerusalem, or at the day of judgment. The meaning is, that those wonders would take
place before that distinguished day should arrive when God would come forth in
judgment.
CLARKE, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood
- These are figurative representations of eclipses, intended most probably to point out
the fall of the civil and ecclesiastical state in Judea: see the notes on Mat_24:29. That the
Sun is darkened when a total eclipse takes place, and that the Moon appears of a bloody
hue in such circumstances, every person knows.
GILL Verse 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness,.... As at the death of Christ, by a
total eclipse of it:and the moon into blood; as at the opening of the sixth seal, Revelation
6:12
before that great and notable day of the Lord come; when he shall come in power and
great glory, as he did in a few years after this, to take vengeance on the Jews, and destroy

233. their nation, city, and temple; in which there was a display of his greatness, and power,
and which was awful and "terrible" to them, as in Joel it is called; See Gill on "Mt 24:29."
SBC, "The first Christian Apology
I. The audience which St. Peter addressed were familiar with the main outlines of Jesus’
life as recent and notorious events. We assume them also. For the truth of the theory
that Christ was God the Church offers one test-proof—the resurrection. Virtually, St.
Peter does so in these early sermons of his. If God Almighty did raise the Lord Jesus
from the dead into glorified and unchangeable life, as no other man ever was raised, then
Jesus was the Son of God as He claimed to be, His life as Divine as it professed to be, His
miracles genuine, His teaching true, His pretensions valid, His death innocent, His
passion propitiatory and atoning. But if, which is the only other alternative, the
alternative of unbelief, if God did not raise this Man, the Christian advocate throws up
his case, our faith is false, our fancied Saviour an impostor, and we are in our sins like
other men.
II. Even a Christ who became alive again is not enough, if He has so withdrawn Himself
that in His absence He cannot help us. A Christ removed out of reach of men were as
good as no Christ at all. Our Christ is not out of reach; withdrawn as He is from sensible
contact with matter, into that spiritual world which on every side encompasses and
perhaps touches this earthly life of ours, Christian faith feels herself more really near to
Him now than when He was present to sight. It is because the Spirit of power, and
purity, and peace flows into her, from her no longer accessible Head, that the Church
exists, and possesses the unity of a spiritual organism, and does effective work as the
bearer of a regenerating Gospel. Her word, her work, her very being, hinge on the fact
that the Holy Ghost inhabits her. We have here an advantage over an apologist so early
as St. Peter. In proof that his newly-departed Master had sent down the Holy Ghost,
Peter had nothing to appeal to but one unique and startling phenomenon just happening
in his hearers’ presence. He had the rushing noise, the flames of fire, the foreign
tongues. We have the gathered spiritual experience of eighteen centuries. Christianity is
not so small or so new a thing that it should be hard for any man who tries to track its
working in detail on innumerable men, and gather up even its secret fruits. The Gospel is
not a dead history, but a living power. It is not far off, but nigh us. God’s breath is in it,
and moral miracles attest the perennial contact with our sunken race of a strong Divine
hand—a hand more strong than sin’s—always at work to uplift and to heal.
J. Oswald Dykes, Sermons, p. 1.
ELLICOTT, "(20) The sun shall be turned into darkness.—Both clauses bring before us
the phenomena of an eclipse: the total darkness of the sun, the dusky copper hue of the
moon. Signs, of which these were but faint images, had been predicted by our Lord,
echoing, as it were, the words of Joel, as among the preludes of His Advent (Matthew
24:29).
That great and notable day.—St. Luke follows the LXX. version. The Hebrew gives, as in
our version, “the great and terrible day.” As seen by the prophet, the day was terrible to
the enemies of God; a day of blessing to “the remnant whom the Lord should call” (Joel
2:32). The Greek word for “notable” (epiphanès) lent itself readily to the thought of the
great Epiphany or manifestation of Christ as the Judge of all.

234. UNKNOWN, "V. 20 - day of the Lord - Normally used in the N.T. epistles to mean the
Second Coming, as in I Cor. 1:8; II Cor. 1:14, Phil. 1:10; I Thess. 5:2; II Thess. 2:8; I
Tim. 6:14. Of course, there may have been more than one "day of the Lord," with one yet
to come when the epistles were written. It may also be true that Joel痴 expression
included all the time in the "last days," so that his prophecy included the Second Coming.
Again, as remarked about, the gist of Joel痴 prophecy was what was occurring that day to
the twelve.
21And everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.'[c]
BARNES, "Whosoever shall call - In the midst of these wonders and dangers,
whosoever should call on the Lord should be delivered (Joel). The name of the Lord is
the same as the Lord himself. It is a Hebraism, signifying to call on the Lord, Psa_79:6;
Zec_13:9.
Shall be saved - In Hebrew, shall be delivered, that is, from impending calamities.
When they threaten, and God is coming forth to judge them, it shall be that those who
are characterized as those who call on the Lord shall be delivered. This is equally true at
all times. It is remarkable that no Christians perished in the siege of Jerusalem. Though
more than a million of Jews perished, yet the followers of Christ who were there, having
been warned by him, when they saw the signs of the Romans approaching, withdrew to
Aelia, and were preserved. So it shall be in the day of judgment. All whose character it
has been that “they called on God” will then be saved. While the wicked will then call on
the rocks and the mountains to shelter them from the Lord, those who have invoked his
favor and mercy will find deliverance. The use which Peter makes of this passage is this:
Calamities were about to come; the day of judgment was approaching; they were passing
through the last days of the earth’s history, and therefore it became them to call on the
name of the Lord, and to obtain deliverance from the dangers which impended over the
guilty. There can be little doubt that Peter intended to apply this to the Messiah, and that
by the name of the Lord he meant the Lord Jesus. See 1Co_1:2. Paul makes the same use
of the passage, expressly applying it to the Lord Jesus Christ, Rom_10:13-14. In Joel, the
word translated “Lord” is ‫יהוה‬ Yahweh, the incommunicable and unique name of God;
and the use of the passage before us in the New Testament shows how the apostles
regarded the Lord Jesus Christ, and proves that they had no hesitation in applying to
him names and attributes which could belong to no one but God.
This verse teaches us:
1. That in prospect of the judgments of God which are to come, we should make
preparation. We shall be called to pass through the closing scenes of this earth; the time

235. when the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and when the
great day of the Lord shall come.
2. It is easy to be saved. All that God requires of us is to call upon him, to pray to him,
and he will answer and save. If people will not do so easy a thing as to call on God, and
ask him for salvation, it is obviously proper that they should be cast off. The terms of
salvation could not be made plainer or easier. The offer is wide, free, universal, and there
is no obstacle but what exists in the heart of the sinner.
And from this part of Peter’s vindication of the scene on the day of Pentecost we may
learn also:
1. That revivals of religion are to be expected as a part of the history of the Christian
church. He speaks of God’s pouring out his Spirit, etc., as what was to take place in the
last days, that is, in the indefinite and large tract of time which was to come, under the
administration of the Messiah. His remarks are by no means limited to the day of
Pentecost. They are as applicable to future periods as to that time; and we are to expect it
as a part of Christian history, that the Holy Spirit will be sent down to awaken and
convert people.
2. This will also vindicate revivals from all the changes which have ever been brought
against them. All the objections of irregularity, extravagance, wildfire, enthusiasm,
disorder, etc., which have been alleged against revivals in modern times, might have
been brought with equal propriety against the scene on the day of Pentecost. Yet an
apostle showed that that was in accordance with the predictions of the Old Testament,
and was an undoubted work of the Holy Spirit. If that work could be vindicated, then
modern revivals may be. If that was really liable to no objections on these accounts, then
modern works of grace should not be objected to for the same things. And if that excited
deep interest in the apostles; if they felt deep concern to vindicate it from the charge
brought against it, then Christians and Christian ministers now should feel similar
solicitude to defend revivals, and not be found among their revilers, their calumniators,
or their foes. There will be enemies enough of the work of the Holy Spirit without the aid
of professed Christians, and that man possesses no enviable feelings or character who is
found with the enemies of God and his Christ in opposing the mighty work of the Holy
Spirit on the human heart.
CLARKE, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved -
The predicted ruin is now impending; and only such as receive the Gospel of the Son of
God shall be saved. And that none but the Christians did escape, when God poured out
these judgments, is well known; and that All the Christians did escape, not one of them
perishing in these devastations, stands attested by the most respectable authority. See
the note on Mat_24:13.
GILL Verse 21. And it shall come to pass,.... Even at that time, when these signs shall
appear, and the destruction is hastening on, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord; shall believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with
the heart, and shall confess him with the mouth, and shall worship him in Spirit and in
truth, and submit to all his ordinances and commands; for invocation of the Lord includes
the whole of worship, internal and external:

236. shall be saved; or delivered from that temporal destruction which came upon the Jews, as
the Christians were by removing from Jerusalem to Pella, as they were directed {u}; and
shall be saved with a spiritual and everlasting salvation by Jesus Christ; See Gill on "Ro
10:13."
JAMISON, "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved —
This points to the permanent establishment of the economy of salvation, which followed
on the breaking up of the Jewish state.
UNKNOWN, "V. 21 - whoever calls - Paul has the same statement in Romans 10:13. It
apparently means that any person, regardless of who it is, may receive salvation if said
person turns to the Lord for salvation. Of course, this idea of universal salvation was
foreign to Jewish concepts, in the main, and definitely not understood by Peter, the
speaker, the other apostles, or those listening. The whole Acts account gives various
struggles of the early Christians to overcome their provincial thinking, and see the truth of
the statement in Romans 3, that God is "the God of the Gentiles also."
name of the Lord - This expression equals the person of the Lord. Many times "name"
means the person, as in Acts 3:16; etc. We might notice that this is one of several times
when the texts referring to God in the Old Testament are applied to Jesus in the N.T.
Consider Isaiah 45:23 and Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11; Psalms 34:8 and I Peter 2:3; Isaiah
8:13 and I Peter 3:15.
CALVIN, "21. Whosoever shall call upon. An excellent place. For as God
doth prick us forward like sluggish asses, with threatenings and terrors to seek
salvation, se, after that he hath brought darkness upon the face of heaven and
earth, yet doth he show a means whereby salvation may shine before our eyes,
to wit, if we shall call upon him. For we must diligently note this
circumstance. If God should promise salvation simply, it were a great matter;
but it is a far greater when as he promiseth the same amidst manifold
dungeons of death. Whilst that (saith he) all things shall be out of order, and
the fear of destruction shall possess all things, only call upon me, and ye shall
be saved. Therefore, howsoever man be swallowed up ill the gulf of miseries,
yet is there set before him a way to escape. We must also note the universal
word, whosoever. For God admitteth all men unto himself without exception,
and by this means doth he invite them to salvation, as Paul gathereth in the
tenth chapter to the Romans, and as the prophet had set it down before,
"Thou, Lord, which hearest the prayer,
unto thee shall all flesh come,"
(Psalm 65:2.)
Therefore, forasmuch as no man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate
of salvation is set open unto all men; neither is there any other thing which
keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief. I speak of all
unto whom God doth make himself manifest by the gospel. But like as those
which call upon the name of the Lord are sure of salvation, so we must think

237. that, without the same, we are thrice miserable and undone. And when as our
salvation is placed in calling upon God, there is nothing in the mean season
taken from faith, forasmuch as this invocation is grounded on faith alone.
There is also another circumstance no less worthy the noting; in that the
prophet doth signify, that the calling upon God doth properly appertain and
agree unto the last days. For although he would be called upon in all ages,
notwithstanding, since that he showed himself to be a Father in Christ, we
have the more easy access unto him. Which thing ought both the more to
embolden us, and to take from us all sluggishness. As he himself doth also
reason, that by this privilege our forwardness to pray is doubled to us:
"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in nay name; ask, and ye shall receive;" as if
he should say, theretofore, although I did not yet appear to be a mediator and
advocate in the faith, yet did ye pray; but now, when you shall have me to be
your patron, with how much more courage ought ye to do that?
COFFMAN, "This verse was the text of Peter's address, making it clear that
his sermon was primarily concerned with human salvation and the means of
its procurement by men. As Boles expressed it:
In the midst of these alarming events and wonders and terrible phenomena that
foretold awful judgments, opportunity would be given to all who would "call
upon the name of the Lord" to be saved.[30]
The impending judgment against Israel would bring the total destruction of the
Holy City; but all of the Jews who became Christians were spared in that
disaster; and as it was a type of the final judgment and overthrow of the world
itself, Peter's message applied not merely to Israel who first heard it but to all
men, as stated in Acts 2:39.
Call upon ... The word thus translated denotes far more than merely
pronouncing the Lord's name (Matthew 7:21,22; Luke 6:46).
It is used of being declared to be a dedicated person, as to the Lord, Acts
15:17...to invoke, to call upon for oneself (that is, on one's behalf)...and to call
upon by way of adoration, making use of the Name of the Lord, Acts 2:21.[31]
[30] H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 40.
[31] W. E. Vine, Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, New
Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1940), p. 163.
COKE, "Acts 2:21. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord.— See
Ezekiel 9:4-6. This context being quoted thus, was a strong intimation that
nothing but their acceptance of the gospel could secure them from impending
ruin. Brennius has proved, by an ample collection of texts, that calling on the
name of the Lord, is often put for the whole of religion; and if it do not here
directly signify invoking Christ, which is sometimes used to express the whole
of the Christian character, (Comp. Ch. Acts 9:14; Acts 9:21, Acts 22:16.

238. Romans 10:12-13 and 1 Corinthians 1:2.) it must imply, that it is impossible
for any who reject him, to pray in an acceptable manner. How awful a
reflection! See the note on Joel 2:32.
ELLLICOTT, "(21) Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord . . .—
Singularly enough, the precise phrase, to “call upon” God, common as it is in
the Old Testament, does not occur in the Gospels. With St. Luke and St. Paul
it is, as it were, a favourite word (Acts 7:59; Acts 9:14; Romans 10:12; 1
Corinthians 1:2). Its Greek associations gave to the “invoking” which it
expressed almost the force of an appeal from a lower to a higher tribunal.
(Comp. Acts 25:11; Acts 25:21; Acts 25:25.) Here the thought is that that
Name of the Eternal, invoked by the prayer of faith, was the one sufficient
condition of deliverance in the midst of all the terrors of the coming day of the
Lord.
22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of azareth
was a man accredited by God to you by miracles,
wonders and signs, which God did among you
through him, as you yourselves know.
Morgan, "Let me put it startlingly. Jesus, in his human form, perfomed no miracles.
God wrought the miracles through Jesus. They were miracles which God did by
Him in the midst of you. Consequently the miracles prove, not the deity of our Lord,
but His humanity-his perfect humanity."
WIT ESS LEE
The Greek word translated “demonstrated” in verse 22 literally means to point out,
to exhibit, to show forth, in the sense of proving by demonstration, thus bringing
about an approval. This indicates that the Lord’s work was God’s demonstration of
Him, His exhibition of Him. While Christ was living and ministering, whatever He
did was an exhibition of the fact that His work was done by God. In the four
Gospels we have the exhibition of a wonderful Person, the God-man. The Gospels
exhibit this God-man as the One who was fully tested, proved, and approved.
Peter’s thought in verse 22 is that Jesus was fully tested, proved, and approved by
God.
The record in 2:14-47 emphasizes Peter’s speaking concerning Christ. Peter spoke
of Christ, and he even spoke forth Christ. This is the first case of the speaking of
Christ by the believers. In his speaking, Peter presents to us the Man Jesus and

239. witnesses to us concerning Him. In particular, Peter speaks of the Lord Jesus in His
work, death, resurrection, and ascension.
In his speaking concerning Christ in chapters two through five of Acts, Peter does
not refer to Him as the Son of God. Peter’s emphasis here is not on the fact that
Jesus is the Son of God. Rather, in these chapters Peter stresses that the Lord Jesus
is a man. The reason for this emphasis is that the Jews crucified Christ as a man,
regarding Him merely as a despised man, a azarene, a person of low estate.
Therefore, Peter said that the One regarded by the Jews as a lowly azarene was
approved by God in all that He did.
UNKNOWN, "V. 22 - Jesus of azareth - This phrase identifies who is the subject of
Peter's remarks. Many were called "Jesus." We need to remember that the real issue is
this: do you and I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God? Peter affirmed this
proposition in Matthew 16:16, as did the other apostles.
Peter proclaimed that the events were part of God’s plan; the above fact (including
explicit details about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection) that was prophesied by Joel to
happen in the "last days" - all was taking place just as God had intended.
mighty works, wonders and signs - Three aspects of any miracle, viewed from what it
took to do it (mighty work), the response it caused in the viewer (wonder), and that it
(sign) pointed to something beyond itself.
you yourselves know - The Gospels are replete with miracles no one could deny. The
case is much like that in Acts 4:16. Many of those in the audience had knowledge of
Jesus・works, or were themselves among the blessed. It was as Nicodemus said in John
3, "We know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that
you do, except God be with him."
BARNES, "Ye men of Israel - Descendants of Israel or Jacob, that is, Jews. Peter
proceeds now to the third part of his argument, to show that Jesus Christ had been
raised up; that the scene which had occurred was in accordance with his promise, was
proof of his resurrection, and of his exaltation to be the Messiah; and that, therefore,
they should repent for their great sin in having put their own Messiah to death.
A man approved of God - A man who was shown or demonstrated to have the
approbation of God, or to have been sent by him.
By miracles, and wonders, and signs - The first of these words properly means
the displays of power which Jesus made; the second, the unusual or remarkable events
which attended him, as suited to excite wonder or amazement; the third, the sights or
proofs that he was from God. Together, they denote the array or series of remarkable
works - raising the dead, healing the sick, etc., which showed that Jesus was sent from
God. The proof which they furnished that he was from God was this, that He would not
confer such power on an impostor, and that therefore Jesus was what he pretended to
be.
Which God did, by him - The Lord Jesus himself often traced his power to do these
things to his commission from the Father, but he did it in such a way as to show that he
was closely united to him, Joh_5:19, Joh_5:30. Peter here says that God did these works
by Jesus Christ, to show that Jesus was truly sent by him, and that therefore he had the

240. seal and attestation of God. The same thing Jesus himself said, Joh_5:36, “The work
which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me,
that the Father hath sent me.” The great works which God has made in creation, as well
as in redemption, he is represented as having done by his Son, Heb_1:2, “By whom also
he made the worlds,” Joh_1:3; Col_1:15-19.
In the midst of you - In your own land. It is also probable that many of the persons
present had been witnesses of his miracles.
As ye yourselves also know - They knew it either by having witnessed them, or by
the evidence which everywhere abounded of the truth that he had performed them. The
Jews, even in the time of Christ, did not dare to call his miracles in question, Joh_15:24.
While they admitted the miracle, they attempted to trace it to the influence of Beelzebub,
Mat_9:34; Mar_3:22. So decided and numerous were the miracles of Jesus, that Peter
here appeals to them as having been known by the Jews themselves to have been
performed, and with a confidence that even riley could not deny it. On this he proceeds
to rear his argument for the truth of his Messiahship.
CLARKE, "A man approved of God - Αποδεδειγµενον, celebrated, famous. The
sense of the verse seems to be this: Jesus of Nazareth, a man sent of God, and celebrated
among you by miracles, wonders, and signs; and all these done in such profusion as had
never been done by the best of your most accredited prophets. And these signs, etc.,
were such as demonstrated his Divine mission.
GILL Verse 22. Ye men of Israel hear these words,.... The Arabic version prefaces this
passage with these words, "in those days Peter stood and said unto the people"; as if it
was not on the same day, and the following oration was a new one, and not a continued
discourse with the former; whereas it was delivered at the same time, and is in connection
with what goes before. Only the apostle having finished the vindication of his brethren,
and the whole society, and set that matter in a clear light; and being willing to take this
opportunity of preaching Christ to the Jews, addresses them under another character in a
new form of words, though to the same sense as in Acts 2:14 in order to soften their
minds, and raise their attention, and proceeds to describe the person, the subject of his
following discourse:
Jesus of Nazareth; first by his name Jesus, which the angel gave him before his birth; and
that for this reason, because he is the Saviour of his people from their sins, and which his
name signifies; and next by the place, not where he was born, for that was Bethlehem, but
where he was educated and brought up, and where he lived the greatest part of his life,
Nazareth, a city in Galilee; whence he was so called, generally by way of contempt, and
not so much to distinguish him from any of the same name:
a man approved of God; he was truly and really a man, who in his incarnation assumed a
true body, and a reasonable soul; but he was not a mere man, and much less a common
and ordinary man: he was the famous son of man the Scriptures speak of; the man of
God's right hand, the man his fellow, a great, mighty, and wonderful man: "approved by
God"; or shown, declared, and demonstrated by him, to be sent by him in human nature,
to be the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, who was the chosen of God, loved and

241. honoured by him, whom he sealed, and bore a testimony to; and that not privately, but
openly and publicly:
among you; in the face of all the people in Jerusalem, and in the temple, and at the time of
public feasts:
by miracles, and wonders, and signs; by dispossessing devils, cleansing lepers, restoring
sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk, and
by raising the dead:
which God did by him in the midst of you; not but that he did the miracles himself, as and
the Son of God; but as he was man, God did them, by his human nature, as the
instrument: the meaning is, that his miracles were wrought by a divine power, and not by
a diabolical influence, by Beelzebub the prince of devils, as the Pharisees blasphemously
said of him; and these were done, not in a corner, but in the midst of them:
as ye yourselves also know; for they must be sensible and convicted in their own
consciences, not only that these things were done by him, but that they could not be done
by him, unless God was with him, or he was from God; and so were testimonies both of
the divine approbation of him, and of his deity and Messiahship.
HENRY,"That it was the gift of Christ, and the product and proof of his resurrection
and ascension. From this gift of the Holy Ghost, he takes occasion to preach unto them
Jesus; and this part of his sermon he introduces with another solemn preface (Act_
2:22): “You men of Israel, hear these words. It is a mercy that you are within hearing of
them, and it is your duty to give heed to them.” Words concerning Christ should be
acceptable words to the men of Israel. Here is,
(1.) An abstract of the history of the life of Christ, Act_2:22. He calls him Jesus of
Nazareth, because by that name he was generally known, but (which was sufficient to
roll away that reproach) he was a man approved of God among you, censured and
condemned by men, but approved of God: God testified his approbation of his doctrine
by the power he gave him to work miracles: a man marked out by God, so Dr.
Hammond reads it; “signalized and made remarkable among you that now hear me. He
was sent to you, set up, a glorious light in your land; you yourselves are witnesses how he
became famous by miracles, wonders, and signs, works above the power of nature, out
of its ordinary course, and contrary to it, which God did by him; that is, which he did by
that divine power with which he was clothed, and in which God plainly went along with
him; for no man could do such works unless God were with him.” See what a stress
Peter lays upon Christ's miracles. [1.] The matter of fact was not to be denied: “They
were done in the midst of you, in the midst of your country, your city, your solemn
assemblies, as you yourselves also know. You have been eyewitnesses of his miracles; I
appeal to yourselves whether you have any thing to object against them or can offer any
thing to disprove them.” [2.] The inference from them cannot be disputed; the reasoning
is as strong as the evidence; if he did those miracles, certainly God approved him,
declared him to be, what he declared himself to be, the Son of God and the Saviour of
the world; for the God of truth would never set his seal to a lie.
JAMISON 22-28, "a man approved of God — rather, “authenticated,” “proved,” or

242. “demonstrated to be from God.”
by miracles ... which God did by him — This is not a low view of our Lord’s
miracles, as has been alleged, nor inconsistent with Joh_2:11, but is in strict accordance
with His progress from humiliation to glory, and with His own words in Joh_5:19. This
view of Christ is here dwelt on to exhibit to the Jews the whole course of Jesus of
Nazareth as the ordinance and doing of the God of Israel [Alford].
CALVI , "22. Jesus of azareth. Now doth Peter apply unto his purpose the prophecy
of Joel; namely, that the Jews may thereby know that the time of restoring was present;
and that Christ was given them for this purpose. For this promise was no otherwise to be
fulfilled, save only by the coming of the Mediator. And this is the right use of all those
gifts which we have by Christ, whilst that they bring us unto Christ, as unto a fountain.
But he cometh hither by little and little. For he doth not by and by in the beginning affirm
that Jesus was Christ; but he saith only that he was a man sent of God; and that doth he
prove by his miracles. Afterward he addeth, that he rose from death when he was slain.
Whereby it appeareth more certainly and more fully that he was not one of the prophets,
but the very Son of God, who was promised to be the repairer of all things. Let this,
therefore, be the first member, that Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God by
manifest testimonies, so that he could not be despised as some base and obscure person.
The old interpreter did not evil 1 translate uJpodedeigmenon approved. And Erasmus is
deceived, who thinketh that he did read it otherwise; and he himself did not express
Luke's mind, when as he translated it given. 2 For, seeing that word doth signify among
the Grecians to show, whereupon the mathematicians also call those arguments whereby
they set a thing, as it were, before a man's eyes, apodeixeiv, or demonstrations, Luke
meant to say, that Jesus came not unknown, and without any testimony or approbation,
but that those miracles which God showed by him served to this end, that he might be
famous and excellent. Therefore he saith that he was showed toward the Jews; because
God would have his Son to be accounted excellent and great among them; as if he should
say, that miracles were not appointed for other nations, but for the Jews, that they might
know that Jesus was sent unto them of God.
By great works. He calleth miracles by these three names. And because God
doth show forth his power in them after a new and unwonted sort, or doth, at
least, procure greater admiration, they are, for good causes, called great works.
3 For we are commonly more moved when any extraordinary thing doth
happen. In which respect they are also called wonders, 4 because they make us
astonished. And for this cause are they called signs, because the Lord will not
have men's minds to stay there, but to be lifted up higher; as they are referred
unto another end. He put in three words, to the end he might the more extol
Christ's miracles, and enforce the people, by his heaping and laying of words
together, to consider the same. Furthermore, he maketh not Christ the chief
author, but only the minister; because, as we have already said, he determined
to go forward by degrees. Notwithstanding, here may a question be asked,
whether miracles do suffice to be a sufficient and just approbation [proof] or
no? Because by this means inchanters might cause their legerdemain 5 to be

243. believed. I answer, that the juggling casts of Satan do much differ from the
power of God. Christ saith elsewhere, that the kingdom of Antichrist shall be
in wonders, but he addeth by and by, in lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9.)
if any man object, that we cannot easily discern, because he saith that they
shall have so great color that they shall deceive (if it could be) the very elect; I
answer again, that this error proceedeth only from our own want of wit,
because we are so dull; for God doth show his power manifestly enough.
Therefore, there is sufficient approbation of the doctrine and of the ministry in
the miracles which God doth work, so that we be not blind. And whereas it is
not of sufficient force among the wicked, because they may now and then be
deceived with the false miracles of Satan, this must be imputed unto their own
blindness; but whosoever hath a pure heart, he doth also know God with the
pure eyes of his mind, so often as he doth show himself. Neither can Satan
otherwise delude us, save only when, through the wickedness of our heart, our
judgment is corrupt and our eyes blinded, or at least bleared through our own
slothfulness.
BARCLAY, "Lord And Christ (Acts 2:22-36)
Here is a passage full of the essence of the thought of the early preachers.
(i) It insists that the Cross was no accident. It belonged to the eternal plan of
God (Acts 2:23). Over and over again Acts states this same thing (compare
Acts 3:18; Acts 4:28; Acts 13:29). The thought of Acts safeguards us from
two serious errors in our thinking about the death of Jesus. (a) The Cross is
not a kind of emergency measure flung out by God when everything else had
failed. It is part of God's very life. (b) We must never think that anything Jesus
did changed the attitude of God to men. It was by God Jesus was sent. We
may put it this way--the Cross was a window in time allowing us to see the
suffering love which is eternally in the heart of God.
(ii) Acts insists that this in no way lessens the crime of those who crucified
Jesus. Every mention of the crucifixion in Acts is instinct with a feeling of
shuddering horror at the crime it was (compare Acts 2:23; Acts 3:13; Acts
4:10; Acts 5:30). Apart from anything else, the crucifixion shows supremely
how horrifyingly sin can behave.
(iii) Acts is out to prove that the sufferings and death of Christ were the
fulfillment of prophecy. The earliest preachers had to do that. To the Jew the
idea of a crucified Messiah was incredible. Their law said, "A hanged man is
accursed by God" (Deuteronomy 21:23). To the orthodox Jew the Cross made
it completely impossible that Jesus could be the Messiah. The early preachers
answered, "If you would only read your scriptures rightly you would see that
all was foretold."
(iv) Acts stresses the resurrection as the final proof that Jesus was indeed

244. God's Chosen One. Acts has been called The Gospel of the Resurrection. To
the early Church the resurrection was all-important. We must remember this--
without the resurrection there would have been no Christian Church at all.
When the disciples preached the centrality of the resurrection they were
arguing from experience. After the Cross they were bewildered, broken men,
with their dream gone and their lives shattered. It was the resurrection which
changed all that and turned them from cowards into heroes. It is one of the
tragedies of the Church that so often the preaching of the resurrection is
confined to Easter time. Every Sunday is the Lord's Day and every Lord's Day
should be kept as resurrection day. In the Eastern Church on Easter day, when
two people meet, one says, "The Lord is risen"; and the other answers, "He is
risen indeed!" A Christian should never forget that he lives and walks with a
Risen Lord.
COFFMAN, "It is significant, as McGarvey taught, that: "By the three terms,
works ... wonders ... signs, Peter does not mean three classes of actions; but he
uses the three terms to describe the same phenomena."[32] All of Christ's
deeds were "mighty works," for only the power of God in himself could have
done them; they were "wonders," because all who beheld them marveled; and
they were "signs" in that, properly viewed, they attested the oneness of Jesus
with the Father in heaven. Thus, in a single sentence Peter summarized the
countless miracles of the four-year ministry of our Lord.
ENDNOTE:
[32] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 29.
ELLICOTT, "(22) Jesus of Nazareth.—We hardly estimate, as we read them,
the boldness implied in the utterance of that Name. Barely seven weeks had
passed since He who bore it had died the death of a slave and of a robber. The
speaker himself had denied all knowledge of Him of whom he now spoke.
A man approved of God.—The verb is used in its older English sense, as
proved, or pointed out, not as we now use the word, as meeting with the
approval of God.
Miracles and wonders and signs.—Better, mighty works . . . The words are
three synonyms, expressing different aspects of the same facts, rather than a
classification of phenomena. The leading thought, in the first word, is the
power displayed in the act; in the second, the marvel of it as a portent: in the
third, its character as a token or note of something beyond itself.
23This man was handed over to you by God's set

245. purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the
help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by
nailing him to the cross.
WIT ESS LEE
n 2:23 we see that the Lord’s death was according to God’s determined counsel and
foreknowledge: “This man, delivered up by the determined counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you, through the hand of lawless men, nailed to the cross and
killed.” This determined counsel must be a counsel held by the Trinity before the
foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8). This indicates that the Lord’s
crucifixion was not an accident in human history, but a purposeful fulfillment of the
divine counsel determined by the Triune God.
Christ’s death was also according to the foreknowledge of God. Christ was
foreordained, prepared, by God to be His redeeming Lamb (John 1:29) for His elect
according to His foreknowledge before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).
This was done according to God’s eternal purpose and plan, not accidentally.
Hence, in the eternal view of God, from the foundation of the world, that is, the fall
of man as a part of the world, Christ was slain (Rev. 13:8).
We have seen that the divine Trinity held a counsel concerning the death of Christ.
In that counsel it was determined that the second of the Trinity would become a
man and die on the cross. Therefore, the Lord’s crucifixion, which was according to
the foreknowledge of the Triune God, was the result of a determination made by the
Trinity in an eternal counsel. Therefore, instead of being an accident, the Lord’s
crucifixion took place according to the eternal determination of the Triune God.
Acts 2:23 says that through the hand of lawless men the Lord Jesus was nailed to
the cross and killed. These lawless men included Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3-6), chief
priests, officers of the temple, elders (Luke 22:52-53), the high priest and the Jewish
Sanhedrin (Luke 22:54, 66-71), Pilate, Herod, and the Roman soldiers (Luke 23:1-
25)—mainly the Jewish religionists with their deputies and the Gentile politicians
with their subordinates. This indicates that Jesus was killed by all mankind.
Acts 2:23 says that the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Jewish death penalty
was by stoning (Lev. 20:2, 27; 24:23; Deut. 13:10; 17:5). Crucifixion was a heathen
practice (Ezra 6:11), adopted by the Romans for the execution of slaves and heinous
criminals only. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was not only a fulfillment of the
Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13; um. 21:8-9), but also of the Lord’s own
word concerning the mode of His death (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32), which could not
have been fulfilled by stoning. It was of God’s sovereignty that not long before the
Lord Jesus was put to death the Roman Empire made the law that criminals
sentenced to death were to be crucified. It was by this kind of death that the Lord

246. was executed.
UNKNOWN,"V. 23 - this Jesus...delivered up - Further evidence that God had planned
to redeem man, and counted the cost to do so. Consider what light this sheds on the
"scandal of the cross": it was God痴 plan! For God, the events of the cross were the
means of the reconciliation of the world. It was only to the minds of men out of tune with
God that the cross was a scandal.
lawless men - Probably the Romans, but could well mean men with no restraints, such as
the Jewish leaders or Pilate; whose only restraint was what worked for them personally.
Jesus・death was not a matter of helplessness: God foreknew it; but men were still guilty
of it, because they, with power of personal judgment willed it to be so. The crowds
shouted to Pilate, "Crucify him (Jesus)." They accepted blame for his blood, Matthew
27:25.
BARNES, "Him, being delivered - ᅞκδοτον ekdoton. This word, delivered, is used
commonly of those who are surrendered or delivered into the hands of enemies or
adversaries. It means that Jesus was surrendered, or given up to his enemies by those
who should have been his protectors. Thus, he was delivered to the chief priests, Mar_
10:33. Pilate released Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to their will, Mar_15:15; Luk_
23:25. He was delivered unto the Gentiles, Luk_18:32; the chief priests delivered him to
Pilate, Mat_27:2; and Pilate delivered him to be crucified, Mat_27:26; Joh_19:16. In this
manner was the death of Jesus accomplished, by being surrendered from one tribunal to
another, and one demand of his countrymen to another, until they succeeded in
procuring his death. It may also be implied here that he was given or surrendered by
God Himself to the hands of people. Thus, he is represented to have been given by God,
Joh_3:16; 1Jo_4:9-10. The Syriac translates this, “Him, who was destined to this by the
foreknowledge and will of God, you delivered into the hands of wicked men,” etc. The
Arabic, “Him, delivered to you by the hands of the wicked, you received, and after you
had mocked him you slew him.”
By the determinate counsel - The word translated “determinate” - τሀ ᆞρίσµένᇽ tē
hōrismenē - mean, properly, “what is defined, marked out, or bounded; as, to mark out or
define the boundary of a field,” etc. See Rom_1:1, Rom_1:4. In Act_10:42, it is translated
“ordained of God”; denoting His purpose that it should be so, that is, that Jesus should
be the Judge of quick and dead; Luk_22:22, “The Son of man goeth as it is determined of
him,” that is, as God has purposed or determined beforehand that he should go; Act_
11:29, “The disciples ...determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in
Judea,” that is, they resolved or purposed beforehand to do it; Act_17:26, “God ...‘hath
determined’ the times before appointed and fixed,” etc. In all these places there is the
idea of a purpose, intention, or plan implying intention, and marking out or fixing the
boundaries to some future action or evens. The word implies that the death of Jesus was
resolved by God before it took place. And this truth is established by all the predictions
made in the Old Testament, and by the Saviour himself. God was not compelled to give
up his Son. There was no claim on him for it. He had a right, therefore, to determine
when and how it should be done. The fact, moreover, that this was predicted, shows that

247. it was fixed or resolved on. No event can be foretold, evidently, unless it be certain that it
will take place. The event, therefore, must in some way be fixed or resolved on
beforehand,
Counsel - βουλή boulē. This word properly denotes “purpose, decree, will.” It
expresses the act of the mind in willing, or the purpose or design which is formed. Here
it means the purpose or will of God; it was his plan or decree that Jesus should be
delivered: Act_4:28, “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel ᅧ βουλή σου hē
boulē sou determined before to be done”; Eph_1:11, “Who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will”; Heb_6:17, “God willing ...to show ...the immutability of his
counsel.” See Act_20:27; 1Co_4:5; Luk_23:51. The word here, therefore, proves that
Jesus was delivered by the deliberate purpose of God; that it was according to his
previous intention and design. The reason why this was insisted on by Peter was that he
might convince the Jews that Jesus was not delivered by weakness, or because he was
unable to rescue himself. Such an opinion would have been inconsistent with the belief
that he was the Messiah. It was important, then, to assert the dignity of Jesus, and to
show that his death was in accordance with the fixed design of God, and therefore that it
did not interfere in the least with his claims to be the Messiah. The same thing our
Saviour has himself expressly affirmed, Joh_19:10-11; Joh_10:18; Mat_26:53.
Foreknowledge - This word denotes “the seeing beforehand of an event yet to take
place.” It implies:
1. Omniscience; and,
2. That the event is fixed and certain.
To foresee a contingent event, that is, to foresee that an event will take place when it
may or may not take place, is an absurdity. Foreknowledge, therefore, implies that for
some reason the event will certainly take place. What that reason As, however, God is
represented in the Scriptures as purposing or determining future events; as they could
not be foreseen by him unless he had so determined, so the word sometimes is used in
the sense of determining beforehand, or as synonymous with decreeing, Rom_8:29;
Rom_11:2. In this place the word is used to denote that the delivering up of Jesus was
something more than a bare or naked decree. It implies that God did it according to his
foresight of what would be the best time, place, and manner of its being done. It was not
the result merely of will; it was will directed by a wise foreknowledge of what would be
best. And this is the case with all the decrees of God. It follows from this that the conduct
of the Jews was foreknown. God was not disappointed in anything respecting their
treatment of his Son, nor will he be disappointed in any of the actions of people.
Notwithstanding the wickedness of the world, his counsel shall stand, and he will do all
his pleasure, Isa_46:10.
Ye have taken - See Mat_26:57. Ye Jews have taken. It is possible that some were
present on this occasion who had been personally concerned in taking Jesus, and many
who had joined in the cry, “Crucify him, Luk_23:18-21. It was, at any rate, the act of the
Jewish people by which this had been done. This was a striking instance of the fidelity of
that preaching which says, as Nathan did to David, “Thou art the man!” Peter, once so
timid that he denied his Lord, now charged this atrocious crime to his countrymen,
regardless of their anger and his own danger. He did not deal in general accusations, but
brought the charges home, and declared that they were the people who had been
concerned in this amazing crime. No preaching can be successful that does not charge to
people their personal guilt, and that does not fearlessly proclaim their ruin and danger.
By wicked hands - Greek: “through or by the hands of the lawless or wicked.” This

248. refers, doubtless, to Pilate and the Roman soldiers, through whose instrumentality this
had been done. The reasons for supposing that this is the true interpretation of the
passage are these:
(1) The Jews had not the power of inflicting death themselves.
(2) The term used here, “wicked,” ᅊνόµων anomōn, is not applicable to the Jews, but to
the Romans. It properly means lawless, or those who had not the Law, and is often
applied to the pagan, Rom_2:12, Rom_2:14; 1Co_9:21.
(3) The punishment which was inflicted was a Roman punishment.
(4) It was a matter of fact that the Jews, though they had condemned him, yet had not
put him to death themselves, but had demanded it of the Romans. But, though
they had employed the Romans to do it, still they were the prime movers in the
deed; they had plotted, and compassed, and demanded his death, and they were,
therefore, not the less guilty. The maxim of the common law and of common sense
is, “He who does a deed by the instrumentality of another is responsible for it.” It
was from no merit of the Jews that they had not put him to death themselves. It
was simply because the power was taken away from them.
Have crucified - Greek: “Having affixed him to the cross, ye have put him to death.”
Peter here charges the crime fully on them. Their guilt was not diminished because they
had employed others to do it. From this we may remark:
1. That this was one of the most amazing and awful crimes that could be charged to
any people. It was malice, and treason, and hatred, and murder combined. Nor was it
any common murder. It was their own Messiah whom they had put to death; the hope of
their fathers; he who had been long promised by God, and the prospect of whose coming
had so long cheered and animated the nation. They had now imbrued their hands in his
blood, and stood charged with the awful crime of having murdered the Prince of Peace.
2. It is no mitigation of guilt that we do it by the instrumentality of others. It is often, if
not always, a deepening and extending of the crime.
3. We have here a striking and clear instance of the doctrine that the decrees of God do
not interfere with the free agency of people. This event was certainly determined
beforehand. Nothing is clearer than this. It is here expressly asserted; and it had been
foretold with undeviating certainty by the prophets. God had, for wise and gracious
purposes, purposed or decreed in his own mind that his Son should die at the time and
in the manner in which he did; for all the circumstances of his death, as well as of his
birth and his life, were foretold; and yet in this the Jews and the Romans never supposed
or alleged that they were compelled or cramped in what they did. They did what they
chose. If in this case the decrees of God were not inconsistent with human freedom,
neither can they be in any case. Between those decrees and the freedom of man there is
no inconsistency, unless it could be shown - what never can be that God compels people
to act contrary to their own will. In such a case there could be no freedom. But that is not
the case with regard to the decrees of God. An act is what it is in itself; it can be
contemplated and measured by itself. That it was foreseen, foreknown, or purposed does
not alter its nature, anymore than it does that it be remembered after it is performed.
The memory of what we have done does not destroy our freedom. “Our own purposes” in
relation to our conduct do not destroy our freedom; nor can the purposes or designs of
any other being violate one free moral action, unless he compels us to do a thing against
our will.
4. We have here a proof that the decrees of God do not take away the moral character
of an action. It does not prove that an action is innocent if it is shown that it is a part of

249. the wise plan of God to permit it, Never was there a more atrocious crime than the
crucifixion of the Son of God; and yet it was determined on in the divine counsels. So
with all the deeds of human guilt. The purpose of God to permit them does not destroy
their nature or make them innocent. They are what they are in themselves. The purpose
of God does not change their character; and if it is right to push them in fact, they will be
punished. If it is right for God to punish them, it was right to resolve to do it. The sinner
must answer for his sins, not for the plans of his Maker; nor can he take shelter in the
day of wrath against what he deserves in the plea that God has determined future events.
If any people could have done it, it would have been those whom Peter addressed; yet
neither he nor they felt that their guilt was in the least diminished by the fact that Jesus
was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.”
5. If this event was predetermined; if that act of amazing wickedness, when the Son of
God was put to death, was fixed by the determinate counsel of God, then all the events
leading to it, and the circumstances attending it, were also a part of the decree. The one
could not be determined without the other.
6. If that event was determined, then others may also be consistently with human
freedom and responsibility. There can be no deed of wickedness that will surpass that of
crucifying the Son of God, and if the acts of his murderers were a part of the wise counsel
of God, then on the same principle are we to suppose that all events are under his
direction, and ordered by a purpose infinitely wise and good.
7. If the Jews could not take shelter from the charge of wickedness under the plea that
it was foreordained, then no stoners can do it. This was as clear a case as can ever occur;
and yet the apostle did not intimate that an excuse or mitigation for their sin could be
pled from this cause. This case, therefore, meets all the excuses of sinners from this plea,
and proves that those excuses will not avail them or save them in the day of judgment.
CLARKE, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel - Bp. Pearce
paraphrases the words thus: Him having been given forth; i.e. sent into the world, and
manifested by being made flesh, and dwelling among you, as it is said in Joh_1:14; see
also Act_4:28.
Kypke contends that εκδοτον, delivered, does not refer to God, but to Judas the traitor
“the Jews received Jesus, delivered up to them by Judas; the immutable counsel of God
so permitting.”
By the determinate counsel, ᆞρισµενᇽ βουλᇽ; that counsel of God which defined the
time, place, and circumstance, according (προγνωσει) to his foreknowledge, which
always saw what was the most proper time and place for the manifestation and
crucifixion of his Son; so that there was nothing casual in these things, God having
determined that the salvation of a lost world should be brought about in this way; and
neither the Jews nor Romans had any power here, but what was given to them from
above. It was necessary to show the Jews that it was not through Christ’s weakness or
inability to defend himself that he was taken; nor was it through their malice merely that
he was slain; for God had determined long before, from the foundation of the world,
Rev_13:8, to give his Son a sacrifice for sin; and the treachery of Judas, and the malice
of the Jews were only the incidental means by which the great counsel of God was
fulfilled: the counsel of God intending the sacrifice, but never ordering that it should be
brought about by such wretched means. This was permitted; the other was decreed. See
the observations at the end of this chapter.

250. By wicked hands have crucified and slain - I think this refers to the Romans,
and not to the Jews; the former being the agents, to execute the evil purposes of the
latter. It is well known that the Jews acknowledged that they had no power to put our
Lord to death, Joh_18:31, and it is as well known that the punishment of the cross was
not a Jewish, but a Roman, punishment: hence we may infer that by δια χειρων ανοµων,
by the hands of the wicked, the Romans are meant, being called ανοµοι, without law,
because they had no revelation from God; whereas the others had what was emphatically
termed ᆇ νοµος του Θεου, the law of God, by which they professed to regulate their
worship and their conduct. It was the Jews, therefore, who caused our Lord to be
crucified by the hands of the heathen Romans.
GILL Verse 23. Him being delivered,.... By himself, according to his own will, for he
gave, or delivered himself for his people; and by his Father, who spared him not, but
delivered him up for us all; and by Judas, one of his disciples, who, for a sum of money,
delivered him into the hands of the Jews; and by them he was delivered up to Pilate, the
Roman governor; and by him back again to the Jews, and to the soldiers, to crucify him:
and all this
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God; God not only foreknew that it
would be, but determined that it should be, who does all things after the counsel of his
own will; and this for the salvation of his people, and for the glorifying of his divine
perfections: though this fixed resolution, settled purpose, and wise determination of God,
did not in the least excuse the sin of Judas in betraying him, or of Pilate in condemning
him, or of the Jews in crucifying him; nor did it at all infringe the liberty of their wills in
acting, who did what they did, not by force, but voluntarily:
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; they took him in the garden,
and bound him, and had him first before the high priest, then before Pilate, the Roman
governor, and cried out with one voice, in a most vehement manner, for the crucifying of
him, which, at their importunity, was granted, though no fault was found in him; and
therefore are justly charged with slaying, or murdering him.
HENRY," An account of his death and sufferings which they were witness of also but a
few weeks ago; and this was the greatest miracle of all, that a man approved of God
should thus seem to be abandoned of him; and a man thus approved among the people,
and in the midst of them, should be thus abandoned by them too. But both these
mysteries are here explained (Act_2:23), and his death considered, [1.] As God's act; and
in him it was an act of wonderful grace and wisdom. He delivered him to death; not only
permitted him to be put to death, but gave him up, devoted him: this is explained Rom_
8:32, He delivered him up for us all. And yet he was approved of God, and there was
nothing in this that signified the disapproving of him; for it was done by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, in infinite wisdom, and for holy ends, which Christ
himself concurred in, and in the means leading to them. Thus divine justice must be
satisfied, sinners saved, God and man brought together again, and Christ himself
glorified. It was not only according to the will of God, but according to the counsel of his
will, that he suffered and died; according to an eternal counsel, which could not be
altered. This reconciled him to the cross: Father, thy will be done; and Father, glorify

251. thy name; let thy purpose take effect, and let the great end of it be attained. [2.] As the
people's act; and in them it was an act of prodigious sin and folly; it was fighting against
God to persecute one whom he approved as the darling of heaven; and fighting against
their own mercies to persecute one that was the greatest blessing of this earth. Neither
God's designing it from eternity, nor his bringing good out of it to eternity, would in the
least excuse their sin; for it was their voluntary act and deed, from a principle morally
evil, and therefore “they were wicked hands with which you have crucified and slain
him.” It is probable that some of those were here present who had cried, Crucify him,
crucify him, or had been otherwise aiding and abetting in the murder; and Peter knew it.
However, it was justly looked upon as a national act, because done both by the vote of
the great council and by the voice of the great crowd. It is a rule, Refertur ad universos
quod publice fit per majorem paretm - That which is done publicly by the greater part
we attribute to all. He charges it particularly on them as parts of the nation on which it
would be visited, the more effectually to bring them to faith and repentance, because
that was the only way to distinguish themselves from the guilty and discharge
themselves from the guilt.
JAMISON, "determinate counsel and foreknowledge — God’s fixed plan and
perfect foresight of all the steps involved in it.
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain — How
strikingly is the criminality of Christ’s murderers here presented in harmony with the
eternal purpose to surrender Him into their hands!
CALVIN, "23. Him have ye slain. He maketh mention of the death of Christ
for this cause chiefly, that the resurrection might the more assuredly be
believed. It was a thing full well known among the Jews that Christ was
crucified. Therefore, in that he rose again, it is a great and wonderful token of
his Divine power. In the mean season, to the end he may prick their
consciences with the feeling of sin, he saith that they slew him; not that they
crucified him with their own hands, but because the people, with one voice,
desired to have him put to death. And although many of the hearers unto
whom he speaketh did not consent unto that wicked and ungodly cruelty, yet
doth he justly impute the same to the nation; because all of them had defiled
themselves either with their silence, or else through their carelessness. Neither
hath the cloak and color 6 of ignorance any place, forasmuch as he was
showed before of God. This guiltiness, therefore, under which he bringeth
them, is a preparation unto repentance.
By the determinate counsel. He removeth a stumbling-block; because it
seemeth, at the first blush, to be a thing very inconvenient, [unaccountable,]
that that man whom God had so greatly adorned, being afterward laid open to
all manner of mocking, doth suffer so reproachful a death. Therefore, because
the cross of Christ doth commonly use to trouble us at the first sight, for this
cause Peter declareth that he suffered nothing by chance, or because he wanted
power to deliver himself, but because it was so determined (and appointed) by
God. For this knowledge alone, that the death of Christ was ordained by the
eternal counsel of God, did cut off all occasion of foolish and wicked
cogitation's, and did prevent all offenses which might otherwise be conceived.

252. For we must know this, that God doth decree nothing in vain or rashly;
whereupon it followeth that there was just cause for which he would have
Christ to suffer. The same knowledge of God's providence is a step to consider
the end and fruit of Christ's death. For this meeteth us by and by in the counsel
of God, that the just was delivered 7 for our sins, and that his blood was the
price of our death.
And here is a notable place touching the providence of God, that we may
know that as well our life as our death is governed by it. Luke intreateth,
indeed, of Christ; but in his person we have a mirror, which doth represent
unto us the universal providence of God, which doth stretch itself throughout
the whole world; yet doth it specially shine unto us who are the members of
Christ. Luke setteth down two things in this place, the foreknowledge and the
decree of God. And although the foreknowledge of God is former in order,
(because God doth first see what he will determine, before he doth indeed
determine the same,) yet doth he put the same after the counsel and decree of
God, to the end we may know that God would nothing, neither appointed
anything, save that which he had long before directed to his [its] end. For men
do oftentimes rashly decree many things, because they decree them suddenly.
Therefore, to the end Peter may teach that the counsel of God is not without
reason, he coupleth also therewithal his foreknowledge. Now, we must
distinguish these two, and so much the more diligently, because many are
deceived in this point. For passing over the counsel of God, wherewith he doth
(guide and) govern the whole world, they catch at his bare foreknowledge.
Thence cometh that common distinction, that although God doth foresee all
things, yet doth he lay no necessity upon his creatures. And, indeed, it is true
that God doth know this thing or that thing before, for this cause, because it
shall come to pass; but as we see that Peter doth teach that God did not only
foresee that which befell Christ, but it was decreed by him. And hence must be
gathered a general doctrine; because God doth no less show his providence in
governing the whole world, than in ordaining and appointing the death of
Christ. Therefore, it belongeth to God not only to know before things to come,
but of his own will to determine what he will have done. This second thing did
Peter declare when he said, that he was delivered by the certain and
determinate counsel of God. Therefore, the foreknowledge of God is another
thing than the will of God, whereby he governeth and ordereth all things.
Some, which are of quicker sight, confess that God doth not only foreknow,
but also govern with his beck what things soever are done in this world.
Nevertheless, they imagine a confused government, as if God did give liberty
to his creatures to follow their own nature. They say that the sun is ruled by
the will of God, because, in giving light to us, he doth his duty, which was
once enjoined him by God. They think that man hath free-will after this sort
left him, because his nature is disposed or inclined unto the free choice of
good and evil. But they which think so do feign that God sitteth idle in
heaven. The Scripture teacheth us far otherwise, which ascribeth unto God a
special government in all things, and in man's actions. Notwithstanding, it is

253. our duty to ponder and consider to what end it teacheth this; for we must
beware of doting speculations, wherewith we see many carried away. The
Scripture will exercise our faith, that we may know that we are defended by
the hand of God, lest we be subject to the injuries of Satan and the wicked. It
is good for us to embrace this one thing; neither did Peter mean anything else
in this place. Yea, we have an example set before us in Christ, whereby we
may learn to be wise with sobriety. For it is out of question, that his flesh was
subject to corruption, according to nature. But the providence of God did set
the same free. If any man ask, whether the bones of Christ could be broken or
no? it is not to be denied, that they were subject to breaking naturally, yet
could there no bone be broken, because God had so appointed and determined,
(John 19:36.) By this example (I say) we are taught so to give the chiefest
room to God's providence, that we keep ourselves within our bounds, and that
we thrust not ourselves rashly and indiscreetly into the secrets of God, whither
our eyesight doth not pierce.
By the hands of the wicked. Because Peter seemeth to grant that the wicked
did obey God, hereupon followeth two absurdities; 8 the one, either that God
is the author of evil, or that men do not sin, what wickedness soever they
commit. I answer, concerning the second, that the wicked do nothing less than
obey God, howsoever they do execute that which God hath determined with
himself. For obedience springeth from a voluntary affection; and we know that
the wicked have a far other purpose. Again, no man obeyeth God save he
which knoweth his will. Therefore, obedience dependeth upon the knowledge
of God's will. Furthermore, God hath revealed unto us his will in the law;
wherefore, those men 9 do obey God, who do that alone which is agreeable to
the law of God; and, again, which submit themselves willingly to his
government. We see no such thing in all the wicked, whom God doth drive
hither and thither, they themselves being ignorant. No man, therefore, will say
that they are excusable under this color, because they obey God; forasmuch as
both the will of God must be sought in his law, and they, so much as in them
lieth, do 10 to resist God. As touching the other point, I deny that God is the
author of evil; because there is a certain noting of a wicked affection in this
word. For the wicked deed is esteemed according to the end whereat a man
aimeth. When men commit theft or murder, they offend 11 for this cause,
because they are thieves or murderers; and in theft and murder there is a
wicked purpose. God, who useth their wickedness, is to be placed in the
higher degree. For he hath respect unto a far other thing, because he will
chastise the one, and exercise the patience of the other; and so he doth never
decline from his nature, that is, from perfect righteousness. So that, whereas
Christ was delivered by the hands of wicked men, whereas he was crucified, it
came to pass by the appointment and ordinance of God. But treason, which is
of itself wicked, and murder, which hath in it so great wickedness, must not be
thought to be the works of God.
COFFMAN, "n these verses and the one preceding them, there are four

254. statements, two of which required no proof, the latter being: (1) that God had
approved Jesus Christ among them by mighty deeds, and (2) that they had by
the hands of lawless men crucified him.
Lawless ... McGarvey thought this refers to the Romans, that is, men without
the law; and, although true that the Romans were so used by the leaders of
Israel in crucifying Christ, we believe that much more is intended. Vine
pointed out the word here is the same as that describing the man of sin (2
Thessalonians 2:4), where "The thought is not simply that of doing what is
unlawful, but of flagrant defiance of the known will of God."[33] The "lawless
men," therefore, were not merely the Romans, but the religious leaders of
Israel who violated every conceivable kind of law in their ruthless
determination to accomplish the death of Jesus. How great was the courage of
Peter to charge such men publicly, as he did here, and at a time so soon
following their dastardly crime.
The other two of the four statements required proof, these being: (3) that it
was included in the purpose and foreknowledge of God that Jesus should so
suffer, and (4) that God had raised him from the dead. Peter at once presented
formal, dogmatic and conclusive proof of both of these. That it was God's
purpose and with his permission that Jesus suffered, he proved from the Old
Testament (Acts 2:25-28); and that God had indeed raised Jesus from the
dead, he would prove by appealing to the witnesses of it, as well as by
pointing out the clear prophecy of it.
It was not possible that he should be holden of it ... The master thesis of the
Bible is that God runs a just universe; and if Jesus had remained in the grave,
that would have been the end of any such proposition. That is why it was
impossible for death to have triumphed over Jesus by retaining his body in the
grave.
ENDNOTE:
[33] W. E. Vine, op. cit., p. 317.
COKE, "Acts 2:23. Him, being delivered, &c.— The word εκδοτον, rendered
being delivered, signifies one given or surrendered up into the hands of an
enemy; and St. Luke intimates by it the free and gracious donation of God the
Father, whereby he delivered up his only begotten Son for the redemption of
mankind. By wicked hands the Romans are meant, who were the immediate
agents in the crucifixion of Christ, yet were only the instruments of the Jewish
rage and cruelty in what they did. Heylin renders the verse rather more clearly
thus: Him (who was given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God) you have taken and put to death upon the cross, by the hands of
wicked men. Pyle would read, Him, who by the determinate counsel—of God,
was given [to you as a Saviour], ye have taken, and crucified. See ch. Acts
4:27-28.

255. ELLICOTT, "(23) By the determinate counsel and fore knowledge of God.—
The adjective meets us again in St. Peter’s speech in Acts 10:42; the word for
“foreknowledge in his Epistle (1 Peter 1:2), and there only in the New
Testament. The coincidence is not without its force as bearing on the
genuineness both of the speech and of the letter. It has now become the habit
of the Apostle’s mind to trace the working of a divine purpose, which men,
even when they are most bent on thwarting it, are unconsciously fulfilling. In
Acts 1:16, he had seen that purpose in the treachery of Judas; he sees it now in
the malignant injustice of priests and people.
Ye have taken. . . .—Better, ye took, and by lawless hands crucified and slew.
Stress is laid on the priests having used the hands of one who was “without
law” (1 Corinthians 9:21), a heathen ruler, to inflict the doom which they
dared not inflict themselves.
24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him
from the agony of death, because it was
impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
morgan says agony is birth pangs and out of the death of Christ came new birth.
What a parodox that death became the mother of life, for out of the tomb which
became the womb came the new life in Christ. He rose from death and had the
power then to conquor death. Death became the place of the birth of its own demise.
Out of death came the life that is everlasting, and so this makes death a necessity in
the total plan of God. It is the last enemy but it plays a major role in giving birth to
life in God's plan.
BARNES, "Whom God hath raised up - This was the main point, in this part of
his argument, which Peter wished to establish. He could not but admit that the Messiah
had been in an ignominious manner put to death. But he now shows them that God had
also raised him up; had thus given his attestation to his doctrine; and had sent down his
Spirit according to the promise which the Lord Jesus made before his death.
Having loosed the pains of death - The word “loosed,” λύσας lusas, is opposed to
bind, and is properly applied to a cord, or to anything which is bound. See Mat_21:2;
Mar_1:7. Hence, it means to free or to liberate, Luk_13:16; 1Co_7:27. It is used in this
sense here; though the idea of untying or loosing a band is retained, because the word
translated “pains” often means “a cord or band.”
The pains of death - ᆝδሏνας τοሞ θάνατου ōdinas tou thanatou. The word translated

256. “pains” denotes properly “the extreme sufferings of parturition, and then any severe or
excruciating pangs.” Hence, it is applied also to death, as being a state of extreme
suffering. A very frequent meaning of the Hebrew word of which this is the translation is
cord or band. This, perhaps, was the original idea of the word; and the Hebrews
expressed any extreme agony under the idea of bands or cords closely drawn, binding
and constricting the limbs, and producing severe pain. Thus, death was represented
under this image of a band that confined people, that pressed closely on them, that
prevented escape, and produced severe suffering. For this use of the word ‫חבל‬ chebel, see
Psa_119:61; Isa_66:7; Jer_22:23; Hos_13:13. It is applied to death, Psa_18:5, “The
snares of death prevented me”; corresponding to the word “sorrows” in the previous part
of the verse; Psa_116:3, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell
(Hades or Sheol, the cords or pains that were binding me down to the grave) gat held on
me.”
We are not to infer from this that our Lord suffered anything after death. It means
simply that he could not be held by the grave, but that God loosed the bonds which had
held him there; that he now set him free who had been encompassed by these pains or
bonds until they had brought him down to the grave. Pain, mighty pain, will encompass
us all like the constrictions and bindings of a cord which we cannot loose, and will fasten
our limbs and bodies in the grave. Those bands begin to be thrown around us in early
life, and they are drawn closer and closer, until we lie panting under the stricture on a
bed of pain, and then are still and immovable in the grave - subdued in a manner not a
little resembling the mortal agonies of the tiger in the convolutions of the boa
constrictor, or like Laocoon and his sons in the folds of the serpents from the Island of
Tenedos.
It was not possible - This does not refer to any natural impossibility, or to any
inherent efficacy or power in the body of Jesus itself, but simply means that “in the
circumstances of the case such an event could not be.” Why it could not be he proceeds
at once to show. It could not be consistently with the promises of the Scriptures. Jesus
was the “Prince of life” Act_3:15; he had life in himself Joh_1:4; Joh_5:26; he had power
to lay down his life and to take it again Jdg_10:18; and it was indispensable that he
should rise. He came, also, that through death he might destroy him that had the power
of death that is, the devil Heb_2:14; and as it was his purpose to gain this victory, he
could not be defeated in it by being confined to the grave.
CLARKE, "Whom God hath raised up - For, as God alone gave him up to death,
so God alone raised him up from death.
Having loosed the pains of death - It is generally supposed that this expression
means, the dissolving of those bonds or obligations by which those who enter into the
region of the dead are detained there till the day of the resurrection; and this is supposed
to be the meaning of ‫מות‬ ‫חבלי‬ chebley maveth, in Psa_116:3, or ‫שאול‬ ‫חבלי‬ chebley sheol, in
Psa_18:5, and in 2Sa_22:6, to which, as a parallel, this place has been referred. But
Kypke has sufficiently proved that λυειν τας ωδινας θανατου, signifies rather to Remove
the pains or sufferings of death. So Lucian, De Conscr. Hist., says, “a copious sweat to
some, ελυσε τον πυρετον, Removes or carries off the fever.” So Strabo, speaking of the
balm of Jericho, says, λυει δε κεφαλαλγιας θαυµαστως - it wonderfully Removes the
headache, etc. That Christ did suffer the pains and sorrows of death in his passion is
sufficiently evident; but that these were all removed, previously to his crucifixion, is fully

257. seen in that calm manner in which he met it, with all its attendant terrors. If we take the
words as commonly understood, they mean that it was impossible for the Prince of Life
to be left in the empire of death: his resurrection, therefore, was a necessary
consequence of his own Divine power.
Instead of θανατου, of death, the Codex Bezae, Syriac, Coptic, and Vulgate, have ᅓιδου,
of hell, or the place of separate spirits; and perhaps it was on no better authority than
this various reading, supported but by slender evidence, that, He descended into hell,
became an article in what is called the apostles’ creed. And on this article many a popish
legend has been builded, to the discredit of sober sense and true religion.
GILL Verse 24. Whom God raised up,.... From the dead; for though his life was taken
away by men, he was raised to life again by God the Father, to whom the resurrection of
Christ is generally ascribed, though not to the exclusion of Christ himself, and the blessed
Spirit; and this being what the apostles were witnesses of, and the Jews endeavoured to
stifle as much as they could, it being the sign Christ gave them of the truth of his
Messiahship; and this being also a fundamental article of the Christian religion, the
apostle enlarges upon it:
having loosed the pains of death; this may be understood either of what Christ had done
for his people by dying for them; he had abolished death; he had took away its sting, and
delivered them from the curse of it, having fulfilled the law, satisfied justice, and made
full atonement for their sin; so that though they die, death is not a penal evil to them, nor
shall they always continue under the power of it: or of what God did in raising Christ
from the dead; he delivered him from the power of death, by which he was held in the
grave, and which is expressed by a word which signifies pains and sorrows, even those of
a woman in travail; which though he felt not now, he had gone through them; his low
state in the grave was the effect of them; and these are said to be loosed when he was
raised up, he being so entirely delivered from them, as that they should never come upon
him more: and it is to be observed, that the same word in the Hebrew language, and so in
the Chaldee and Syriac, in which Peter might speak, signifies both cords and sorrows; and
we often read in Talmudic and Rabbinic {w} writings, of xyvm lv wlbx, "the sorrows," or
"pains" of the Messiah. The death which Christ died, being the death of the cross, was a
very painful one: he endured great pains in his body, smote with rods, and buffeted with
the hands of men; by being scourged and whipped, and having a crown of thorns platted
on his head; but the pains of the cross were still greater, his body being stretched out upon
it, and fastened to it by nails drove through his hands and feet, and then reared up, and

258. jogged in the earth, where he hung upon it in extreme agony, till he expired: and these
pains he endured, not through want of love to him in his Father, who, as he does not
willingly grieve and afflict the children of men, so neither would he his own Son; nor was
it on account of any sin of his, for he knew none, nor did he commit any; but he was
wounded, and bruised, and endured these sorrows and pains for the sins of his people: as
he was their surety, it was necessary he should die, because the wages of sin is death, and
the justice and veracity of God required it; and it was proper he should die the painful
death of the cross, because of the types and prophecies of it, and chiefly that he might
appear to be made a curse for his people: though more must be meant here than the pains
he endured in the moment and article of death, since they ceased at death, and he was
then freed from them; whereas the text speaks of a loosing him from them at his
resurrection, which supposes that they continued on him until that time; wherefore these
pains of death also signify the power and dominion death had over him, and continued to
have over him in the grave; with the cords of which he was bound and held, till he was
loosed by raising him from the dead.
Dr. Goodwin is of opinion, that these words are to be understood, not of the resurrection
of Christ's body from the pains and power of death, but at least chiefly of the recovery
and revival of his soul from those spiritual agonies which attended him, and from which
he was loosed and delivered before his death; and the rather, because as before observed,
at death the pains of it are gone, the bitterness of it is over, and nothing is felt in the
grave; besides, the word here used signifies the pains of a woman in travail, 1
Thessalonians 5:3 and seems best to agree with those inward sufferings of Christ, which
are called "the travail of his soul," Isaiah 53:11 and which, like the pangs of a woman in
labour, came upon him gradually: four or five days before his death he said, "now is my
soul troubled," John 12:27. The night in which he was betrayed, when he came into the
garden, he began to be sorrowful, and heavy, and sore amazed; and at length he breaks
out, and says, "my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," Matthew 26:37 and
after some time his pains increase, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his
sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood, Luke 22:44 but the sharpest pains were yet to
come, and which he endured when on the cross, being forsaken by his God and Father,
Matthew 27:46 and which arose partly from the sins of his people, the filth and guilt of
them laid upon him, which must be very distressing to his pure and holy mind; and from
the wrath of God, and curse of the law, which he sustained as the punishment for them;
and it was necessary he should bear the whole punishment due to sin, the punishment of
sense, or feel the wrath of God, and the strokes of divine justice, and the punishment of
loss, or be deprived of the divine presence; and these sorrows of soul may be well called
the pains or sorrows of death, because they were unto death, and issued in it; a corporeal
death followed upon them; and when he was in the garden, and on the cross, it might be
truly said, "the sorrows of death compassed him about," Psalm 18:4 but from these he
was loosed just before his death, when he said, "it is finished"; the darkness was over; the
light of God's countenance broke out upon him; he heard his cry, and helped him in the

259. acceptable time, in the day of salvation; his anger, as a judge, was turned away from him,
justice being entirely satisfied; and therefore it was not possible he should be held any
longer with these cords and sorrows of death; for he being an infinite person, was able to
bear all the wrath of God at once, which was due to sin, and therefore did not bring on
him an eternal death as on the wicked, he sustaining and satisfying for all at once; and,
like another Samson, broke asunder these cords like threads, and was loosed from them.
But after all, though these are very great truths; yet, according to the order in which these
words lie, being placed after the account of the crucifixion and death of Christ, they seem
rather to respect the resurrection of his body, and the loosing it from the power and
dominion of death; and in such sense as never to return to it, or any more feel the pains of
it. One of Stephen's copies reads, "the pains of Hades," or the invisible state; and the
Vulgate Latin version, "the pains of hell"; as in Psalm 18:5 where the grave is meant; and
the Syriac version, lwavd hylbx, "the pains," or "cords of the grave": the word "cords," or
"bands," best agrees with the word "loosing"; and the Ethiopic version renders it, "the
bands of death."
Because it was not possible he should be holden of it: of death, and under the power of it;
partly, because of the power and dignity of his person, as the Son of God, he being still
the Prince of life, and who by dying abolished death, and him that had the power of it;
and partly, because as the surety of his people, he had made full satisfaction for sin, and
had brought in an everlasting righteousness, and therefore ought in justice to be
discharged, and detained a prisoner no longer; as also because of the prophecies of the
Old Testament concerning his resurrection, which must be fulfilled, as follows.
HENRY, "An attestation of his resurrection, which effectually wiped away the
reproach of his death (Act_2:24): Whom God raised up; the same that delivered him to
death delivers him from death, and thereby gave a higher approbation of him than he
had done by any other of the signs and wonders wrought by him, or by all put together.
This therefore he insists most largely upon.
[1.] He describes his resurrection: God loosed the pains of death, because it was
impossible that he should be holden of it; ōdinas - the sorrows of death; the word is used
for travailing pains, and some think it signifies the trouble and agony of his soul, in
which it was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the death; from these pains and sorrows of
soul, this travail of soul, the Father loosed him when at his death he said, It is finished.
Thus Dr. Godwin understands it: “Those terrors which made Heman's soul lie like the
slain (Psa_88:5, Psa_88:15) had hold of Christ; but he was too strong for them, and
broke through them; this was the resurrection of his soul (and it is a great thing to bring
a soul out of the depths of spiritual agonies); this was not leaving his soul in hell; as that
which follows, that he should not see corruption, speaks of the resurrection of his body;
and both together make up the great resurrection.” Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of
this: “Having dissolved the pains of death, in reference to all that believe in him, God
raised up Christ, and by his resurrection broke all the power of death, and destroyed its
pangs upon his own people. He has abolished death, has altered the property of it, and,
because it was not possible that he should be long holden of it, it is not possible that they
should be for ever holden.” But most refer this to the resurrection of Christ's body. And
death (says Mr. Baxter) is by privation a penal state, though not dolorous by positive
evil. But Dr. Hammond shows that the Septuagint, and from them the apostle here, uses
the word for cords and bands (as Psa_18:4), to which the metaphor of loosing and being

260. held best agrees. Christ was imprisoned for our debt, was thrown into the bands of
death; but, divine justice being satisfied, it was not possible he should be detained there,
either by right or by force; for he had life in himself, and in his own power, and had
conquered the prince of death.
JAMISON,"was not possible he should be holden of it — Glorious saying! It was
indeed impossible that “the Living One” should remain “among the dead” (Luk_24:5);
but here, the impossibility seems to refer to the prophetic assurance that He should not
see corruption.
UNKNOWN, "V. 24 - God raised him up - Note how clear and bold Peter is, within a
city where the facts he preached could be easily checked. Only an abundance of evidence
could have changed the apostles into such forthright witnesses. Consider also how much
Peter痴 ideas about Jesus・death and resurrection had changed since he first heard about
it.
pangs of death - Probably best understood as referring to that which held Jesus (i.e.,
death), which is likened to the trap or snare that held whatever it caught. In Jesus・case,
God planned that death would not triumph over Him who is Life. As Peter said, "It was
not possible" for death to hold Jesus. Obviously the resurrection provided the best
perspective from which to view the crucifixion, then or now.
CALVIN, "24. Having loosed the sorrows of death. By the sorrows of death I
understand some farther thing than the bodily sense or feeling. For those
which duly consider the nature of death, because they hear that it is the curse
of God, must needs conceive that God is angry in death. Hence cometh
marvelous horror, wherein there is greater misery than in death itself.
Furthermore, Christ died upon this occasion that he might take upon him our
guiltiness. That inward fear of conscience, which made him so afraid that he
sweat blood when he presented himself before the throne and tribunal seat of
God, did more vex him, and brought upon him greater horror, than all the
torments of the flesh. And whereas Peter saith, that Christ did wrestle with
such sorrows, and doth also declare that he had the victory, by this it cometh
to pass that the faithful ought not now to be afraid of death; for death hath not
the like quality now which was in Adam; because by the victory of Christ the
curse is swallowed up, (1 Corinthians 15:54.) We feel, indeed, yet the pricking
of sorrows, but such as do not wholly wound us, whilst that we hold up the
buckler of faith against them. He added a reason, because it was impossible
that Christ should be oppressed by death, who is the author of life.
COKE, "Acts 2:24. Whom God hath raised up, &c.— "But be it known unto
you, that God hath abundantly vindicated the honour of this his dear Son,
whom you have thus infamously abused, and hath borne a most glorious
testimony to his innocence, truth, and dignity; for it is he whom "God hath
raised up from the dead, by a miraculous effort of his divine power, having
loosedthe bonds in which he lay, when the pains of death had done their work

261. upon him; as indeed it was impossible that he should finally be held under the
power of it."
ELLICOTT, "(24) Whom God hath raised up.—It is probable enough that
some rumours of the Resurrection had found their way among the people, and
had been met by the counter-statement of which we read in Matthew 28:11-
15; but this was the first public witness, borne by one who was ready to seal
his testimony with his blood, to the stupendous fact.
Having loosed the pains of death.—The word for “pains” is the same as that
for “sorrows” in Matthew 24:8 : literally, travail-pangs. The phrase was not
uncommon in the LXX. version, but was apparently a mistranslation of the
Hebrew for “cords,” or “bands,” of death. If we take the Greek word in its full
meaning, the Resurrection is thought of as a new birth as from the womb of
the grave.
Because it was not possible. . . .—The moral impossibility was, we may say,
two-fold. The work of the Son of Man could not have ended in a failure and
death which would have given the lie to all that He had asserted of Himself.
Its issue could not run counter to the prophecies which had implied with more
or less clearness a victory over death. The latter, as the sequel shows, was the
thought prominent in St. Peter’s mind.
25David said about him:
" 'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
BARNES, "For Daniel speaketh ... - This doctrine that the Messiah must rise from
the dead Peter proceeds to prove by a quotation from the Old Testament. This passage is
taken from Psa_16:8-11. It is made from the Greek version of the Septuagint, with only
one slight and unimportant change. Nor is there any material change, as will be seen,
from the Hebrew. In what sense this Psalm can be applied to Christ will be seen after we
have examined the expressions which Peter alleges.
I foresaw the Lord - This is an unhappy translation. To foresee the Lord always
before us conveys no idea, though it may be a literal translation of the passage. The word
means “to foresee,” and then “to see before us,” that is, “as present with us, to regard as
being near.” It thus implies “to put confidence in one; to rely on him, or expect
assistance from him.” This is its meaning here. The Hebrew is, “I expected, or waited

262. for.” It thus expresses the petition of one who is helpless and dependent, who waits for
help from God. It is often thus used in the Old Testament.
Always before my face - As being always present to help me, and to deliver me out
of all my troubles.
He is on my right hand - To be at hand is to be near to afford help. The right hand
is mentioned because that was the place of dignity and honor. David did not design
simply to say that he was near to help him, but that he had the place of honor, the
highest place in his affections, Psa_109:31. In our dependence on God we should exalt
him. We should not merely regard him as our help, but should at the same time give him
the highest place in our affections.
That I should not be moved - That is, that no great evil or calamity should happen
to me; that I may stand firm. The phrase denotes “to sink into calamities, or to fall into
the power of enemies,” Psa_62:2, Psa_62:6; Psa_46:6. This expresses the confidence of
one who is in danger of great calamities, and who puts his trust in the help of God alone.
CLARKE, "For David speaketh concerning him - The quotation here is made
from Psa_16:8-11 (note), which contains a most remarkable prophecy concerning Christ,
every word of which applies to him, and to him exclusively. See the notes there.
GILL Verse 25. For David speaketh concerning him,.... The Messiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in Psalm 16:8. The whole psalm belongs to the Messiah, and everything
concerning the person in it agrees with him; such as his trust in God, Psalm 16:1 as he
was man and Mediator; his very great regard to the saints, and delight in them, Psalm
16:2 his disregard to others who were hastening after another God, or another Saviour,
whose sacrifices, as an high priest, he would not offer up, nor make intercession for them,
Psalm 16:4 his exceeding great satisfaction in having the God of Israel for his portion,
and in having his lot cast among his peculiar people, who were a delightful inheritance to
him, Psalm 16:5 his thankfulness for advice and direction in the time of his sorrows and
sufferings; and his dependence on the almighty power of God to support and protect him,
Psalm 16:7 and the joy and comfort he was filled with in the view of his resurrection
from the dead, and his enjoyment of the heavenly glory, Psalm 16:9,
I foresaw the Lord always before my face; Christ always had Jehovah in view throughout
the whole of his life; and in his last moments he had respect unto the glory of his
perfections, as the ultimate end of his obedience and sufferings; and to his purposes,
council, and covenant, which were to be accomplished by him; and to his will and
command in preaching the Gospel, working miracles, going about to do good, in obeying
the precept, and bearing the penalty of the law; as well as to his promises, and his power
to assist, support, and preserve him, as man and Mediator:
for he is on my right hand; which expresses his nearness to him, his presence with him,
his readiness to assist him, and his protection of him; as if he was his second that stood by
him, to take his part, and, if need be, to take up his cause, and defend him from his
enemies; see Psalm 109:31
that I should not be moved; from his station, place, and duty; from the cause he was
engaged in, so as to relinquish it; or with the fear of men, or fury of devils, or wrath of

263. God, whilst he was doing and suffering, according to the will of God.
HENRY 25-28, "He showed it to be the fulfilling of the scripture, and, because the
scripture had said that he must rise again before he saw corruption, therefore it was
impossible that he should be holden by death and the grave; for David speaks of his
being raised, so it comes in, Act_2:25. The scripture he refers to is that of David (Psa_
16:8-11), which, though in part applicable to David as a saint, yet refers chiefly to Jesus
Christ, of whom David was a type. Here is,
First, The text quoted at large (Act_2:25-28), for it was all fulfilled in him, and shows
us, 1. The constant regard that our Lord Jesus had to his Father in his whole
undertaking: I foresaw the Lord before me continually. He set before him his Father's
glory as his end in all-for he saw that his sufferings would redound abundantly to the
honour of God, and would issue in his own joy; these were set before him, and these he
had an eye to, in all he did and suffered; and with the prospect of these he was borne up
and carried on, Joh_13:31, Joh_13:32; Joh_17:4, Joh_17:5. 2. The assurance he had of
his Father's presence and power going along with him: “He is on my right hand, the
hand of action, strengthening, guiding, and upholding that, that I should not be moved,
nor driven off from my undertaking, notwithstanding the hardships I must undergo.”
This was an article of the covenant of redemption (Psa_89:21), With him my hand shall
be established, my arm also shall strengthen him; and therefore he is confident the
work shall not miscarry in his hand. If God be at our right hand we shall not be moved.
3. The cheerfulness with which our Lord Jesus went on in his work, notwithstanding the
sorrows he was to pass through: “Being satisfied that I shall not be moved, but the good
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in my hand, therefore doth my heart rejoice, and my
tongue is glad, and the thought of my sorrow is as nothing to me.” Note, It was a
constant pleasure to our Lord Jesus to look to the end of his work, and to be sure that
the issue would be glorious; so well pleased is he with his undertaking that it does his
heart good to think how the issue would answer the design. He rejoiced in spirit, Luk_
10:21. My tongue was glad. In the psalm it is, My glory rejoiceth; which intimates that
our tongue is our glory, the faculty of speaking is an honour to us, and never more so
than when it is employed in praising God. Christ's tongue was glad, for when he was
just entering upon his sufferings, in the close of his last supper, he sang a hymn. 4. The
pleasing prospect he had of the happy issue of his death and sufferings; it was this that
carried him, not only with courage, but with cheerfulness, through them; he was putting
off the body, but my flesh shall rest; the grave shall be to the body, while it lies there, a
bed of repose, and hope shall give it a sweet repose; it shall rest in hope, hoti, that thou
wilt no leave my soul in hell; what follows is the matter of his hope, or assurance rather,
(1.) That the soul shall not continue in a state of separation from the body; for, besides
that this is some uneasiness to a human soul made for its body, it would be the
continuance of death's triumph over him who was in truth a conqueror over death:
“Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” (in hades, in the invisible state, so hades properly
signifies); “but, though thou suffer it for a time to remove thither, and to remain there,
yet thou wilt remand it; thou wilt not leave it there, as thou dost the souls of other men.”
(2.) That the body shall lie but a little while in the grave: Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy
One to see corruption; the body shall not continue dead so long as to begin to putrefy or
become noisome; and therefore it must return to life on or before the third day after its
death. Christ was God's Holy One, sanctified and set apart to his service in the work of
redemption; he must die, for he must be consecrated by his own blood; but he must not
see corruption, for his death was to be unto God of a sweet smelling savour. This was
typified by the law concerning the sacrifice, that no part of the flesh of the sacrifice

264. which was to be eaten should be kept till the third day, for fear it should see corruption
and begin to putrefy, Lev_7:15-18. (3.) That his death and sufferings should be, not to
him only, but to all his, an inlet to a blessed immortality: “Thou has made known to me
the ways of life, and by me made them known to the world, and laid them open.” When
the Father gave to the Son to have life in himself, a power to lay down his life and to
take it again, then he showed him the way of life, both to and fro; the gates of death
were open to him and the doors of the shadow of death (Job_38:17), to pass and repass
through them, as his occasion led him, for man's redemption. (4.) That all his sorrows
and sufferings should end in perfect and perpetual felicity: Thou shalt make me full of
joy with thy countenance. The reward set before him was joy, a fulness of joy, and that
in God's countenance, in the countenance he gave to his undertaking, and to all those,
for his sake, that should believe in him. The smiles with which the Father received him,
when, at his ascension, he was brought to the Ancient of days, filled him with joy
unspeakable, and that is the joy of our Lord, into which all his shall enter, and in which
they shall be for ever happy.
CALVIN, "25. The resurrection, 1 which was both declared and witnessed by certain and
evident testimonies, and which might also have been gathered out of the continual
doctrine of the prophets, was to be proved to the Jews as some new and strange thing.
And no marvel. For we see that although Christ had oftentimes beat 2 the same into his
disciples' heads, yet did they profit but a little. And yet did they retain certain principles
of true doctrine, which might have made a way for them unto the knowledge of Christ, as
we shall see by and by. Therefore, because the gift of the Spirit was a fruit of the
resurrection of Christ, he proveth by the testimony of David that Christ must needs have
risen again, that the Jews may thereby know that he was the author of the gift. For he
taketh it as a thing which all men grant, that he was raised up from death, that he may live
not for himself, but for his. Now we see Peter's drift; that that ought to seem no strange
thing which was foretold so long before; and that Jesus is also Christ, because David did
prophecy of him, as of the tied of the Church.
First of all, we must see whether this place ought altogether to be understood
of Christ, as Peter affirmeth; that done, if there be any thing in the words
worth noting, we will in order discuss it. Peter denieth that that agreeth with
David which is said in this place:
"Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption," (Psalm 16:10,)
because David's carcass was corrupt in the grave. It seemeth at the first blush
to be but a light argument. For a man might easily object, that the word is not
to be urged, forasmuch as David meant nothing else, save only to exempt
himself from destruction. Therefore, howsoever corruption did touch him, yet
doth that no whit hinder but that he may easily say that he was safe from the
danger thereof, because he knew that the Lord would deliver him. Yea, it
seemeth to be a repetition of the former sentence, according to the common
custom of the Hebrew tongue. Which if it be so, the sense shall be plain, that

265. God will not suffer him to be oppressed with death, or that death should
consume him. And this interpretation is confirmed by that where we read hell,
it is in Hebrew lo, (seol;) where we read corruption, there it is txs, (shachat;)
both these words do signify the grave. By this means David should say twice,
that he shall be delivered from death by the grace of God. Finally, he saith the
same thing in this place, which he saith, (Psalm 49:15,) "God shall redeem my
soul from the hand of hell." Like as, on the other side, when he speaketh of the
reprobates, he is wont to take "going down into the grave" for destruction. I
answer briefly, that there is some greater thing expressed in this place than the
common redemption or deliverance of the godly. David, indeed, doth promise
that God will be his eternal deliverer, as well in life as in death. Neither had he
been much better for this, to have been once delivered from one danger, unless
he had hoped that he should be safe even unto the end through God's
protection; but he speaketh of such safety as is not common. 3 And surely the
words do sound that he speaketh of some new and singular privilege. Admit I
grant that it is a repetition, and that there is all one thing uttered in these two
members, "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell;" and, "Thou shalt not suffer
me to see corruption;" yet do I deny that it is simply to be understood that God
will deliver his Holy One from eternal destruction; for freedom from
corruption is promised by name. Neither do I pass for this, that txs (shachat)
doth signify the grave, as lo, (seol,) which is put in the former member. For
although I do not stand nor contend about the words, yet must we respect the
etymology. Therefore, forasmuch as the grave is called txs, (shachat) because
it doth corrupt man's body with rottenness, it is not to be doubted but that
David meant to note that quality. Therefore, the place is not so much
expressed by this word, as the condition of rotting. So that the sense is, that
God will not suffer him of whom the Psalm speaketh "to rot or corrupt in the
grave." And forasmuch as David was not free from this necessity, it followeth
that the prophecy was neither truly nor perfectly fulfilled in him.
And that the Psalm ought altogether to be expounded of Christ, the thing itself
doth prove. For seeing that David was one of the sons of Adam, he could not
escape that universal condition and estate of mankind,
"Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,"
(Genesis 3:19;)
the grave standeth open (I say) for all the children of Adam, that it may
swallow them up, and consume them; so that no man can exempt himself from
corruption. So that, beholding ourselves apart from Christ, we see the grave
prepared for us, which threateneth to us corruption. Wherefore, if David be
separated from Christ, that shall not belong to him which is here said, that he
shall be preserved from the grave. Therefore, when he boasteth that he shall be
free from the grave, as touching corruption, without all doubt he placeth
himself in the body of Christ, wherein death was overcome, and the kingdom
thereof abolished. But and if David do promise himself exempting from the
grave in another respect, save only so far forth as he is a member of Christ,

266. hereby it appeareth that this freedom must begin at Christ as at the head. What
man soever shall be of sound judgment shall easily know that this is a good
argument. God did put all mankind under corruption; therefore, David,
inasmuch as he was of the number of men, could not be free from the same.
Neither is it to be doubted, but that the Jews, before whom this sermon was
made, forasmuch as without question that maxim was of force amongst them,
that they were to hope for the restoring of things at the hands of Christ alone,
did the more readily stay themselves upon 4 the words of Peter; because they
saw that that could no otherwise be which the words do import, unless they
should apply it to the Messias. For they were not come to that point of
impudence, at least those of whom mention is made here, that they durst cavil
in matters which were evident; for God had then offered unto his disciples
those which were godly hearers, and apt to be taught. They sought the Messias
in the Old Testament. They knew that David was a figure of him. There was
amongst them some religion and reverence of the Scriptures then; but now the
impudency of all the whole nation almost is desperate. Howsoever they be
urged, they wrench themselves out one way or other. 5 Where there is no way
to escape, yet they break through; although they be overcome, yet will they not
yield; neither is it to be doubted but that this their shameless forwardness is a
punishment for their ungodliness. But let us return unto Peter's sermon.
Seeing that David doth not only affirm that God also shall be his deliverer, but
doth express a singular way and means; namely, that he shall not be subject to
the corruption of the grave, Peter doth for good causes gather, that that doth
not properly appertain unto him, for that his body was corrupt in the grave.
And now, because this had been somewhat hard to be spoken among the Jews,
he mollifieth the hardness with a circumlocution. For he doth not flatly deny
in one word that that was fulfilled indeed in David, but doth only by the way 6
signify so much unto them, because he lieth consumed in the grave after the
common custom of other men. And David did so prophesy of Christ, that he
did both apply this consolation unto himself privately, and' also extend the
same unto the whole body of the Church. For that which is sound and perfect
in the head is spread abroad, being afterward poured out into all the members.
Neither is it to be denied but that David spoke of himself in this place; yet
only so far forth as he beheld himself in Christ, as in the mirror of life. First,
he hath respect unto Christ; after that he turneth his eyes toward himself, and
others the faithful. So that we have a general doctrine prescribed unto us in
this plate, concerning the nature of faith, the spiritual joy of conscience: and
the hope of eternal deliverance.
I saw. We must hold this principle. If we will have God present with us, we
must set him before our eyes; and that before he do appear; for the prospect of
faith pierceth far further than unto the present experience. Therefore faith hath
this property, to set God always before it as a guide in all dangers and
confused matters. For there is nothing that doth so much hold us up, as when
we know that God is present with us; as the opinion of his absence doth often

267. cast us down, and at length quite discourage us. David addeth, That he took
not heed in vain unto the direction of God. "He is (saith he) at my right hand;"
whereby he doth signify that we need not to fear lest we be deceived, 7 when
as we set him before us at present; for we shall always feel his help most
ready. Faith, in hoping for the help of God, ought to prevent and overgo 8 all
experience, and whatsoever is perceived by the sense; but so soon as it shall
give this glory to God, that it doth behold him in his Word, although he be
absent, and so, consequently, invisible, it shall be overcome with the effect of
the thing. For the measure of faith is not able to comprehend the infinite
greatness of the power and goodness of God. He draweth a similitude from
those which, when they will underprop the weak, or strengthen the fearful, do
join themselves unto their side. Not to be moved, is not to be thrown down
from their degree, but to remain firm in their estate; like as also Psalm 46:5,
God is in the midst of it, therefore shall it not be moved. For although it come
to pass sometimes that the godly be sore shaken, yet because they come to
themselves again, they are said to continue firm. Therefore, there is no cause
why they should be afraid of falling, who are upholden by the help of God.
Like as, on the other side, those which place their strength anywhere else save
only in God, they shall be like to fall at every blast of wind, but at any mean
wind of temptation they shall fall to the ground.
COFFMAN, "These words are from Psalms 16:8ff. In this Psalm, David spoke
in the first person, as if the glorious promises concerned himself; but actually
they regarded great David's greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, there having
been no fulfillment whatever of these words in the instance of King David
himself. It is absolutely certain that this passage from the Old Testament
prophesies a resurrection of someone, for it is only by a resurrection that one
could descend into the grave (Hades) and not see corruption. The inspired
Peter correctly applied it to the resurrection of Christ, an event the Lord had
repeatedly, at least four different times, prophesied and elaborated for the
Twelve. The proof absolute that this Psalm cannot refer to David was present
for all to see right there in Jerusalem in the tomb of David which still
enshrined his dust.
COKE, "Acts 2:25. For David speaketh concerning him, &c.— It is plain that
the phrase εις αυτον here signifies of or concerning him: the particle has the
same import, Ephesians 5:32. Elsner upon this place, and Gataker upon the
title of Marcus Antoninus's book, which is εις εαυτον, concerning himself,
have produced many places from some of the Greek authors, where the
preposition εις is understood in the same sense. Mr. Jeffery, in his True
Grounds, p. 121 observes from this text, and lays great stress upon it every
where, "That the apostle does not make Davidto speak these things first of
himself, and then of the Messiah only in a secondary sense, but quotes them as
referring to Christ alone." The passages here quoted in the words of the LXX.
are something different from the Hebrew, but the sense is much the same; for
which we refer to the notes on Psalms 16.

268. UNKNOWN, "V. 25 - This is one of the interesting usages of prophecy Peter makes,
through the leading of the Holy Spirit. The text (from Psalms 16), as Peter explained in
verses 29-31, could not refer to David, and to no one else but the Messiah. In it, the
Messiah had expressed the confidence that a resurrection (in his case) would occur, since
he, being raised, would enjoy the presence of God after the resurrection from the state of
the dead.
In this connection, consider how often Jesus spoke of his resurrection. The
epistles show what the resurrection means to us as they elaborate upon the
meaning and application of Jesus’ death in our behalf.
ELLICOTT, "(25) For David speaketh concerning him.—More accurately, in
reference to Him—i.e., in words which extended to Him. Reading Psalms 16
without this interpretation, it seems as if it spoke only of the confidence of the
writer that he would be himself delivered from the grave and death. Some
interpreters confine that confidence to a temporal deliverance; some extend it
to the thought of immortality, or even of a resurrection. But Peter had been
taught, both by his Lord and by the Spirit, that all such hopes extend beyond
themselves—that the ideal of victory after suffering, no less than that of the
righteous sufferer, was realised in Christ. The fact of the Resurrection had
given a new meaning to prophecies which would not, of themselves, have
suggested it, but which were incomplete without it.
He is on my right hand.—The Psalmist thought of the Eternal as the warrior
thinks of him who, in the conflict of battle, extends his shield over the
comrade who is on the left hand, and so guards him from attack. When the
Son of Man is said to sit on the right hand of God (Psalms 110:1; Matthew
26:64) the imagery is different, and brings before us the picture of a king
seated on his throne with his heir sitting in the place of honour by his side.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue
rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
BARNES, "Therefore - Peter ascribes these expressions to the Messiah. The reason
why he would exult or rejoice was, that he would be preserved amidst the sorrows that
were coming on him, and could look forward to the triumph that awaited him. Thus,
Paul says Heb_12:2 that “Jesus ...“for the joy that was set before him,” endured the

269. cross, despising the shame,” etc. Throughout the New Testament, the shame and sorrow
of his sufferings were regarded as connected with his glory and his triumph, Luk_24:26;
Phi_2:6-9; Eph_1:20-21. In this our Saviour has left us an example that we should walk
in his steps. The prospect of future glory and triumph should sustain us amidst all
afflictions, and make us ready, like him, to lie down in even the corruptions of the grave.
Did my heart rejoice - In the Hebrew this is in the prescott tense, “my heart
rejoices.” The word “heart” here expresses “the person,” and is the same as saying “I
rejoice.” The Hebrews used the different members to express the person. And thus we
say, “every soul perished; the vessel had 40 hands; wise heads do not think so; hearts of
steel will not flinch,” etc. (Prof. Stuart on Psa_16:1-11). The meaning is, because God is
near me in time of calamity, and will support and deliver me, I will not be agitated or
fear, but will exult in the prospect of the future, in view of the “joy that is set before me.”
My tongue was glad - Hebrew, My glory or my honor exults. The word is used to
denote “majesty, splendor, dignity, honor.” It is also used to express the heart or soul,
either because that is the chief source of man’s dignity, or because the word is also
expressive of the liver, regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of the affections, Gen_49:6,
“Unto their assembly, mine honor,” that is, my soul, or myself, “be not thou united”;
Psa_57:8, “Awake up, my glory,” etc.; Psa_108:1, “I will sing ...even with my glory.” This
word the Septuagint translated “tongue.” The Arabic and Latin Vulgate have also done
the same. Why they thus use the word is not clear. It may be because the tongue, or the
gift of speech, was what chiefly contributes to the honor of man, or distinguishes him
from the brutal creation. The word “glory” is used expressly for “tongue” in Psa_30:12;
“To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent.”
Moreover also - Truly; in addition to this.
My flesh - My body. See Act_2:31; 1Co_5:5. It means here properly the body separate
from the soul; the dead body.
Shall rest - Shall rest or repose in the grave, free from corruption.
In hope - In confident expectation of a resurrection. The Hebrew word rather
expresses confidence than hope. The passage means, “My body will I commit to the
grave, with a confident expectation of the future, that is, with a firm belief that it will not
see corruption, but will be raised up.” It thus expresses the feelings of the dying Messiah;
the assured confidence which he had that his repose in the grave would not be long, and
would certainly come to an end. The death of Christians is also in the New Testament
represented as a sleep, and as repose Act_7:60; 1Co_15:6, 1Co_15:18; 1Th_4:13, 1Th_
4:15; 2Pe_3:4; and they may also, after the example of their Lord, commit their bodies to
the dust, in hope. They will lie in the grave under the assurance of a happy resurrection;
and though their bodies, unlike his, will moulder to their native dust, yet this corruptible
will put on incorruption, and this mortal will put on immorality, 1Co_15:53.
CLARKE, "And my tongue was glad - In the Hebrew it is ‫כבודי‬ ‫ויגל‬ vaiyagel kebodi,
“And my glory was glad:” but the evangelist follows the Septuagint, in reading και
ηγαλλιασατο ᅧ γλωσσα µου, what all the other Greek interpreters in the Hexapla translate
δοξα µου, my glory. And what is to be understood by glory here! Why the soul, certainly,
and not the tongue; and so some of the best critics interpret the place.

270. GILL Verse 26. Therefore did my heart rejoice,.... Because that he had always the truth,
faithfulness, and power of God in his view, and the presence and protection of God with
him; and which are sufficient to make the hearts of his people, as well as of him, to
rejoice:
and my tongue was glad: in the Hebrew text it is, "my glory"; and so the Syriac version
renders it here; which Kimchi explains of the soul, because that is the glory of the body;
but our apostle rightly interprets it of the tongue, which is so called, Psalm 30:12 and
Psalm 57:8 and Psalm 108:1 because it is both the glory of man, for that being endowed
with the faculty of speaking, gives him a glory above the brute creatures; and because it is
that by which he glorifies God, by ascribing greatness to him, speaking of his marvellous
works, and singing his praises, as Christ did, in the great congregation, among his
apostles, a little before his death.
Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, or "safely"; meaning, that his body should lie
quietly in the grave, as in its resting place from all toil and labour, pains and sorrows, and
be secure from worms, or any corruption. Or this may be understood of his person being
in a quiet, firm, and full hope of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal life and glory.
CALVIN, "26. For this my heart rejoiced. Joy of the soul, gladness of the
tongue, and quietness of all the whole body, do ensue upon sure hope and
confidence; for unless men be quite past feeling, 9 they must needs be careful
and sorrowful, and so, consequently, miserably tormented, so long as they feel
themselves destitute of the help of God. But that sure trust which we repose in
God doth not only deliver us from carefulness, 10 but doth also replenish our
hearts with wonderful joy (and gladness.) That is the joy which Christ
promised to his disciples should be full in them, and which he testified could
not be taken from them, (John 16:22; 17:13.) He expresseth the greatness of
the joy when he saith, That it cannot be kept in, but that it will break forth into
the gladness of the tongue. 11 dwbk, doth signify, indeed, glory, but it is taken
in that place, as in many others, for the tongue. And so the Grecians have truly
translated the same. The rest of the flesh doth signify the quietness of the
whole man, which we have through the protection of God. Neither is this any
let, because the faithful are continually out of quiet and tremble; for as in the
midst of sorrows they do nevertheless rejoice; so there are no troubles so great
that can break them of their rest. If any man object, that the peace of the
faithful doth consist in the spirit, and that it is not in the flesh: I answer, that
the faithful do rest in body; not that they are free from troubles, but because
they believe that God careth for them wholly, and that not only their soul shall
be safe through his protection, but their body also.

271. 27because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
BARNES, "Thou wilt not leave my soul - The word “soul,” with us, means “the
thinking, the immortal part of man,” and is applied to it whether existing in connection
with the body or separate from it. The Hebrew word translated “soul” here, ‫נפשׁ‬ nephesh,
however, may mean “spirit, mind, life,” and may denote here nothing more than “me” or
“myself.” It means, properly, “breath”; then “life,” or “the vital principle, a living being”;
then “the soul, the spirit, the thinking part.” Instances where it is put for the individual
himself, meaning “me” or “myself” may be seen in Psa_11:1; Psa_35:3, Psa_35:7; Job_
9:21. There is no clear instance in which it is applied to the soul in its separate state, or
disjoined from the body. In this place it must be explained in part by the meaning of the
word hell. If that means grave, then this word probably means “me”; thou wilt not leave
me in the grave. The meaning probably is, “Thou wilt not leave me in Sheol, neither,” etc.
The word “leave” here means, “Thou wilt not resign me to, or wilt not give me over to it,
to be held under its power.”
In hell - - εᅶς ᇀδου eis Hadou. The word “hell,” in English, now commonly denotes
“the place of the future eternal punishment of the wicked.” This sense it has acquired by
long usage. It is a Saxon word, derived from helan, “to cover,” and denotes literally “a
covered or deep place” (Webster); then “the dark and dismal abode of departed spirits”;
and then “the place of torment.” As the word is used now by us, it by no means expresses
the force of the original; and if with this idea we read a passage like the one before us, it
would convey an erroneous meaning altogether, although formerly the English word
perhaps expressed no more than the original. The Greek word “Hades” means literally “a
place devoid of light; a dark, obscure abode”; and in Greek writers was applied to the
dark and obscure regions where disembodied spirits were supposed to dwell. It occurs
only eleven times in the New Testament. In this place it is the translation of the Hebrew
‫שׁאול‬ She
owl.
In Rev_20:13-14, it is connected with death: “And death and hell (Hades) delivered up
the dead which were in them”; “And death and hell (Hades) were cast into the lake of
fire.” See also Rev_6:8; Rev_1:18, “I have the keys of hell and death.” In 1Co_15:55 it
means the grave: “O grave (Hades), where is thy victory?” In Mat_11:23 it means a deep,
profound place, opposed to an exalted one; a condition of calamity and degradation,
opposed to former great prosperity: “Thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven,
shalt be thrust down to hell” (Hades). In Luk_16:23 it is applied to the place where the
rich man was after death, in a state of punishment: “In hell (Hades) he lifted up his eyes,
being in torments.” In this place it is connected with the idea of suffering, and
undoubtedly denotes a place of punishment. The Septuagint has used this word
commonly to translate the word ‫שׁאול‬ She
̀owl.
Once it is used as a translation of the phrase “the stones of the pit” Isa_14:19; twice to
express silence, particularly the silence of the grave Psa_94:17; Psa_115:17; once to
express the Hebrew for “the shadow of death” Job_38:17; and sixty times to translate
the word Sheol. It is remarkable that it is never used in the Old Testament to denote the
word ‫קבר‬ qeber, which properly denotes “a grave or sepulchre.” The idea which was

272. conveyed by the word Sheol, or Hades, was not properly a grave or sepulchre, but that
dark, unknown state, including the grave, which constituted the dominions of the dead.
What idea the Hebrews had of the future world it is now difficult to explain, and is not
necessary in the case before us. The word originally denoting simply “the state of the
dead, the insatiable demands of the grave,” came at last to be extended in its meaning, in
proportion as they received new revelations or formed new opinions about the future
world. Perhaps the following may be the process of thought by which the word came to
have the special meanings which it is found to have in the Old Testament:
(1) The word “death” and the grave ‫קבר‬ qeber would express the abode of a deceased
body in the earth.
(2) Man has a soul, a thinking principle, and the inquiry must arise, What will be its
state? Will it die also? The Hebrews never appear to have believed that. Will it ascend to
heaven at once? On that subject they had at first no knowledge. Will it go at once to a
place of happiness or of torment? Of that, also, they had no information at first Yet they
supposed it would live; and the word ‫שׁאול‬ She
owl expressed just this state - the dark,
unknown regions of the dead; the abode of spirits, whether good or bad; the residence of
departed people, whether fixed in a permanent habitation, or whether wandering about.
As they were ignorant of the size and spherical structure of the earth, they seem to have
supposed this region to be situated in the earth, far below us, and hence, it is put in
opposition to heaven, Psa_139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make
my bed in hell (Sheol), behold, thou art there”; Amo_9:2. The most common use of the
word is, therefore, to express those dark regions, the lower world, the region of ghosts,
etc. Instances of this, almost without number, might be given. See a most striking and
sublime instance of this in Isa_14:9; “Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee,” etc.;
where the assembled dead are represented as being agitated in all their vast regions at
the death of the King of Babylon.
(3) The inquiry could not but arise whether all these beings were happy. This point
revelation decided; and it was decided in the O d Testament. Yet this word would better
express the state of the wicked dead than the righteous. It conveyed the idea of darkness,
gloom, wandering; the idea of a sad and unfixed abode, unlike heaven. Hence, the word
sometimes expresses the idea of a place of punishment: Psa_9:17, “The wicked shall be
turned into hell,” etc.; Pro_15:11; Pro_23:14; Pro_27:20; Job_26:6. While, therefore,
the word does not mean properly a grave or a sepulchre, it does mean often “the state of
the dead,” without designating whether in happiness or woe, but implying the continued
existence of the soul. In this sense it is often used in the Old Testament, where the
Hebrew word is Sheol, and the Greek Hades: Gen_37:35, “I will go down into the grave,
unto my son, mourning” I will go down to the dead, to death, to my son, still there
existing; Gen_42:38; Gen_44:29, “He shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave; Num_16:30, Num_16:33; 1Ki_2:6, 1Ki_2:9; etc. etc. in the place before us,
therefore, the meaning is simply, thou wilt not leave me among the dead. This conveys
all the idea. It does not mean literally the grave or the sepulchre; that relates only to the
body. This expression refers to the deceased Messiah. Thou wilt not leave him among the
dead; thou wilt raise him up. It is from this passage, perhaps, aided by two others
(Rom_10:7, and 1Pe_3:19), that the doctrine originated that Christ “descended,” as it is
expressed in the Creed, “into hell”; and many have invented strange opinions about his
going among lost spirits. The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church has been that he
went to purgatory, to deliver the spirits confined there. But if the interpretation now
given be correct, then it will follow:
(1) That nothing is affirmed here about the destination of the human soul of Christ

273. after his death. That he went to the region of the dead is implied, but nothing
further.
(2) It may be remarked that the Scriptures affirm nothing about the state of his soul in
that time which intervened between his death and resurrection. The only
intimation which occurs on the subject is such as to leave us to suppose that he
was in a state of happiness. To the dying thief he said, “This day shalt thou be with
me in paradise.” When Jesus died, he said, “It is finished”; and he doubtless meant
by that that his sufferings and toils for man’s redemption were at an end. All
suppositions of any toils or pains after his death are fables, and without the
slightest warrant in the New Testament.
Thine Holy One - The word in the Hebrew which is translated here “Holy One”
properly denotes “One who is tenderly and piously devoted to another,” and corresponds
to the expression used in the New Testament, “my beloved Son.” It is also used, as it is
here by the Septuagint and by Peter, to denote “One that is holy, that is set apart to
God.” In this sense it is applied to Christ, either as being set apart to this office, or as so
pure as to make it proper to designate him by way of eminence the Holy One, or the Holy
One of God. It is several times used as the wellknown designation of the Messiah: Mar_
1:24, “I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God”; Luk_4:34; Act_3:14, “But ye
denied the Holy One, and the just,” etc. See also Luk_1:35, “That holy thing that is born
of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
To see corruption - To see corruption is to experience it, to be made partakers of it.
The Hebrews often expressed the idea of experiencing anything by the use of words
pertaining to the senses, as, to taste of death, to see death, etc. Corruption here means
putrefaction in the grave. The word which is used in the Psalm, ‫שׁחת‬ shachath, is thus
used in Job_17:14, “I have said to corruption, thou art my father,” etc. The Greek word
used here properly denotes this. Thus, it is used in Act_13:34-37. This meaning would be
properly suggested by the Hebrew word, and thus the ancient versions understood it.
The meaning implied in the expression is, that he of whom the Psalm was written should
be restored to life again; and this meaning Peter proceeds to show that the words must
have.
CLARKE, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell - Εις ᅓιδου, in hades, that is, the
state of separate spirits, or the state of the dead. Hades was a general term among the
Greek writers, by which they expressed this state; and this Hades was Tartarus to the
wicked, and Elysium to the good. See the explanation of the word in the note on Mat_
11:23 (note).
To see corruption - Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, was a sentence
pronounced on man after the fall: therefore this sentence could be executed on none but
those who were fallen; but Jesus, being conceived without sin, neither partook of human
corruption, nor was involved in the condemnation of fallen human nature; consequently,
it was impossible for his body to see corruption; and it could not have undergone the
temporary death, to which it was not naturally liable, had it not been for the purpose of
making an atonement. It was therefore impossible that the human nature of our Lord
could be subject to corruption: for though it was possible that the soul and it might be
separated for a time, yet, as it had not sinned, it was not liable to dissolution; and its
immortality was the necessary consequence of its being pure from transgression.
GILL Verse 27. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,.... This is an apostrophe, or

274. an address to his Father, who he believed would not leave his soul, as separate from his
body, in Hades, in the invisible world of souls, in the place where the souls of departed
saints are, but would quickly return it to its body, and reunite them; or else, that he would
not leave his dead body, for so vpn sometimes signifies; see Leviticus 19:28 in the grave;
which is no unusual sense of lwav; see Genesis 42:38 that is, so long as to be corrupted
and putrefy, as the next clause shows:
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. The character of an "Holy One"
well agrees with Christ, both as God, or with respect to his divine nature, holiness being a
perfection in it, and in which he is glorious; and as man, he being holy in his nature,
harmless in his life and conversation: all his doctrines were pure and holy, and so were all
his works; and all his administrations in the discharge of every of his office; and he is the
efficient cause and lain of all the holiness of his people; they are sanctified in him, and by
him, and have all their sanctification from him. The word may be rendered, "thy
merciful," or "bountiful one"; and such Christ is, a merciful, as well as faithful high
priest; and who has shown great compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, and has
been very beneficent and liberal in the distributions of his grace and goodness. Now,
though he died, and was laid in the grave, and buried, yet God would not suffer him to lie
there so long as to be corrupted and putrefied, which is the sense of seeing corruption:
and so the Jews themselves explain the last clause of the preceding verse, in connection
with this, "my flesh shall rest in hope," that no worm or maggot should have power over
it, or corrupt it.
"Seven fathers (they say {x}) dwell in eternal glory, and there is no helwtw hmr, "worm
or maggot," rules over them; and these are they, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses,
and Aaron, and Amram their father; and there are that say also David, as it is said, Psalm
16:1, 'therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope.'"
And which sense also is mentioned by one of their commentators of note {y}, who thus
paraphrases the words: "whilst I am alive it shall rest safely, for thou wilt deliver me from
all hurt; and in the mystical sense, or according to the Midrash, after death; intimating,
that no maggot or worm should have power over him;" which was not true of David, but
is of the Messiah.
UNKNOWN, "V. 27 - Hades (Hebrew "sheol") - The term really describes, not so
much the actual grave, or the decay of the flesh, but rather the dead in total, all those who
have died, regardless of their actual state. The meaning, then, is that the one David is
quoting expected to be restored to life again, not remain among the dead. Of course, the
apostles were witnesses of this fact, additionally substantiated by Peter痴 argument in
verses 29-31, that David could not have been speaking of himself, the facts being contrary
to it. The Psalmist was then shown to have been speaking of the Messiah who was to
come, and now identified to be Jesus. For us as Christians, knowing that Jesus existed
before the time of the Psalmist (since Jesus is eternal in nature), we can understand that
Jesus through the Psalmist foretold his own death, resurrection, etc.
The Greek word for Hades occurs ten times in the N.T: Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke
10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:31; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14 and our text. It is equal to the
O.T. "Sheol". The Greek word for hell occurs in the following places: Matt. 5:22, 29, 30;

275. 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. It is important to note
that we should not read hell in our text, since that gives a misunderstanding of the actual
events. Jesus did not go to hell as we think of it, but rather to Hades which is simply the
place of the dead, inclusive of all the dead.
corruption - To be understood in parallel with Hades, and meant the state/place of the
dead, rather than referring to the physical body, per se.
CALVIN, "27. Because thou shalt not leave. To leave the soul in hell is to
suffer the same to be oppressed with destruction. There be two words used in
this place, both which do signify the grave amongst the Hebricians. Because
lwas, doth signify to require, I suppose it is called lwo, because death is
insatiable; whence also cometh that translation, Hell hath enlarged her soul.
Again, they set open their mouth like hell. And because the latter txs, is
derived and set for corruption, or consumption, that quality is to be
considered, as David meant to note the same. Those things which are disputed
in this place by divers, concerning the descending of Christ into hell, are in my
judgment superfluous; because they are far from the intent and purpose of the
prophet. For the word anima, or soul, doth not so much signify the spirit being
of an immortal essence as the life itself. For when a man is dead, and lieth in
the grave, the grave is said to rule over his life. Whereas the Grecians translate
it holy, it is in Hebrew tox, which doth properly signify meek, or gentle, but
Luke did not much regard this, because it doth not much appertain unto the
present purpose. Furthermore, gentleness and meekness is so often
commended in the faithful, because it behoveth them to imitate and resemble
the nature of their Father.
ELLICOTT, "(27) Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.—Literally, in Hades.
(See Note on Matthew 11:23.) As interpreted by St. Peter’s words in his
Epistle (1 Peter 3:19), the words conveyed to his mind the thought which has
been embodied in the article of the “Descent into Hell,” or Hades, in the
Apostle’s Creed. The death of Christ was an actual death, and while the body
was laid in the grave, the soul passed into the world of the dead, the Sheol of
the Hebrews, the Hades of the Greeks, to carry on there the redemptive work
which had been begun on earth. (Comp. Acts 13:34-37, and Ephesians 4:9.)
Here again we have an interesting coincidence with St. Peter’s language (1
Peter 3:19), as to the work of Christ in preaching to the “spirits in prison.”
Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.—The word for
“holy” is different from that commonly so rendered, and conveys the idea of
personal piety and godliness rather than consecration. As the Psalmist used the
words, we may think of them as expressing the confidence that he himself, as
loving, and beloved of, God, would be delivered from destruction, both now
and hereafter. St. Peter had learnt to interpret the words as having received a
higher fulfilment. Christ was, in this sense, as well as in that expressed by the
other word, “the Holy One” of God (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). In Hebrews 7:26;
Revelation 15:4; Revelation 16:5, this very word is applied to Christ. The
Hebrew text of Psalms 16:10 presents the various reading of “the holy ones,”

276. as if referring to the “saints that are upon the earth,” of Acts 2:3. The LXX.,
which St. Peter follows, gives the singular, which is indeed essential to his
argument, and this is also the reading of the Masoretic text. The Greek word
for “corruption” ranges in its meaning from “decay” to “destruction.” The
Hebrew to which it answers is primarily the “pit” of the grave, and not
“corruption,” or “wasting away.”
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your
presence.'[e]
BARNES, "Thou hast made known ... - The Hebrew is, “Thou wilt make known to
me,” etc. In relation to the Messiah, it means, Thou wilt restore me to life.
The ways of life - This properly means the path to life; as we say, the road to
preferment or honor; the path to happiness; the highway to ruin, etc. See Pro_7:26-27.
It means, thou wilt make known to me life itself, that is, thou wilt restore me to life. The
expressions in the Psalm are capable of this interpretation without doing any violence to
the text; and if the preceding verses refer to the death and burial of the Messiah, then the
natural and proper meaning of this is, that he would be restored to life again.
Thou shalt make me full of joy - This expresses the feelings of the Messiah in view
of the favor that would thus be showed him; the resurrection from the dead, and the
elevation to the right hand of God. It was this which is represented as sustaining him the
prospect of the joy that was before him, in heaven, Heb_12:2; Eph_1:20-22.
With thy countenance - Literally, “with thy face,” that is, in thy presence. The
words “countenance” and “presence” mean the same thing, and denote “favor,” or the
“honor and happiness” provided by being admitted to the presence of God. The prospect
of the honor that would be bestowed on the Messiah was what sustained him. And this
proves that the person contemplated in the Psalm expected to be raised from the dead,
and exalted to the presence of God. That expectation is now fulfilled, and the Messiah is
now filled with joy in his exaltation to the throne of the universe. He has “ascended to
his Father and our Father”; he is “seated at the right hand of God”; he has entered on
that “joy which was set before him”; he is “crowned with glory and honor”; and “all
things are put under his feet.” In view of this, we may remark:
(1) That the Messiah had full and confident expectation that he would rise from the
dead. This the Lord Jesus always evinced, and often declared it to his disciples.
(2) If the Saviour rejoiced in view of the glories before him, we should also. We should
anticipate with joy an everlasting dwelling in the presence of God, and the high
honor of sitting “with him on his throne, as he overcame, and is set down with the
Father on his throne.”

277. (3) The prospect of this should sustain us, as it did him, in the midst of persecution,
calamity, and trials. Thy will soon be ended; and if we are his friends, we shall
“overcome,” as he did, and be admitted to “the fulness of joy” above, and to the
“right hand” of God, “where are pleasures forevermore.”
CLARKE, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life - That is, the way
from the region of death, or state of the dead and separate spirits; so that I shall resume
the same body, and live the same kind of life, as I had before I gave up my life for the sin
of the world.
GILL,"Thou hast made known to me the ways of life,.... That is, thou hast raised
me from the dead. When God raised Christ from the dead, he showed him, or made him
to know experimentally the way of life, or the way of the resurrection from death to life;
and this path of life, or of the resurrection to an immortal and eternal life, was first
shown to Christ, who is the first fruits of them that slept, and the first begotten from the
dead,
Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance; or glorious presence, in
which is fulness of joy; which Christ, as man, is in, and fully possessed of, being exalted
at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour, and has all the joy that
was set before him in his sufferings and death.
CALVIN, "28. Thou hast made known. He meaneth, that he was restored from
death to life by the grace of God. For in that he was, as it were, a man raised
from death to life, he acknowledgeth that it was a great good gift of God. This
was in such sort fulfilled in Christ, that there wanted nothing unto perfection.
As for the members they have their measure. Therefore Christ was far from
corruption, that he may be the first-fruits of those which rise from death, (1
Corinthians 15:23.) We shall follow him in our order at length, but being first
turned into dust, (1 Corinthians 15:42.) That which followeth, that he was
filled with gladness, with the countenance of God, agreeth with that: Show us
thy face, and we shall be safe. And, again, The light of thy countenance is
showed upon us: thou hast put gladness in my heart. For it is only the
pleasantness of God's countenance, which doth not only make us glad, but also
quickens us; again, when the same is turned away, or troubled, we must needs
faint.
JOH PIPER The Gladness of the Risen God
Acts 2:28
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.
I begin this morning with three questions for you to answer silently in your own
mind.

278. g. First, do you want to be happy?
h. Second, do you want your happiness to be partial or full?
i. Third, do you want your happiness to stop or to last as long as you last?
The reason I count these questions worthy of Easter Sunday morning is not just because I
think every person in this room cares about them, but also because these questions are the
rock bottom concerns of the Bible.
Wherever the Bible has had its profoundest effect in people's lives it hasn't been because
of the demands of a new duty but because of the power of a new pleasure. Let me
illustrate what I mean.
John G. Paton was born on May 24, 1824 in Dumfries County, Scotland. His father was a
weaver and had his stocking frames in a room of the house. And his father was godly.
Paton's biographer says that the churchgoing and Bible stories and Shorter Catechism
were "not tasks but pleasures" in the Paton home.
The boy had to quit school when he was 12 to help his father support the
family of eleven children, and when he was 17 he had a deep experience of conversion
that brought all his parents love for Christ home to his own heart.
The call to Christian service became irresistible and Paton worked for ten years works as
a city missionary in Glasgow among the poor children of the slums.
At 32 he accepted the call to missionary service in the New Hebrides in the South Pacific.
In March of 1858 he married Mary Ann Robson, and on April 16 they sailed together for
the cannibal island of Tanna.
In less than a year they had built a little home and Mary had given birth to a son. But on
March 3 of 1859, one year after their marriage, Mary died of the fever, and in three weeks
the infant son died. John Paton buried them alone, and wrote, "But for Jesus. . . I must
have gone mad and died beside that lonely grave."
One of the gifts that Jesus had given him to sustain him in those days were the words his
wife spoke shortly before here death. And right here is where we see the profoundest
effect of Biblical Christianity. She did not murmur against God, or resent her husband
bringing her there. Rather she spoke these incredible words—and you find them again
and again where the Bible has sunk into the heart—"I do not regret leaving home and
friends. If I had it to do over, I would do it with more pleasure, yes, with all my heart."
(FIFTY MISSIONARY HEROES, by Julia Johnston, 1913, p. 153).
Among those who know the Bible best and who have experienced it most deeply, it has
never perted people from the quest for happiness and pleasure. Instead, it has caused
people to get really serious about the quest. It has caused them to ask, "Do I really want to
be happy? Do I want the fullest happiness possible? Do I want my happiness to last for
ever?" In other words, the Bible makes us stop playing games with our happiness. It
makes us serious, even desperate, in our pursuit.
It makes a harried and overworked businessman go away for a few days and sit by the

279. lake, and look at the sunset and the stars, and ask: "Have I found it? Is this what I am
really after? Does it satisfy? Will it last?"
Jesus Christ never once condemned the quest for happiness. But often he has rebuked us
for taking it so lightly.
Now what does all this have to do with Easter Sunday? Back in January when I first
conceived of this message I saw the connection in a new way, and I want to try to show it
to you.
In Acts 1:3 Luke tells us that "Jesus presented himself alive after his passion by many
proofs, appearing to his apostles during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God."
For forty days he sought to prove to his followers that he really was alive,
j. that his body was new and indestructible,
k. that his death for sinners was validated,
l. that his teaching was true,
m. that his fellowship would be permanent,
n. and that his cause would triumph in the world.
Then Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. And
there he will reign until his ransomed people are gathered in from every people and
tongue and tribe and nation. Then the Lord will come a second time in power and great
glory and the dead in Christ will be raised to reign with him for ever and ever.
Then the Book of Acts goes on to show us that for ten days after Jesus had ascended to
heaven the apostles and Jesus' mother and his brothers devoted themselves to prayer in
Jerusalem. During these ten days Peter and the others must have combed the Old
Testament for predictions and explanations of what was happening in these incredible
days, because when the Holy Spirit finally comes upon them with power at the end of
those ten days the apostles are full of Scripture. They explain everything in terms of the
fulfillment of Scripture.
One of the Psalms that Peter evidently pondered deeply goes like this:
Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord;
I have no good apart from thee."
As for the saints in the land,
they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
their libations of blood I will not pour out,
or take their names upon my lips.
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
thou holdest my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

280. yea, I have a goodly heritage.
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure.
For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,
or let thy godly one see the Pit.
Thou dost show me the path of life;
in thy presence there is fullness of joy,
in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm l6
The reason we know that Peter had given thought to this Psalm is that he quotes from it in
Acts 2:25-28. It was a Psalm of David and Peter's mind seemed to go something like this
when he pondered this Psalm.
We know that God gave David a promise (in 2 Samuel 7:12-16) that one of his own
posterity would be the everlasting king of Israel—the Son of David, the Messiah (Isaiah
9:6-7). David must have often thought of this wonderful thing—that in his own body, as
it were, there was a King whose reign would never end.
And Peter noticed in reading the psalms of David that sometimes, as David expressed his
own hope in God, he would be caught up by the Holy Spirit to say things about himself
that went far beyond what his own experience would be. It was as though David were
sometimes transported into the future of his son the Messiah and would say things that
only the Son of David would experience sometime in the future.
This is what Peter saw as he meditated on Psalm 16. He read, "The LORD is at my right
hand that I might not be shaken." (You can see this Acts 2:25.) And he asked perhaps, "In
what sense will David not be shaken?"
So he reads on for the answer. Acts 2:26—"Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue
rejoiced; moreover my flesh will dwell in hope." And Peter ponders and answers his
question: "The sense in which David will not be shaken is that his heart and his flesh are
secure in God. He will be protected—soul and body."
Then Peter asks, "How will they be protected? How safe is David really? Will he not die?
Did he not die?" Peter reads on (Acts 2:27), "For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades,
nor let thy Holy One see corruption." Peter looks at this for a long time. He ponders,
"Will David's flesh really never see corruption? Will David really never see the decaying
effects of the Pit? Does he really expect this much protection for himself?"
And suddenly (or gradually?) it dawns on Peter that these words go beyond anything that
David experienced. David did die! David was buried! David's flesh did see corruption. So
Peter recognizes that David is no longer speaking merely for himself. The Spirit has lifted
him up to see the destiny of the second David. And the voice of the Messiah is heard

281. prophetically in the voice of his father David.
And then the connection with Jesus hits home. This is what happened to Jesus! Peter
makes the connection for us in Acts 2:31—"David foresaw and spoke of the resurrection
of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This
Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses."
Now right here we begin to make the connection with that longing for happiness that I
referred to back at the beginning. In Acts 2:28 Peter goes on to quote from the last verse
of Psalm 16. But now we know that it is really Jesus, the Son of David, speaking through
the voice of the prophet David:
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.
And the Psalm ends (though Peter doesn't finish it), "In thy right hand are pleasures for
evermore."
In other words, what we see from this text is that God's goal for Jesus Christ beyond the
grave was that he might fill him with gladness. So he didn't abandon his soul to Hades or
let his flesh see corruption. He raised him from the dead to make him full of happiness for
ever and ever.
And what is the essence of this happiness?
Verse 28 says, "Thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence." Which means that
we end this l3-week series on the pleasures of God where we began—with God the Son
and God the Father delighting in each other's presence. "Thou wilt make me full of
gladness with thy presence."
But what does Jesus experience in the presence of God? What are the pleasures in God's
right hand?
The first thing that comes to mind is glory. Jesus had prayed in John 17:5, "Father, glorify
me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was
made." Jesus had laid down his glory in order to suffer for us. Now he is eager to take it
up again.
And the Father was eager to give it. That's what Paul means when he says (in Philippians
2:8-ll), "God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the
earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
ow what does the gladness of the risen God have to do with us?
Jesus didn't just happen upon this gladness beyond the grave; he pursued it with all his
might. Hebrews 12:2 says, "For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God."
In other words, Jesus was able to endure the cross because he knew it was leading to the
Father's presence where there is "fullness of joy" and to the Father's right hand where
there are "pleasures for evermore".
This means that, if you are here this morning with a deep longing for happiness, you will

282. not be told by Jesus Christ that this longing is bad, or that it must be denied or that you
should have nobler goals on Easter than happiness. Jesus lived for the joy that was set
before him. He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. And therefore he sanctioned the
thirst of our souls by the thirst of his own.
But there's more that has to do with us. If all Jesus wanted was the glory and gladness that
he had with his Father before the world was, why did he come into the world in the first
place? The Bible says, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners like you and me
(1 Tim. 1:15).
But someone might say, I thought you said he was pursuing his own joy. You said he
wanted to be glorified by the Father. Which is it? Does he want his own glory and his
own gladness or does he want ours? This has been the key question of this whole series
on the pleasures of God. Is he for us or for himself?
Listen to his own answer one last time from John 17:24, "Father, I desire that they also,
whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you
have given me. . . before the foundation of the world."
Yes he is for himself because he longs for the glory and the gladness of his Father's
presence. And yes he is for us, because he wants us with him there.
The message of Easter is doubly wonderful.
It is wonderful to see the suffering Son coming home to the Father. What a reunion that
must have been when Creator embraced Creator and said, "Well done Son. Welcome
home." What a wonderful thing to see the bloody Passover Lamb of Good Friday
crowned with glory and honor, and handed the scepter of the universe!
But it is also wonderful to hear Jesus say, "I want others to be with me, Father. I want
others to share my glory. I want my gladness in your glory to overflow like a mountain
spring and become the gladness of others. I want my joy in you to be in them and their joy
to be full for ever and ever."
On Easter Sunday morning Jesus blew the lock off the prison of death and gloom and
returned to the gladness of God. With that he put his sanction on the pursuit of happiness.
And he opened the way for sinners to find never-ending satisfaction at the fountain of the
glory of his grace.
From the right hand of God he speaks to everyone of us today and invites us to the never-
ending banquet: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who
believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35). . . I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me
shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).
UNKNOWN, "V. 28 - thy presence - The Greek says "with your face" meaning God痴
actual presence. The Greek term "face" often meant the person or the person痴 presence.
V. 29 - David’s tomb was within the city walls, as seems evident from Nehemiah 3:16.

283. Solomon was apparently also buried there. (The "tombs of the kings" now extant are
apparently not the ones Peter had in mind, since they date only from the Roman period.)
This the Jews listening all knew. Hence, the Psalm could only refer to the Messiah, who
was being preached to them as Jesus of Nazareth.
V. 30 - God had sworn - The text Peter has in mind is II Sam. 7:12-16; and Psalms
132:11-12. Note Luke痴 record of Gabriel痴 remarks to Mary, Luke 1:32-33. Since the
Messiah痴 resurrection was a matter of prophecy, thus truth, the Jews could not argue the
point. All Peter needed to do was show that Jesus was the subject of that prophecy.
V. 32 - we are witnesses - The proof positive of the resurrection of Jesus was in the
twelve apostles who were eyewitnesses of the matter.
29"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the
patriarch David died and was buried, and his
tomb is here to this day.
BARNES, "Men and brethren - This passage of the Psalms Peter now proves could
not relate to David, but must have reference to the Messiah. He begins his argument in a
respectful manner, addressing them as his brethren, though they had just charged him
and the others with intoxication. Christians should use the usual respectful forms of
salutation, whatever contempt and reproaches they may meet with from opposers.
Let me freely speak - That is, “It is lawful or proper to speak with boldness, or
openly, respecting David.” Though he was eminently a pious man, though venerated by
us all as a king, yet it is proper to say of him that he is dead, and has returned to
corruption. This was a delicate way of expressing high respect for the monarch whom
they all honored, and yet evinced boldness in examining a passage of Scripture which
probably many supposed to have reference solely to him.
Of the patriarch David - The word “patriarch” properly means “the head or ruler of
a family”; and then “the founder of a family, or an illustrious ancestor.” It was commonly
applied to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by way of eminence, the illustrious founders of the
Jewish nation, Heb_7:4; Act_7:8-9. It was also applied to the heads of the families, or
the chief men of the tribes of Israel, 1Ch_24:31; 2Ch_19:8, etc. It was thus a title of
honor, denoting “high respect.” Applied to David, it means that he was the illustrious
head or founder of the royal family, and the word is expressive of Peter’s intention not to
say anything disrespectful of such a king, at the same time that he freely canvassed a
passage of Scripture which had been supposed to refer to him.
Dead and buried - The record of that fact they had in the O d Testament. There had
been no pretence that he had risen, and therefore the Psalm could not apply to him.
His sepulchre is with us - Is in the city of Jerusalem., Sepulchres wore commonly

284. situated without the walls of cities and the limits of villages. The custom of burying in
towns was not commonly practiced. This was true of other ancient nations as well as the
Hebrews, and is still in Eastern countries, except in the case of kings and very
distinguished men, whose ashes are permitted to rest within the walls of a city: 1Sa_
28:3, “Samuel was dead ...and Israel ...buried him in Ramah, in his own city”; 2Ki_21:18,
“Manasseh ...was buried in the garden of his own house”; 2Ch_16:14, Asa was buried in
the city of David; 2Ki_14:20. David was buried in the city of David 1Ki_2:10, with his
fathers; that is, on Mount Zion, where he built a city called after his name, 2Sa_5:7. Of
what form the tombs of the kings were is not certainly known. It is almost certain,
however, that they would be constructed in a magnificent manner.
The tombs were commonly excavations from rocks, or natural caves; and sepulchres
cut out of the solid rock, of vast extent, are Known to have existed. The following account
of the tomb called “the sepulchre of the kings” is abridged from Maundrell: “The
approach is through an entrance cut out of a solid rock, which admits you into an open
court about 40 paces square, cut down into the rock. On the south side is a portico nine
paces long and four broad, hewn likewise out of the solid rock. At the end of the portico
is the descent to the sepulchres. The descent is into a room about 7 or 8 yards square, cut
out of the natural rock. From this room there are passages into six more, all of the same
fabric with the first. In every one of these rooms, except the first, were coffins placed in
niches in the sides of the chamber,” etc. (Maundrell’s Travels). If the tombs of the kings
were of this form, it is clear that they were works of great labor and expense.
Probably, also, there were, as there are now, costly and splendid monuments erected
to the memory of the mighty dead. The following extract from “The Land and the Book,”
and cut on the next page (from Williams’ Holy City), will illustrate the usual construction
of tombs: “The entire system of rooms, niches, and passages may be comprehended at
once by an inspection of the plan of the Tombs of the Judges near Jerusalem. The
entrance faces the west, and has a vestibule (a) 13 feet by 9. Chamber (B), nearly 20 feet
square, and 8 high. The north side is seen in elevation in Fig. 2, and shows two tiers of
niches, one over the other, not often met with in tombs. There are seven in the lower tier,
each 7 feet long, 20 inches wide, and nearly 3 feet high. The upper tier has three arched
recesses, and each recess has two niches. From this room (B) doors lead out into
chambers (C and D), which have their own special system of niches, or Ioculi, for the
reception of the bodies, as appears on the plan. I have explored scores of sepulchres at
Ladakiyeh closely resembling this at Jerusalem, and there are many in the plain and on
the hillsides above us here at Sidon of the same general form chambers within chambers,
and each with niches for the dead, variously arranged according to taste or necessity.”
These tombs are about a mile northwest of Jerusalem. “The tombs which are
commonly called the ‘Tombs of the Kings’ are in an olivegrove about half a mile north of
the Damascus Gate, and a few rods east of the great road to Nablus. A court is sunk in
the solid rock about 90 feet square and 20 deep. On the west side of this court is a sort of
portico, 39 feet long, 17 deep, and 15 high. It was originally ornamented with grapes,
garlands, and festoons, beautifully done on the cornice; and the columns in the center,
and the pilasters at the corners, appear to have resembled the Corinthian order. A very
low door in the south end of the portico opens into the ante-chamber - 19 feet square,
and 7 or 8 high. From this three passages conduct into other rooms, two of them, to the
south, having five or six crypts. A passage also leads from the west room down several
steps into a large vault running north, where are crypts parallel to the sides. These
rooms are all cut in rock intensely hard, and the entrances were originally closed with
stone doors, made with panels and hung on stone hinges, which are now all broken. The
whole series of tombs indicates the hand of royalty and the leisure of years, but by whom

285. and for whom they were made is a mere matter of conjecture. I know no good reason for
ascribing them to Helena of Adiabene. Most travelers and writers are inclined to make
them the sepulchres of the Asmonean kings” (The Land and the Book, vol. 2, pp. 487,
488). The site of the tomb of David is no longer known.
Unto this day - That the sepulchre of David was well known and honored is clear
from Josephus (Antiq., book 7, chapter 15, section 3): “He (David) was buried by his son
Solomon in Jerusalem with great magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomps
with which kings used to be buried. Moreover, he had immense wealth buried with him:
for one thousand and three hundred years afterward Hyrcanus the high priest, when he
was besieged by Antiochus, and was desirous of giving him money to raise the siege,
opened one room of David’s sepulchre and took out three thousand talents. Herod, many
years afterward, opened another room, and took away a great deal of money,” etc. See
also Antiq., book 13, chapter 8, section 4. The tomb of a monarch like David would be
well known and had in reverence. Peter might, then, confidently appeal to their own
belief and knowledge that David had not been raised from the dead. No Jew believed or
supposed it. All, by their care of his sepulchre, and by the honor with which they
regarded his grave, believed that he had returned to corruption. The Psalm, therefore,
could not apply to him.
CLARKE, "Let me speak freely - of the patriarch David - In Midris Tillin, it is
said, in a paraphrase on the words, my flesh shall rest in hope, “Neither worm nor insect
had power over David.” It is possible that this opinion prevailed in the time of St. Peter,
and, if so, his words are the more pointed and forcible; and therefore thus applied by Dr.
Lightfoot: “That this passage, Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, etc., is not to be
applied to David himself appears in that I may confidently aver concerning him, that he
was dead and buried, and never rose again; but his soul was left εις ᆼδου, in the state of
the dead, and He saw corruption; for his sepulchre is with us to this day, under that very
notion, that it is the sepulchre of David, who died and was there buried; nor is there one
syllable mentioned any where of the resurrection of his body, or the return of his soul εξ
ᆼδου from the state of the dead.” To this the same author adds the following remarkable
note: I cannot slip over that passage, Hieros. Chagig. fol. 78: Rab. Jose saith, David died
at pentecost, and all Israel bewailed him, and offered their sacrifices the day following.
This is a remarkable coincidence; and may be easily applied to him of whom David was a
type.
GILL Verse 29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you,.... The apostle calls the
Jews, brethren, whom he before only styled men of Judea, and men of Israel, because they
were his brethren according to the flesh, as many of them afterwards were in a spiritual
relation; and the rather he adds this affectionate appellation to soften their minds, and
prepare them to receive the account he was about to give of David, and of his prophecy of
the Messiah, and his resurrection; in which he used much freedom of speech, consistent
with truth, good sense, and strong reasoning; which he thought might be allowed to take,
and they would not be displeased at, in discoursing to them
of the patriarch David; who was a "head of the fathers," as the Syriac and Arabic versions
render it; a prince of the tribes of Israel; one of the greatest kings the tribes of Israel ever

286. had; and therefore this name well becomes him; though it is more commonly given to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the heads of the twelve tribes:
that he is both dead, and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day; it is a plain
case, and a certain matter of fact, which nobody disputes or denies, that David really died,
and was laid in the grave, and that his monument, or tomb, was still extant, so that he was
not risen from the dead; and therefore the above citation could not respect him, but
another, even the Messiah, and had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. The Jews say {z}, that
David died on the day of Pentecost; which was the very day on which Peter was now
preaching; he was buried in Jerusalem, and his sepulchral monument was in being when
Peter said these words. And Josephus relates {a}, that the sepulchre of David was opened
by Hyrcanus, who took out of it three thousand talents; and that it was afterwards opened
by Herod {b}: which, if true, may serve to render credible what Peter says concerning its
continuance to that day. Though it may be questioned whether any such treasure was ever
in it, or taken out of it; and still less credible is the account which R. Benjamin {c} gives
of two men in his time, who, under the wall of Zion, found a cave, which led them to a
large palace built on pillars of marble, and covered with gold and silver; and within it was
a table, and a golden sceptre, and a crown of gold; and this, says the author, was the
sepulchre of David, king of Israel.
HENRY 29 F, "Secondly, The comment upon this text, especially so much of it as
relates to the resurrection of Christ. He addresses himself to them with a title of respect,
Men and brethren, Act_2:29. “You are men, and therefore should be ruled by reason;
you are brethren, and therefore should take kindly what is said to you by one who, being
nearly related to you, is heartily concerned for you, and wishes you well. Now, give me
leave freely to speak to you concerning the patriarch David, and let it be no offence to
you if I tell you that David cannot be understood here as speaking of himself, but of the
Christ to come.” David is here called a patriarch, because he was the father of the royal
family, and a man of great note and eminency in his generation, and whose name and
memory were justly very precious. Now when we read that psalm of his, we must
consider, 1. That he could not say that of himself, for he died, and was buried, and his
sepulchre remained in Jerusalem till now, when Peter spoke this, and his bones and
ashes in it. Nobody ever pretended that he had risen, and therefore he could never say of
himself that he should not see corruption; for it was plain he did see corruption. St. Paul
urges this, Act_13:35-37. Though he was a man after God's own heart, yet he went the
way of all the earth, as he saith himself (1Ki_2:2), both in death and burial. 2. Therefore
certainly he spoke it as a prophet, with an eye to the Messiah, whose sufferings the
prophets testified beforehand, and with them the glory that should follow; so did David
in that psalm, as Peter here plainly shows. (1.) David knew that the Messiah should
descend from his loins (Act_2:30), that God had sworn to him, that of the fruit of his
loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He promised
him a Son, the throne of whose kingdom should be established for ever, 2Sa_7:12. And
it is said (Psa_132:11), God swore it in truth unto David. When our Lord Jesus was
born, it was promised that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David,
Luk_1:32. And all Israel knew that the Messiah was to be the Son of David, that is, that,
according to the flesh, he should be so by his human nature; for otherwise, according to
the spirit, and by his divine nature, he was to be David's Lord, not his son. God having
sworn to David that the Messiah, promised to his fathers, should be his son and
successor, the fruit of his loins, and heir to his throne, he kept this in view, in penning

287. his psalms. (2.) Christ being the fruit of his loins, and consequently in his loins when he
penned that psalm (as Levi is said to be in Abraham's loins when he paid tithes to
Melchizedek), if what he says, as in his own person, be not applicable to himself (as it is
plain that it is not), we must conclude it points to that son of his that was then in his
loins, in whom his family and kingdom were to have their perfection and perpetuity; and
therefore, when he says that his soul should not be left in its separate state, nor his flesh
see corruption, without doubt he must be understood to speak of the resurrection of
Christ, Act_2:31. And as Christ died, so he rose again, according to the scriptures; and
that he did so we are witnesses. (3.) Here is a glance at his ascension too. As David did
not rise from the dead, so neither did he ascend into the heavens, bodily, as Christ did,
Act_2:34. And further, to prove that when he spoke of the resurrection he meant it of
Christ, he observes that when in another psalm he speaks of the next step of his
exaltation he plainly shows that he spoke of another person, and such another as was his
Lord (Psa_110:1): “The Lord said unto my Lord, when he had raised him from the dead,
Sit thou at my right hand, in the highest dignity and dominion there; be thou entrusted
with the administration of the kingdom both of providence and grace; sit there as king,
until I make thy foes either thy friends or thy footstool,” Act_2:35. Christ rose from the
grave to rise higher, and therefore it must be of his resurrection that David spoke, and
not his own, in the Psa_16:1; for there was no occasion for him to rise out of his grave
who was not to ascend to heaven.
(4.) The application of this discourse concerning the death, resurrection, and
ascension of Christ.
[1.] This explains the meaning of the present wonderful effusion of the Spirit in those
extraordinary gifts. Some of the people had asked (Act_2:12), What meaneth this? I will
tell you the meaning of it, says Peter. This Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God,
so some read it, to sit there; exalted by the right hand of God, so we read it, by his power
and authority - it comes all to one; and having received of the Father, to whom he has
ascended, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath given what he received (Psa_68:18),
and hath shed forth this which you now see and hear; for the Holy Ghost was to be
given when Jesus was glorified, and not before, Joh_7:39. You see and hear us speak
with tongues that we never learned; probably there was an observable change in the air
of their countenances, which they saw, as well as heard the change of their voice and
language; now this is from the Holy Ghost, whose coming is an evidence that Jesus is
exalted, and he has received this gift from the Father, to confer it upon the church,
which plainly bespeaks him to be the Mediator, or middle person between God and the
church. The gift of the Holy Ghost was, First, A performance of divine promises already
made; here it is called the promise of the Holy Ghost; many exceedingly great and
precious promises the divine power has given us, but this is the promise, by way of
eminency, as that of the Messiah had been, and this is the promise that includes all the
rest; hence God's giving the Holy Spirit to those that ask him (Luk_11:13) is his giving
them all good things, Mat_7:11. Christ received the promise of the Holy Ghost, that is,
the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, and has given it to us; for all the promises are yea
and amen in him. Secondly, It was a pledge of all divine favours further intended; what
you now see and hear is but an earnest of greater things.
JAMISON, "David ... is ... dead and buried, etc. — Peter, full of the Holy Ghost,
sees in this sixteenth Psalm, one Holy Man, whose life of high devotedness and lofty
spirituality is crowned with the assurance, that though He taste of death, He shall rise
again without seeing corruption, and be admitted to the bliss of God’s immediate

288. presence. Now as this was palpably untrue of David, it could be meant only of One other,
even of Him whom David was taught to expect as the final Occupant of the throne of
Israel. (Those, therefore, and they are many, who take David himself to be the subject of
this Psalm, and the words quoted to refer to Christ only in a more eminent sense, nullify
the whole argument of the apostle). The Psalm is then affirmed to have had its only
proper fulfillment in JESUS, of whose resurrection and ascension they were witnesses,
while the glorious effusion of the Spirit by the hand of the ascended One, setting an
infallible seal upon all, was even then witnessed by the thousands who stood listening to
Him. A further illustration of Messiah’s ascension and session at God’s right hand is
drawn from Psa_110:1, in which David cannot be thought to speak of himself, seeing he
is still in his grave.
ELLICOTT, "(29) Let me freely speak.—Better, it is lawful for me to speak with freedom.
Those to whom the Apostle spoke could not for a moment dream of asserting that the
words quoted had been literally and completely fulfilled in him, and it was therefore
natural to look for their fulfilment elsewhere.
Of the patriarch David.—The word is used in its primary sense, as meaning the founder
of a family or dynasty. In the New Testament it is applied also to Abraham (Hebrews
7:4) and the twelve sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8). In the Greek version of the Old Testament it
is used only of the comparatively subordinate “chief of the fathers” in 1 Chronicles 9:9; 1
Chronicles 24:31, et al.
His sepulchre is with us unto this day.—The king was buried in the city which bore his
name (1 Kings 2:10). Josephus relates that vast treasures were buried with him (Ant. vii.
15, § 4), and that John Hyrcanus opened one of the chambers of the tomb, and took out
three thousand talents to pay the tribute demanded by Antiochus the Pious (Ant. xiii. 8,
§ 4). Herod the Great also opened it and found no money, but gold and silver vessels in
abundance. The tradition was that he sought to penetrate into the inner vault, in which
the bodies of David and Solomon were resting, and was deterred by a flame that issued
from the recess (Ant. xvi. 7, § 1). It is difficult to understand how such a treasure could
have escaped the plunderer in all the sieges and sacks to which Jerusalem had been
exposed; but it is possible that its fame as a holy place may have made it, like the temples
at Delphi and Ephesus, a kind of bank of deposit, in which large treasures in coin or
plate were left for safety, and many of these, in the common course of things, were never
claimed, and gradually accumulated. The monuments now known as the “tombs of the
kings” on the north side of the city, though identified by De Sauley with the sepulchres of
the house of David, are of the Roman period, and are outside the walls. David and his
successors were probably buried in a vault on the eastern hill, in the city of David (1
Kings 2:10), within the range of the enclosure now known as the Haram Area.
COFFMAN, "Peter here affirmed that not only was David fully aware that the promise in
his Psalm was not to be fulfilled in himself, but that he also foresaw the resurrection of
the Holy One. The certainty of this lies in the words HOLY ONE, there having been
utterly no way that David would ever have referred to himself in those words. The
memory of Uriah and Bathsheba would never have allowed it.
Implicit in Peter's works is also the fact of David's realization that his throne was to be

289. occupied by that same Holy One, even Christ, who true enough would be the "fruit of"
David's body, but in only one dimension, that of the flesh. We need not speculate upon
the extent of David's understanding of Christ and his kingdom; but the fact of his being a
prophet of God indicates that it was broader and deeper than many suppose.
Resurrection of the Christ ... The significance of "the Christ" should not be overlooked.
Jesus was not A Christ, or A Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth is THE Messiah, THE Christ of
God! As Alexander Campbell observed:
To maintain this was the main drift of all apostolic preaching and teaching. So important
is it, then, that it should stand before all men in the proper attitude. In reading the five
historical books of the Christian religion, every intelligent reader must have observed that
the issue concerning Jesus of Nazareth is: "Is he, or is he not, the Christ of whom Moses
in the law, and all the prophets wrote?"[34]
ENDNOTE:
[34] Alexander Campbell, Acts of the Apostles (Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation, 1858),
p. 15.
CONSTABLE 29-31, "Peter next argued that David's words just quoted could not refer
literally to David since David had indeed died and his body had undergone corruption.
Ancient tradition places the location of King David's tomb south of the old city of David,
near the Pool of Siloam. David's words were a prophecy that referred to Messiah as well
as a description of his own experience. God's oath to place one of David's descendants on
his throne as Israel's king is in Psalms 132:11 (cf. 2 Samuel 7:16). [Note: See Robert F.
O'Toole, "Acts 2:30 and the Davidic Covenant of Pentecost," Journal of Biblical
Literature 102:2 (1983):245-58.]
Peter did not say that Jesus now sits on David's throne (Acts 2:30), which is what many
progressive dispensationalists affirm. [Note: E.g., Bock, Dispensationalism, . . ., pp. 49-
50; Blaising, Progressive Dispensationalism, pp. 175-87; and Saucy, The Case . . ., p. 59-
80. For refutations of the progressive dispensationalist view, see John F. Walvoord,
"Biblical Kingdoms Compared and Contrasted," in Issues in Dispensationalism,
especially pp. 89-90; David A. Dean, "A Study of the Enthronement of Christ in Acts 2,
3" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1992); McLean, pp. 223-24; Ryrie,
Dispensationalism, pp. 168-69; Hodges, "A Dispensational ...," pp. 174-78; and Stanley
D. Toussaint, "The Contingency of the Coming of the Kingdom," in Integrity of Heart,
Skillfulness of Hands, pp. 231-32. See Charles C. Ryrie, The Basis of the Premillennial
Faith, pp. 81-82; and John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, pp. 224-26, for the
normative dispensational interpretations of the Davidic Covenant passages.] He said that
David prophesied that God had sworn to seat a descendant of David on David's throne.
Jesus now sits on a throne in heaven, but He has yet to sit on David's throne, which is a
throne on earth. He will sit on David's throne when He returns to the earth to reign as
Messiah.

290. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had
promised him on oath that he would place one of
his descendants on his throne.
BARNES, "Therefore - As David was dead and buried, it was clear that he could not
have referred to himself in this remarkable declaration. It followed that he must have
had reference to some other one.
Being a prophet - One who foretold future events. That David was inspired is clear,
2Sa_23:2. Many of the prophecies relating to the Messiah are found in the Psalms of
David: Psa_22:1, compare Mat_27:46; Luk_24:44 - Psa_22:18, compare Mat_27:35 -
Psa_69:21, compare Mat_27:34, Mat_27:48 - Psa_69:25, compare Act_1:20.
And knowing - Knowing by what God had said to him respecting his posterity.
Had sworn with an oath - The places which speak of God as having sworn to David
are found in Psa_89:3-4, “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto
David my servant, Thy seed will I establish,” etc.; and Psa_132:11, “The Lord hath sworn
in truth unto David, he will not turn from it, Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon my
throne”; Psa_89:35-36. The promise to which reference is made in all these places is in
2Sa_7:11-16.
Of the fruit of his loins - Of his descendants. See 2Sa_7:12; Gen_35:11; Gen_
46:26; 1Ki_8:19, etc.
According to the flesh - That is, so far as the human nature of the Messiah was
concerned, he would be descended from David. Expressions like these are very
remarkable. If the Messiah was only a man, they would be unmeaning. They are never
used in relation to a mere man; and they imply that the speaker or writer supposed that
there pertained to the Messiah a nature which was not according to the flesh. See Rom_
1:3-4.
He would raise up Christ - That is, the Messiah. To raise up seed, or descendants,
is to give them to him. The promises made to David in all these places had immediate
reference to Solomon and to his descendants. But it is clear that the New Testament
writers understood them as referring also to the Messiah. And it is no less clear that the
Jews understood that the Messiah was to be descended from David, Mat_12:23; Mat_
21:9; Mat_22:42, Mat_22:45; Mar_11:10; Joh_7:42, etc. In what way these promises
that were made to David were understood as applying to the Messiah, it may not be easy
to determine. The fact, however, is clear. The following remarks may throw some light
on the subject:
(a) The kingdom which was promised to David was to have no end; it was to be
established forever. Yet his descendants died, and all other kingdoms changed.
(b) The promise likewise stood by itself; it was not made to any other of the Jewish
kings; nor were similar declarations made of surrounding kingdoms and nations.
It came, therefore, gradually to be applied to that future king and kingdom which
was the hope of the nation; and their eyes were anxiously fixed on the long-
expected Messiah.

291. (c) At the time that he came it had become the settled doctrine of the Jews that he was
to descend from David, and that his kingdom was to be perpetual.
On this belief of the prophecy the apostles argued; and the opinions of the Jews
furnished a strong point by which they could convince them that Jesus was the Messiah.
Peter affirms that David was aware of this, and that he so understood the promise as
referring not only to Solomon, but in a far more important sense to the Messiah. Happily
we have a commentary of David himself as expressing his own views of that promise.
That commentary is found particularly in Psa_2:1-12; Ps. 22; Ps. 69; and Psa_16:1-11; In
these Psalms there can be no doubt that David looked forward to the coming of the
Messiah; and there can be as little that he regarded the promise made to him as
extending to his coming and his reign.
It may be remarked that there are some important variations in the manuscripts in
regard to this verse. The expression “according to the flesh” is omitted in many mss., and
is now left out by Griesbach in his New Testament. It is omitted also by the ancient
Syriac and Ethiopic versions, and by the Latin Vulgate.
To sit on his throne - To be his successor in his kingdom. Saul was the first of the
kings of Israel. The kingdom was taken away from him and his posterity, and conferred
on David and his descendants. It was determined that it should be continued in the
family of David, and no more go out of his family, as it had from the family of Saul. The
unique characteristic of David as king, or what distinguished him from the other kings of
the earth, was that he reigned over the people of God. Israel was his chosen people, and
the kingdom was over that nation. Hence, he that should reign over the people of God,
though in a manner somewhat different from David, would be regarded as occupying his
throne, and as being his successor. The form of the administration might be varied, but
it would still retain its prime characteristic as being a reign over the people of God. In
this sense the Messiah sits on the throne of David. He is his descendant and successor.
He has an empire over all the friends of the Most High. And as that kingdom is destined
to fill the earth, and to be eternal in the heavens, so it may be said that it is a kingdom
which shall have no end. It is spiritual, but not the less real; defended not with carnal
weapons, but not the less really defended; advanced not by the sword and the din of
arms, but not the less really advanced against principalities, and powers, and spiritual
wickedness in high places; not under a visible head and earthly monarch, but not less
really under the Captain of salvation and the King of kings.
CLARKE, "According to the flesh, he would raise up Christ - This whole
clause is wanting in ACD, one of the Syriac, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, and Vulgate;
and is variously entered in others. Griesbach rejects it from the text, and Professor
White says of the words, “certissime delenda,” they should doubtless be expunged. This
is a gloss, says Schoettgen, that has crept into the text, which I prove thus:
1. The Syriac and Vulgate, the most ancient of the versions, have not these words.
2. The passage is consistent enough and intelligible without them.
3. They are superfluous, as the mind of the apostle concerning the resurrection of
Christ follows immediately in the succeeding verse.
The passage therefore, according to Bp. Pearce, should be read thus: Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath, of the fruit of his loins, to set on
his throne; and foreseeing that he (God) would raise up Christ, he spake of the
resurrection of Christ, etc. “In this transition, the words which Peter quotes for David’s

292. are exactly the same with what we read in the psalm above mentioned; and the
circumstance of David’s foreseeing that Christ was to be raised up, and was the person
meant, is not represented as a part of the oath; but is only made to be Peter’s assertion,
that David, as a prophet, did foresee it, and meant it.”
GILL Verse 30. Therefore being a prophet,.... Who could foretell things to come, as he
did many things concerning the sufferings and death of Christ, and the circumstances
attending it, concerning his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God.
So the title of his "Psalms," in the Syriac version, runs thus; the "Book of the Psalms of
David, King and Prophet": and in the Arabic version, "the First Book of the Psalms of
David the Prophet, King of the Children of Israel." Though the Jews {d} will not allow
him, nor Solomon, nor Daniel, to be strictly and properly prophets, they make a
difference between prophecy, and the Holy Spirit. They own, that the book of Psalms was
written under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but not by prophecy; and therefore they
place it among the Hagiographa, or holy writings, but not among the Prophets: though
after all, Kimchi allows David to be a prophet, since he is called a man of God; for he
says this name is not said of any but aybn le, "of a prophet" {e}; and Peter is right in
calling him so:
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him; as he did in Psalm 132:11.
that of the fruit of his loins; of one that should be of his seed, that should spring from
him, even the Virgin Mary, who was of the house and lineage of David:
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ; would send him forth, according to the
human nature; for this phrase respects not his resurrection from the dead, but his
incarnation or exhibition in the flesh, as in Acts 3:26. This clause is wanting in the
Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, and in the Alexandrian copy, and should be
read in a parenthesis; since it is not in the text in Psalm 132:11.
to sit on his throne; on the throne of David his father; See Gill on "Lu 1:32."
CALVIN, "30. Therefore, seeing he was a prophet. He showeth, by two
reasons, that it is no marvel if David do speak of things that should come to
pass long after his time; the former is, because he was a prophet. And we
know that things to come, and such as are removed far from the knowledge of
men, are revealed unto the prophets. Therefore, it were wickedness to measure
their speeches according to the common manner and order which we use in
measuring the speeches of other men, forasmuch as they go beyond the long
courses of years, having the Spirit for their director. Whereupon they are also
called seers; because being placed, as it were, upon an high tower, 12 they see
those things which, by reason of great distance, are hidden from other men.
Another reason is, because Christ was promised to him peculiarly. This
maxim was so common amongst the Jews, that they had ever now and then the
son of David in their mouth, so often as there was any mention made of

293. Christ. They be no such arguments, I confess, as do necessarily prove that this
prophecy is to be expounded of Christ; neither was that Peter's intent and
purpose; but first he meant to prevent the contrary objection, whence David
had such skill to foretell a thing which was unknown. Therefore he saith, That
he knew Christ, both by prophetical revelation, and also by singular promise.
Furthermore, this principle was of great (Romans 10:4) force amongst the
better-minded sort which Paul setteth down, that Christ is the end of the law.
13 No man, therefore, did doubt of this, but that this was the mark whereat all
the prophets did aim, to lead the godly unto Christ as it were by the hand.
Therefore, what notable or extraordinary thing soever they did utter, the Jews
were commonly persuaded that it did agree with Christ. Furthermore, we must
note, that Peter doth reason soundly, when he gathered that David was not
ignorant of that which was the chiefest point of all revelations.
He had sworn with an oath. God swore not only to the end he might make David believe
his promise, but also that the thing promised might be had in greater estimation. And to
this end, in my judgment, it is here repeated, that the Jews may think with themselves of
what great weight the promise was, which God did make so notable (and so famous.) The
same admonition is profitable for us also. For we need not to doubt of this, but that the
Lord meant to set forth the excellency of the covenant by putting in a solemn oath. In the
mean season, this is also a fit remedy for the infirmity of our faith, that the sacred name of
God is set forth unto us, 14 that his words may carry the greater credit. These words,
"according to the flesh," do declare that there was some more noble thing in Christ than
the flesh. Therefore Christ did so come of the seed of David as he was man, that he doth
nevertheless, retain his divinity; and so the distinction between the two natures is plainly
expressed; when as Christ is called the Son of God, according to his eternal essence, in
like sort as he is called the seed of David according to the flesh.
ELLICOTT, "(30) Therefore being a prophet.—The words “according to the flesh, He
would raise up Christ,” are wanting in many of the best MSS. Without them the sentence,
though somewhat incomplete, would run thus: “That God had sworn with an oath that
from his loins one should sit upon his throne.” The words claim for the Psalmist a
prophetic foresight of some kind, without defining its measure or clearness. His thoughts
went beyond himself to the realisation of his hopes in a near or far-off future. As with
most other prophets, the precise time, even the “manner of time,” was hidden from him (1
Peter 1:11).
He would raise up Christ.—The Greek, by using the verb from which comes the word
“resurrection,” gives to the verb the definite sense of “raising from the dead.”
31Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ,[f] that he was not

294. abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see
decay.
BARNES, "He, seeing this before ... - By the spirit of prophecy. From this it
appears that David had distinct views of the great doctrines pertaining to the Messiah.
Spake ... - See Psa_16:1-11.
That his soul ... - See the notes on Act_2:27.
CLARKE, "That his soul was not left in hell - The words ᅧ ψυχη αυτου, his soul,
are omitted by ABCD, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Vulgate. Griesbach has left them out
of the text, and Professor White says again, certissime delenda. The passage may be thus
read: “He spake of the resurrection of Christ, that he was not left in hades, neither did
his flesh see corruption.” For the various readings in this and the preceding verse, see
Griesbach.
GILL, "He seeing this before,.... Or by a spirit of prophecy foreseeing it, that
according to God's promise and oath, the Messiah would be raised up, and spring from
his seed; and also by the same Spirit foresaw that he would suffer and die, and be laid in
the grave, the pit of corruption:
spake of the resurrection of Christ; from the dead, to the sense of the following
words, in Psa_16:10.
that his soul was not left in hell: neither his separate soul in Hades, nor his body in
the grave,
neither his flesh did see corruption; or his body, or his "carcass", as the Syriac
version renders it, did not lie so long in the grave as to rot and putrefy.
32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all
witnesses of the fact.
BARNES, "This Jesus - Peter, having shown that it was predicted that the Messiah
would rise, now affirms that such a resurrection occurred in the case of Jesus. If it was a
matter of prophecy, all objection to the truth of the doctrine was taken away, and the
only question was whether there was evidence that this had been done. The proof of this
Peter now alleges, and offers his own testimony, and that of his brethren, to the truth of

295. this great and glorious fact.
We are all witnesses - It seems probable that Peter refers here to the whole 120
who were present, and who were ready to attest it in any manner. The matter which was
to be proved was that Jesus was seen alive after he had been put to death. The apostles
were appointed to bear witness of this. We are told by Paul 1Co_15:6 that he was seen by
more than five hundred brethren, that is, Christians, at one time. The 120 assembled on
this occasion were doubtless part of the number, and were ready to attest this. This was
the proof that Peter alleged; and the strength of this proof was, and should have been,
perfectly irresistible:
(1) They had seen him themselves. They did not conjecture it or reason about it; but
they had the evidence on which people act every day, and which must be regarded
as satisfactory the evidence of their own senses.
(2) The number was such they could not be imposed on. If 120 persons could not
prove a plain matter of fact, nothing could be established by testimony; there could
be no way of arriving at any facts.
(3) The thing to be established was a plain matter. It was not that they “saw him rise.”
That they never pretended: Impostors would have done this. But it was that they
saw him, talked, walked, ate, drank with him, being alive, after, he had been
crucified. The fact of his death was matter of Jewish record, and no one called it in
question. The only fact for Christianity to make out was that he was seen alive
afterward, and this was attested by many witnesses.
(4) They had no interest in deceiving the world in this thing. There was no prospect of
pleasure, wealth, or honor in doing it.
(5) They offered themselves now as ready to endure any sufferings, or to die, in
attestation of the truth of this event.
CLARKE, "Whereof we all are witnesses - That is, the whole 120 saw him after
he rose from the dead, and were all ready, in the face of persecution and death, to attest
this great truth.
GILL Verse 32. This Jesus hath God raised up,.... That is, from the dead,
whereof we are all witnesses; namely, of his resurrection, they having seen him, and
heard him, and ate, and drank, and conversed with him since his resurrection; and which
was true, not of the twelve apostles only, but of the whole company: or "we are all his
witnesses"; either of God, who raised Christ from the dead; or of Christ who was raised
by him; and indeed, they bore testimony to the whole of this, to Christ, and to his
resurrection, and to its being done by God the Father.
HENRY, "He attests the truth of his resurrection (Act_2:32): God hath raised him up,
whereof we all are witnesses - we apostles, and others our companions, that were
intimately acquainted with him before his death, were intimately conversant with him
after his resurrection, did eat and drink with him. They received power, by the descent
of the Holy Ghost upon them, on purpose that they might be skilful, faithful, and
courageous witnesses of this thing, notwithstanding their being charged by his enemies
as having stolen him away.

296. CALVI "32. This Jesus. After that he had proved by the testimony of David, that it
was most requisite that Christ should rise again, he saith, that he and the rest of his
fellows were such witnesses as saw him with their eyes after his resurrection. For this text
1 will not suffer this word raised up to be drawn into any other sense. Whereupon it
followeth that that was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth which David did foreshow
concerning Christ. After that he intreateth of the fruit or effect. For it was requisite for
him to declare that first, that Christ is alive. Otherwise it had been an absurd and
incredible thing that he should be the author of so great a miracle. Notwithstanding he
doth therewithal teach us, that he did not rise for his own sake alone, but that he might
make the whole Church partaker of his life, having poured out the Spirit.
MACLAREN, "PETER'S FIRST SERMON
This passage may best be dealt with as divided into three parts: the sharp spear-thrust of
Peter’s closing words (Act_2:32-36), the wounded and healed hearers (Act_2:37-41),
and the fair morning dawn of the Church (Act_2:42-47).
I. Peter’s address begins with pointing out the fulfilment of prophecy in the
gift of the Spirit (Act_2:14 - Act_2:21).
It then declares the Resurrection of Jesus as foretold by prophecy, and witnessed to by
the whole body of believers (Act_2:22-32), and it ends by bringing together these two
facts, the gift of the Spirit and the Resurrection and Ascension, as effect and cause, and
as establishing beyond all doubt that Jesus is the Christ of prophecy, and the Lord on
whom Joel had declared that whoever called should be saved. We now begin with the
last verse of the second part of the address.
Observe the significant alternation of the names of ‘Christ’ and ‘Jesus’ in Act_2:31-32.
The former verse establishes that prophecy had foretold the Resurrection of the
Messiah, whoever he might be; the latter asserts that ‘this Jesus’ has fulfilled the
prophetic conditions. That is not a thing to be argued about, but to be attested by
competent witnesses. It was presented to the multitude on Pentecost, as it is to us, as a
plain matter of fact, on which the whole fabric of Christianity is built, and which itself
securely rests on the concordant testimony of those who knew Him alive, saw Him dead,
and were familiar with Him risen.
There is a noble ring of certitude in Peter’s affirmation, and of confidence that the
testimony producible was overwhelming. Unless Jesus had risen, there would neither
have been a Pentecost nor a Church to receive the gift. The simple fact which Peter
alleged in that first sermon, ‘whereof we all are witnesses,’ is still too strong for the
deniers of the Resurrection, as their many devices to get over it prove.
But, a listener might ask, what has this witness of yours to do with Joel’s prophecy, or
with this speaking with tongues? The answer follows in the last part of the sermon. The
risen Jesus has ascended up; that is inseparable from the fact of resurrection, and is part
of our testimony. He is ‘exalted by,’ or, perhaps, at, ‘the right hand of God.’ And that
exaltation is to us the token that there He has received from the Father the Spirit, whom
He promised to send when He left us. Therefore it is He-’this Jesus’-who has ‘poured
forth this,’-this new strange gift, the tokens of which you see flaming on each head, and
hear bursting in praise from every tongue.

297. What triumphant emphasis is in that ‘He’! Peter quotes Joel’s word ‘pour forth.’ The
prophet had said, as the mouthpiece of God, ‘I will pour forth’; Peter unhesitatingly
transfers the word to Jesus. We must not assume in him at this stage a fully-developed
consciousness of our Lord’s divine nature, but neither must we blink the tremendous
assumption which he feels warranted in making, that the exaltation of Jesus to the right
hand of God meant His exercising the power which belonged to God Himself.
In Act_2:34, he stays for a moment to establish by prophecy that the Ascension, of
which he had for the first time spoken in Act_2:33, is part of the prophetic
characteristics of the Messiah. His demonstration runs parallel with his preceding one as
to the Resurrection. He quotes Psa_110:1-7, which he had learned to do from his Master,
and just as he had argued about the prediction of Resurrection, that the dead Psalmist’s
words could not apply to himself, and must therefore apply to the Messiah; so he
concludes that it was not ‘David’ who was called by Jehovah to sit as ‘Lord’ on His right
hand. If not David, it could only be the Messiah who was thus invested with Lordship,
and exalted as participator of the throne of the Most High.
Then comes the final thrust of the spear, for which all the discourse has been preparing.
The Apostle rises to the full height of his great commission, and sets the trumpet to his
mouth, summoning ‘all the house of Israel,’ priests, rulers, and all the people, to
acknowledge his Master. He proclaims his supreme dignity and Messiahship. He is the
‘Lord’ of whom the Psalmist sang, and the prophet declared that whoever called on His
name should be saved; and He is the Christ for whom Israel looked.
Last of all, he sets in sharp contrast what God had done with Jesus, and what Israel had
done, and the barb of his arrow lies in the last words, ‘whom ye crucified.’ And this bold
champion of Jesus, this undaunted arraigner of a nation’s crimes, was the man who, a
few weeks before, had quailed before a maid-servant’s saucy tongue! What made the
change? Will anything but the Resurrection and Pentecost account for the psychological
transformation effected in him and the other Apostles?
II. No wonder that ‘they were pricked in their heart’!
Such a thrust must have gone deep, even where the armour of prejudice was thick. The
scene they had witnessed, and the fiery words of explanation, taken together, produced
incipient conviction, and the conviction produced alarm. How surely does the first
glimpse of Jesus as Christ and Lord set conscience to work! The question, ‘What shall we
do?’ is the beginning of conversion. The acknowledgment of Jesus which does not lead to
it is shallow and worthless. The most orthodox accepter, so far as intellect goes, of the
gospel, who has not been driven by it to ask his own duty in regard to it, and what he is
to do to receive its benefits, and to escape from his sins, has not accepted it at all.
Peter’s answer lays down two conditions: repentance and baptism. The former is often
taken in too narrow a sense as meaning sorrow for sin, whereas it means a change of
disposition or mind, which will be accompanied, no doubt, with ‘godly sorrow,’ but is in
itself deeper than sorrow, and is the turning away of heart and will from past love and
practice of evil. The second, baptism, is ‘in the name of Jesus Christ,’ or more accurately,
‘upon the name,’-that is, on the ground of the revealed character of Jesus. That
necessarily implies faith in that Name; for, without such faith, the baptism would not be
on the ground of the Name. The two things are regarded as inseparable, being the inside
and the outside of the Christian discipleship. Repentance, faith, baptism, these three, are
called for by Peter.
But ‘remission of sins’ is not attached to the immediately preceding clause, so as that
baptism is said to secure remission, but to the whole of what goes before in the sentence.

298. Obedience to the requirements would bring the same gift to the obedient as the disciples
had received; for it would make them disciples also. But, while repentance and baptism
which presupposed faith were the normal, precedent conditions of the Spirit’s bestowal,
the case of Cornelius, where the Spirit was given before baptism, forbids the attempt to
link the rite and the divine gift more closely together.
The Apostle was eager to share the gift. The more we have of the Spirit, the more shall
we desire that others may have Him, and the more sure shall we be that He is meant for
all. So Peter went on to base his assurance, that his hearers might all possess the Spirit,
on the universal destination of the promise. Joel had said, ‘on all flesh’; Peter declares
that word to point downwards through all generations, and outwards to all nations. How
swiftly had he grown in grasp of the sweep of Christ’s work! How far beneath that
moment of illumination some of his subsequent actions fell!
We have only a summary of his exhortations, the gist of which was earnest warning to
separate from the fate of the nation by separating in will and mind from its sins. Swift
conviction followed the Spiri-given words, as it ever will do when the speaker is filled
with the Holy Spirit, and has therefore a tongue of fire. Three thousand new disciples
were made that day, and though there must have been many superficial adherents, and
none with much knowledge, it is perhaps not fanciful to see in Luke’s speaking of them
as ‘souls’ a hint that, in general, the acceptance of Jesus as Messiah was deep and real.
Not only were three thousand ‘names’ added to the hundred and twenty, but three
thousand souls.
III. The fair picture of the morning brightness, so soon overclouded, so long
lost, follows.
First, the narrative tells how the raw converts were incorporated in the community, and
assimilated to its character. They, too, ‘continued steadfastly’ (Act_1:14). Note the four
points enumerated: ‘teaching,’ which would be principally instruction in the life of Jesus
and His Messianic dignity, as proved by prophecy; ‘fellowship,’ which implies
community of disposition and oneness of heart manifested in outward association;
‘breaking of bread,’-that is, the observance of the Lord’s Supper; and ‘the prayers,’ which
were the very life-breath of the infant Church (Act_1:14). Thus oneness in faith and in
love, participation in the memorial feast and in devotional acts bound the new converts
to the original believers, and trained them towards maturity. These are still the methods
by which a sudden influx of converts is best dealt with, and babes in Christ nurtured to
full growth. Alas! that so often churches do not know what to do with novices when they
come in numbers.
A wider view of the state of the community as a whole closes the chapter. It is the first of
several landing-places, as it were, on which Luke pauses to sum up an epoch. A reverent
awe laid hold of the popular mind, which was increased by the miraculous powers of the
Apostles. The Church will produce that impression on the world in proportion as it is
manifestly filled with the Spirit. Do we? The s-called community of goods was not
imposed by commandment, as is plain from Peter’s recognition of Ananias’ right to do as
he chose with his property. The facts that Mark’s mother, Mary, had a house of her own,
and that Barnabas, her relative, is specially signalised as having sold his property, prove
that it was not universal. It was an irrepressible outcrop of the brotherly feeling that
filled all hearts. Christ has not come to lay down laws, but to give impulses. Compelled
communism is not the repetition of that oneness of sympathy which effloresced in the
bright flower of this common possession of individual goods. But neither is the closed
purse, closed because the heart is shut, which puts to shame so much profession of
brotherhood, justified because the liberality of the primitive disciples was not by

299. constraint nor of obligation, but willing and spontaneous.
Act_2:46-47 add an outline of the beautiful daily life of the community, which was, like
their liberality, the outcome of the feeling of brotherhood, intensified by the sense of the
gulf between them and the crooked generation from which they had separated
themselves. Luke shows it on two sides. Though they had separated from the nation,
they clung to the Temple services, as they continued to do till the end. They had not
come to clear consciousness of all that was involved in their discipleship, It was not
God’s will that the new spirit should violently break with the old letter. Convulsions are
not His way, except as second-best. The disciples had to stay within the fold of Israel, if
they were to influence Israel. The time of outward parting between the Temple and the
Church was far ahead yet.
But the truest life of the infant Church was not nourished in the Temple, but in the
privacy of their homes. They were one family, and lived as such. Their ‘breaking bread at
home’ includes both their ordinary meals and the Lord’s Supper; for in these first days
every meal, at least the evening meal of every day, was hallowed by having the Supper as
a part of it. Each meal was thus a religious act, a token of brotherhood, and accompanied
with praise. Surely then ‘men did eat angels’ food,’ and on platter and cup was written
‘Holiness to the Lord.’ The ideal of human fellowship was realised, though but for a
moment, and on a small scale. It was inevitable that divergences should arise, but it was
not inevitable that the Church should depart so far from the brief brightness of its dawn.
Still the sweet concordant brotherhood of these morning hours witnesses what Christian
love can do, and prophesies what shall yet be and shall not pass.
No wonder that such a Church won favour with all the people! We hear nothing of its
evangelising activity, but its life was such that, without recorded speech, multitudes were
drawn into so sweet a fellowship. If we were like the Pentecostal Christians, we should
attract wearied souls out of the world’s Babel into the calm home where love and
brotherhood reigned, and God would ‘add’ to us ‘day by day those that were being
saved.’
OLGIVIE, "As Peter will go on to prove, with respect to Pentecost, Jesus' resurrection is
the answer to the question "Why?" from both angles. It is Pentecost's immediate cause
(vv. 32-33), and it is the ground for the saving significance of the Pentecost event.
Peter now argues, based on Scripture, that Jesus' resurrection is part of God's saving plan.
In verses 25-28 he introduces a quote from Psalm 16:8-11 to explain Jesus' resurrection as
the fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah (NIV does not translate the Greek gar,
causal connector between vv. 24 and 25). The psalmist declares that because of his
ongoing relationship with the Lord God, he will not be shaken. This accords well with
Luke's portrayal of Jesus in his last hours (Lk 23:46/Ps 31:5; the cry of dereliction is
absent--Mk 15:34/Ps 22:1). The psalmist expresses joyful confidence that his flesh (sarx,
NIV body; v. 26) will live in hope. He openly declares that there is no abandonment to
Sheol or experience of decay, but rather the path of life and the joy of God's presence
forever.
How is it possible to understand a first-person psalm attributed to
David, in which he appears to speak of his protection from death,
as a prophecy of the Messiah's hope in a resurrection out of death?
Peter comes to such an understanding by using two hermeneutical

300. principles: literal interpretation and a messianic reading of first-
person Davidic psalms. Thus David, "not . . . as a mere person but
David as the recipient and conveyor of God's ancient but ever-
renewed promise," can predict the Messiah's experience (Kaiser
1980:225). Pointing to the well-known (and still extant) tomb of
David, Peter contends that David could not be talking about
himself. By a process of elimination, then, someone else must
qualify to experience the literal fulfillment of this promise. That
someone is the Messiah. For David was a prophet. He had received
the divinely sworn promise of an eternal reign for one of his
descendants, who would be the Messiah (2 Sam 7:12-13; Ps
132:12).
But how can a Messiah who suffers and dies also reign forever (Ps 22:15-16)? It is
possible only if that Messiah rises from the dead. David was permitted to see ahead of
time this vital stage in God's process of redemption. So he could speak confidently of
Messiah's resurrection when he said that Messiah was not abandoned to the grave, nor
did his body see decay (Acts 2:31). What a wise God to plan a path the Messiah would
follow to effect salvation! What a merciful God to reveal a portion of that path to
prophets, so that now, as we look back after the fulfillment, it all makes sense (see 1 Pet
1:10-12).
Now Peter moves from argumentation to proclamation (Acts 2:32). The great good news
is that God has now raised to life the same Jesus who was crucified (v. 23). Peter adds his
voice and those of the other apostles to the witness of the Scriptures. So confident is he of
the apostolic witnesses' compelling testimony that he can divide his presentation into two
steps: (1) the Old Testament bears witness to a risen Messiah and (2) we bear witness to
Jesus as the risen Messiah.
Peter unveils an even greater truth about Jesus which turns his audience into witnesses of
God's saving grace. Jesus is the exalted Lord raised to the Father's right hand in heaven
(see also v. 30). From that position of authority Jesus mediates the gift of the Spirit (Jn
14:16, 26; 16:7).
Peter now completes the second half of a chiastic (or reverse parallelism) construction
that extends all the way back to verse 25. He has (a) preached Scripture proof of Jesus as
the Messiah risen from the dead (vv. 25-28), (b) given an interpretation (vv. 29-31) and
(c) made a kerygmatic proclamation (v. 32). Now he (c') proclaims Jesus as the exalted
Lord and giver of the Spirit (v. 33), (b') gives an interpretation (v. 34) and (a') presents
Scripture proof (vv. 34-35/Ps 110:1). This construction binds together Jesus' resurrection,
his exaltation and his giving of the Spirit.
Again by a process of elimination and literal interpretation, Peter applies the Old
Testament text to the Messiah. David is dead; we cannot claim that he has ascended to
heaven. Then, following the lead of Jesus, Peter claims that David is addressing the
Messiah when he says, "The Lord [God] said to my Lord [the Messiah]" (Lk 20:41-44/Ps
110:1). When Jesus asked how David could call his descendant "Lord," he was not simply
making Messiah and Lord synonymous titles. When the One who is literally exalted to
the right hand of the Father is called "Lord," he is addressed as more than an honored
human descendant of David. The way Jesus formulated the question implied as much.

301. Peter, unveiling what Jesus' question hinted at, declares him to be Lord in the sense of
Yahweh. Jesus is God! (See also Acts 2:21, 36, 38.)
Peter calls his listeners to know for certain that God has openly avowed Jesus to be Lord
and Messiah (compare Lk 1:4). Jesus may now rightfully be declared Messiah, since he
has done Messiah's saving work and has been vindicated by God, who raised him from
the dead. He may properly be proclaimed Lord in the highest sense of the word, as the
respectful designation of the unpronounceable name of God (YHWH). For by his
resurrection-exaltation he has demonstrated that he is the ever-living and life-giving God,
whom death cannot hold and who pours out the Spirit (Acts 2:24, 33).
Peter immediately reminds his listeners that it is this risen and exalted Messiah and Lord
whom they have crucified. "They were not trifling with a Galilean carpenter, but God!"
(Ogilvie 1983:71).Application of Pentecost: A Call to Repentance and Promise (2:37-41)
By the Spirit (Jn 16:8-11) the crowd feels the sharp pain of guilt (the NIV renders the
verb literally, were cut to the heart). For Luke, this is as it should be: the heart, the inner
life, is the source of all the thoughts, motivations, intentions and plans of sinful human
beings (Lk 6:45; 12:34: 21:34; Acts 5:3-4; 7:39; 8:21-22; 28:27). Realizing they have
killed the Messiah, their only hope of salvation, they desperately want to know, "Is there
anything we can do about this? Or are we doomed to suffer God's certain wrath on the
day of the Lord?" (see 2:20). They address Peter and the rest of the apostles, for it is the
apostolic gospel, not a gospel of Peter, that they must receive and cling to (2:32, 42).
What will it take today to bring people to their knees--beyond admitting their anxiety (the
awareness that something is wrong) to facing their guilt (the recognition that someone is
wrong)? The sin of people today put Jesus to death just as surely as the sinful hatred of
first-century people. This fact leaves no room for anti-Semitism. With Peter's first
audience, we must return to the scene of the crime, the cross. We must face up to our
guilt before almighty God, the Judge. We must throw ourselves on his mercy, asking,
What shall we do? (v. 37).
Peter's invitation is to repent, "do an about face in your life's orientation and attach
yourself to Jesus" (Talbert 1984:16). This turning from sin and turning to Christ is the
necessary condition for receiving salvation blessings (Lk 13:3, 5; 15:7; 16:30; 24:47; Acts
3:19; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). What about faith? It is mentioned in verse 44. John Stott
observes, "Repentance and faith involve each other, the turn from sin being impossible
without the turn to God, and vice versa" (1990:78).
Peter calls for each one of them individually (hekastos, but NIV every one) to be baptized
. . . in (on the basis of) the name of Jesus Christ--that is, as Joseph Addison Alexander
puts it, "by his authority, acknowledging his claims, subscribing to his doctrine, engaging
in his service, and relying on his merits" (quoted in Stott 1990:78). By repentance and
baptism we show that we have met the conditions for receiving forgiveness of sins and
the gift of the Spirit. By making repentance and baptism conditions for the reception of
salvation blessings, Luke does not imply that salvation comes by merit or ritual. He is not
promoting some necessary second experience. He consistently presents both forgiveness
and the Spirit as gifts of grace (3:19; 5:31; 13:38; 11:17; 15:8). The gift of the Spirit is the
Spirit himself, who regenerates, indwells, unites, and transforms lives. All the fruit and
gifts of the Spirit flow from this one great gift.
Peter now declares the universal extent of the salvation offer. He reaches out across time
and space, generations and cultures (your children and . . . all who are afar off--that is,
Jews of the diaspora and Gentiles; see Is 57:19; Eph 2:13). And he does not let his

302. audience forget, even as he tells them their responsibility, that salvation is God's work
from beginning to end. For the promise is for all whom the Lord our God will call. Those
who respond are answering the Lord our God's effective call on their lives (compare Acts
13:48; 16:14). "He set me free to want what He wanted to give!" (Ogilvie 1983:72).
Now we have come full circle. The salvation promised by Joel (and everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved--Acts 2:21/Joel 2:32) is accomplished by Jesus
(God has made this Jesus . . . Lord--Acts 2:36). And it is humanly appropriated when one
is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (v. 38) with the assurance that the gift of salvation
is for all whom the Lord our God will call (v. 39).
There were many other things Peter said to the crowd as he warned them. He kept on
exhorting them to allow themselves to be saved, rescued from a corrupt (literally,
"crooked") generation. The Old Testament labeled the Israelites who wandered in the
wilderness a "crooked generation" (Deut 32:5; Ps 78:8). Peter's use of this phrase
intensifies the call to repentance. The "wilderness generation" experienced the judgment
of God when it did not repent. So will those of the present generation if they do not
answer God's call and turn to him in repentance.
The gospel call comes clearly and urgently today. "The question is not, shall I repent? For
that is beyond a doubt. But the question is, shall I repent now, when it may save me; or
shall I put it off to the eternal world when my repentance will be my punishment?"
(Samuel Davies in Wirt and Beckstrom 1974:203).
Three thousand souls welcomed the word (compare 28:30), met its conditions and were
baptized. They joined the ranks of the apostles and disciples in the nucleus of the New
Testament church. "The kerygma, indeed, has the power to evoke that which it celebrates"
(Willimon 1988:36).
We must not be negligent either in giving or heeding invitations. Lloyd Ogilvie strongly
encourages pastors to make invitation a standard part of regular worship services. In
whatever form--whether printing an invitation in the bulletin, designating a room for
inquirers or calling people forward during a closing hymn--the Lord's call for those to be
saved should be consistently present. "People are more ready than we dare to assume.
And why not? The Holy Spirit is at work!" (Ogilvie 1983:73).
New Testament Church Life
J. A. Bengel, the great Pietist commentator on the Bible, concluded his
comments on Acts this way: "Thou hast, O church, thy form [pattern].
It is thine to preserve it, and guard thy trust" (Bengel 1860:1:925).
We must do this by examining Luke's portrait of a Spirit-filled
community.Four Commitments (2:42)
The outpouring of the Spirit produced not just momentary enthusiasm
but four continuing commitments: to learn, to care, to fellowship and
to worship. The apostles' teaching probably included an account of
Jesus' life and ministry, his ethical and practical teachings, warnings
about persecution and false teaching, and the christocentric Old
Testament hermeneutic. But at its center was the gospel message.
And so today, to devote oneself to the apostles' teaching means

303. evangelism as well as edification (4:2; 5:42; 15:35).
The apostles' fellowship and breaking of bread was a sharing of
possessions to meet needs and of lives in common meals (2:44-46).
What an inviting way of life for our day, when "loneliness drives people
into one place, but that does not mean that they are together, really"
(Ogilvie 1983:74).
Finally, Luke portrays prayer as integral to the church's life (compare
4:24; 6:4; 12:5; 13:3; 20:36). It is the essential link between Jesus
and his people as they carry out his kingdom work under his guidance
and by his strength (4:29-30; 6:6; 8:15; 14:23; 28:8). The reputation
of the vital, growing Korean church as a praying church shows that the
maxim is indeed true: "the vitality of the church was a measure of the
reality of their prayers" (Williams 1985:39).Impact: Fear (2:43)
The conviction of sin that followed Peter's Spirit-filled preaching (2:37)
was not momentary panic but a continuing uneasiness among those
who had not yet received the word. The many wonders and miraculous
signs done by God through the apostles served only to intensify this
conviction. Whether the "signs and wonders" element be taken as
normative for today (Wimber 1986:21) or as simply the authentication
of a fresh stage of revelation (Stott 1974:13), clearly Luke is certain
that the church's presence will have an impact on society.A Caring,
Joyful, Transparent Fellowship (2:44-47)
In expression of their Spirit-inspired togetherness, the believers pooled
their resources. Individuals voluntarily sold property and goods,
contributed the proceeds to a fund from which any Christian (and
possibly non-Christians as well) could receive help, as he or she might
have need. What a standard for today's church! Indeed, "what we do
or do not do with our material possessions is an indicator of the Spirit's
presence or absence" (Krodel 1986:95).
The community lived out its commitment to the apostles' teaching by
gathering each day in the temple courts to hear instruction. They
probably met in Solomon's colonnade, at the eastern end of the court
of the Gentiles (5:12; compare 5:20-21, 42, and Jesus' practice--Lk
20:1; 21:37). In the temple they also fulfilled their commitment to
prayer as they engaged in corporate worship.
Daily the community broke bread together in homes--sharing a meal,
beginning it with the bread and ending it with the cup of the Lord's
Supper (Lk 22:19-20; 24:35; Acts 20:7, 11). With constant intimacy,
exultant joy and transparency of relationship they enjoyed the graces
of Messiah's salvation in a true anticipation of his banquet in the
kingdom (Lk 22:30; compare Acts 16:34). It was a gracious witness to
the people (laos), "Israel as the elect nation to whom the message of
salvation is initially directed" (Longenecker 1981:291).
Today growing churches manifest the same "metachurch" pattern:

304. celebration, joining in large gatherings for worship and instruction, and
cell group, meeting in home groups for fellowship and nurture.Impact:
Church Growth (2:47)
Every day the Lord Jesus by his Spirit saved some, incorporating them
into their number. God's plan is for churches to grow. The challenge
for us is, "Will we meet the Scriptural conditions for growth: a
dedication to be a learning, caring, fellowshipping, worshipping
church?" Will we meet the one essential condition? "As empowering
follows petition, so evangelism and Christian unity or community follow
Pentecost. The empowering, moreover, is repeatable. So pray!"
(Talbert 1984:17).
COFFMAN, "The resurrection: This is the bedrock and cornerstone of the Christian faith,
dogmatically affirmed in the five historical books of our holy religion, and the quibbles of
sinful men with regard to variations in the records themselves are powerless to cast any
shadow over the fact itself. What is needed is honesty in the reading of them. If Liby,
Polybius, Dionysius and Tacitus describe the same event with variations, no one denies
that the event occurred; and the Gospels should be received the same way, especially in
view of the truth that the "variations" in them are so minor as to be negligible.
Hunter noted that the New Testament accounts of the resurrection all agree (1) that the
tomb was empty and (2) that the resurrection occurred the third day. Regarding the empty
tomb, he said:
Paul's tradition implies it. So does the apostolic preaching in Acts. The four evangelists
declare it. The silence of the Jews confirms it ... In trying to fathom the mystery of the
first Easter Day, we should think of something essentially other-worldly, a piece of
heavenly reality, invading this world of time and sense and manifesting itself. We are
concerned with an unmistakably divine event which yet occurred in this world of ours, on
an April day in A.D. 30 while Pontius Pilate was Roman governor of Judea.[35]
We are all witnesses ... Peter could not have meant "all" of the one hundred and twenty
disciples, but all of the Twelve apostles. The blessed Mary herself, who was one of the
one hundred and twenty, was not a witness of the resurrection; nor is there any record that
Jesus ever appeared to her.
In the certification of so important an event as the resurrection to all times and conditions
of men, Jesus trained and qualified a group of men fully equal to the task. They were
outdoorsmen, unspoiled by any human sophistication, but still prepared in the most
complete and perfect manner to witness and proclaim the resurrection. It is simply
incredible that such men as the Twelve could have been led, either intentionally or
otherwise, into believing the resurrection of Christ UNLESS IT HAD INDEED occurred.
This conscious limitation of the witnesses of Christ's resurrection was noted by Peter
himself who said:
Him God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God, even to us, who ate and drank with

305. him after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:40,41).
The resurrection of Christ as the fulfillment of God's oath to set a descendant of David
upon his throne should be noted. God promised David:
And 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. He
shall build an house for my name, and I will establish his kingdom for ever .... Thine
house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be
established for ever (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
I have sworn unto David my servant: Thy seed will I establish for ever, And build up thy
throne to all generations (Psalms 89:3,4).
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for
ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and
as a faithful witness in heaven (KJV Psalms 89:35-37).SIZE>
It is regrettable that many have envisioned the Davidic throne as something that would be
upon earth, despite the fact of the throne in view here being compared to the sun or the
moon, neither of which was ever on earth, and especially in view of the plain promise that
it would be "in heaven," that is, the authority (or throne) would be in heaven. The
rendition of "heaven" as "sky," as in the English Revised Version, does not change this
meaning. The apostle Peter forever settled this question when he declared here in Acts
2:31 that the resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of the above promises to David.
The Davidic throne was a type of the eternal throne and authority of Jesus Christ.
ENDNOTE:
[35] Archibald M. Hunter, Introducing New Testament Theology (Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1957), p. 57.
33Exalted to the right hand of God, he has
received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit
and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Jesus received the Holy Spirit from the Father and then poured it out on his body
the church. He had to ascend to heaven as the perfect man to have the right to do
this.

306. BARNES, "Therefore, being by the right hand - The right hand among the
Hebrews was often used to denote “power”; and the expression here means, not that he
was exalted to the right hand of God. but by his power. He was raised from the dead by
his power, and borne to heaven, triumphant over all his enemies. The use of the word
“right hand” to denote “power” is common in the Scriptures: Job_40:14, “Thine own
right hand can save thee”; Psa_17:7, “Thou savest by thy right hand them that trust in
thee”; Psa_18:35; Psa_20:6; Psa_21:8; Psa_44:3; Psa_60:5, etc.
Exalted - Constituted King and Messiah in heaven. Raised up from his condition of
humiliation to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, Joh_17:5.
And having received ... - The Holy Spirit was promised to the disciples before his
death, Joh_14:26; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:13-15. It was expressly declared:
(1) That the Holy Spirit would not be given except the Lord Jesus should return to
heaven Joh_16:7; and,
(2) That this gift was in the power of the Father, and that he would send him, Joh_
14:26; Joh_15:26. This promise was now fulfilled, and those who witnessed the
extraordinary scene before them could not doubt that it was the effect of divine
power.
Hath shed forth this ... - This power of speaking different languages and declaring
the truth of the gospel. In this way Peter accounts for the remarkable events before
them. What had occurred could not be produced by new wine, Act_2:15. It was expressly
foretold, Act_2:16-21. It was predicted that Jesus would rise, Act_2:22-31. The apostles
were witnesses that he had risen, and that he had promised that the Holy Spirit would
descend; and the fulfillment of this promise was a rational way of accounting for the
scene before them. It was unanswerable; and the effect on those who witnessed it was
such as might be expected.
CLARKE, "By the right hand of God exalted - Raised by omnipotence to the
highest dignity in the realms of glory, to sit at the right hand of God, and administer the
laws of both worlds.
The promise of the Holy Ghost - This was the promise that he had made to them
a little before he suffered, as may be seen in Joh_14:16, etc., Joh_16:7, etc., and after he
had risen from the dead. Luk_24:49, and which as the apostle says was now shed forth.
GILL Verse 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,.... After his
resurrection he ascended to heaven, and was exalted in human nature; "to the right hand
of God," as the Ethiopic version; and the Arabic version used by De Dieu read; an honour
that never was conferred on any creature, angels or men, besides: or he was exalted and
raised to the high honour and dignity of a Prince and Saviour, of Lord, Head, and King,
so as to have a name, dominion, and authority over all, by the mighty power of God,
which is sometimes called his right hand; see Psalm 118:15.
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost; which the Father had
promised to pour forth in the last days, Isaiah 44:3 and which Christ had promised to send
from the Father, John 14:16 and which, upon his ascension and exaltation, he received as
Mediator from him; see Psalm 68:18 compared with Ephesians 4:8
he hath shed forth this; this Holy Spirit, or promised Spirit, these gifts of his; and so the

307. Syriac version renders it, "he hath shed forth this gift"; which expresses both the plenty
and abundance of the gifts bestowed, and the liberality of Christ in the donation of them:
it is added,
which ye now see and hear; meaning the cloven tongues, as of fire, which they saw sitting
on the disciples, and the various languages which they heard them speak. The
Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, leave out the word "now":
and the Syriac, in the room of it, reads, "behold."
UNKNOWN, "V. 33 - Being exalted - The promise to David had been fulfilled at last,
since Jesus was the fulfillment. The greatest era in the Jews・history, known as the "last
days," had come. Paul remarked as much in I Cor. 10:11. The thing that was different,
however, was that Jesus was exalted in heaven at God痴 right hand, while the Jewish
people, as a nation, had supposed that the Messiah would sit upon a throne in the (earthly)
city of Jerusalem, and establish an earthly kingdom. Of course, they were sadly and badly
mistaken. The kingdom to be brought into existence by the Messiah was to be spiritual in
nature, not material, and its king was to reign from heaven not upon earth. This point
about "Jerusalem" was enlarged and clarified by Paul in Galatians 4:21-31. The kingdom
of which the Messiah was to be king was/is the Church, the body of Christ. In this way,
Jesus sat upon the throne of his father David, ruling over a kingdom that, by its very
nature, could have and would have no end (since the kingdom was not material in nature,
but spiritual. Material things, all of them, have an end, I John 2:15-17).
the promise (of the Father) - See Luke 24:49. It is noteworthy that God is said to do this
in Joel, and Acts 2:17; while here Jesus is said to "pour out" the Holy Spirit, or at least
gifts of the Holy Spirit, accounting for what they saw and heard. Hence, Jesus and God
are said to have done the same things; another item which shows Jesus・deity.
CALVIN, "33. He being therefore exalted by the right hand of God. The right
hand is taken in this place for the hand or power, in like sort as it is taken
everywhere in the Scripture. For this is his drift, to declare that it was a
wonderful work of God, in that he had exalted his Christ (whom men thought
to be quite destroyed by death) unto so great glory.
The promise of the Spirit for the Spirit which was promised. For he had
oftentimes before promised the Spirit to his apostles. Therefore Peter doth
signify, that Christ. had obtained power of God the Father to fulfill the same.
And he maketh mention of the promise in plain words, to the end the Jews
may know that this came not to pass suddenly, but that the words of the
prophet were now verified, which went long time before the thing itself.
Furthermore, whereas it is said that he obtained it of the Father, it is to be
applied to the person of the Mediator. For both these are truly said, that Christ
sent the Spirit from himself and from the Father. He sent him from himself,
because he is eternal God; from the Father, because in as much as he is man,
he receiveth that of the Father which he giveth us. And Peter speaketh wisely

308. according to the capacity of the ignorant, lest any man should move a question
out of season concerning the power of Christ. And surely forasmuch as it is
the office of Christ to direct us unto his Father, this is a most apt form of
speaking for the use of godliness, that Christ being placed, as it were, in the
midst between God and us, doth deliver unto us with his own hand those gifts
which he hath received at the hands of his Father. Furthermore, we must note
this order that he saith, that the Spirit was sent by Christ after that he was
exalted. This agreeth with those sentences:
"The Spirit was not yet given,
because Christ was not yet glorified," (John 7:39.)
And again,
"Unless I go hence, the Spirit will not come," (John 16:7.)
Not because the Spirit began then first to be given, wherewith the holy fathers
were endued since the beginning of the world; but because God did defer this
more plentiful abundance of grace, until such time as he had placed Christ in
his princely seat; which is signified by this word poured out, as we saw a little
before. For by this means the force and fruit of Christ his death and
resurrection is sealed; and we do also thereby know, that we have lost nothing
by Christ his departing out of the world; because, though he be absent in body,
yet is he present with us after a better sort, to wit, by the grace of his Holy
Spirit.
COFFMAN,"By the right hand of God ... Christ had indeed appeared alive
after his death and burial, and the apostles had seen him ascend into heaven.
As so often affirmed in Scripture, Jesus was exalted at the right hand of the
Majesty on High, and that exaltation was the fulfillment of God's oath that a
descendant of David would sit upon his throne in perpetuity.
He hath poured forth this ... Despite the fact of his being in heaven, Jesus was
still concerned with earth and the men dwelling upon it. He had promised the
apostles that "another Comforter" would be given unto them; and here Peter
affirmed that the baptism of the apostles in the Holy Spirit, as audibly and
visually evidenced by the miraculous demonstration somewhat earlier, had
indeed come to pass as Jesus promised. "Christ's present impartation of the
Spirit to the apostles, attended as it was by sensible signs, was a further open
vindication of the claim that he was the exalted Messiah."[36] However,
before leaving the subject, Peter would offer another proof.
ENDNOTE:
[36] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 72.
COKE, "Acts 2:33. He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.— It is
said, John 7:39 that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not

309. yet glorified. See the note on that verse. The Spirit, in his extraordinary and
superabundant influences, was reserved as the great donative after Christ's
triumph over principalities and powers. When he was ascended up on high, he
sent down the greatest gift that ever was bestowed upon mankind, except
himself. By this Christ discovered the greatness of his purchase, the height of
his glory, the exercise of his power, the certainty of his resurrection and
ascension, and the care he took of his church: for in what could he illustrate
his character more, thanby letting them see that he made good his last promise,
of sending them another Comforter, who should be with them in all their
undertakings, to direct them in their doubts, and to plead their cause against all
opposition? What still enhanced this gift was, that it was not to continue with
them only for a short time, but to abide with them and all his faithful saints for
ever. It was to remain with them as a pledge of his love, as a testimony of his
truth, as an earnest of his favour now, and of the future inheritance of all the
faithful in heaven. See Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 4:32.
ELLICOTT, "(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God.—The Greek has
the dative case without a preposition. The English version takes it, and
probably is right in taking it, as the dative of the instrument, the image that
underlies the phrase being that the Eternal King stretches forth His hand to
raise Him who was in form His Servant to a place beside Him on His right
hand; and, on the whole, this seems the best rendering. Not a few scholars,
however, render the words “exalted to the right hand of God.”
Having received of the Father.—The words of St. Peter, obviously
independent as they are of the Gospel of St. John, present a striking agreement
with our Lord’s language as recorded by him (John 14:26; John 15:26). The
promise throws us back upon these chapters, and also upon Acts 1:4.
Hath shed forth this.—Better, hath poured out. The verb had not been used in
the Gospels of the promise of the Spirit, but is identical with that which was
found in the Greek version of Joel’s prophecy, as cited in Acts 2:17, “I will
pour out of My Spirit.”
34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he
said,
" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand

310. BARNES 34-35, "For David is not ascended into the heavens - That is, David
has not risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. This further shows that Psa_16:1-11
could not refer to David, but must refer to the Messiah. Great as they esteemed David,
and much as they were accustomed to apply these expressions of the Scripture to him,
yet they could not be applicable to him. They must refer to some other being; and
especially that passage which Peter now proceeds to quote. It was of great importance to
show that these expressions could not apply to David, and also that David bore
testimony to the exalted character and dignity of the Messiah. Hence, Peter here adduces
David himself as affirming that the Messiah was to be exalted to a dignity far above his
own. This does not affirm that David was not saved, or that his spirit had not ascended
to heaven, but that he had not been exalted in the heavens in the sense in which Peter
was speaking of the Messiah.
But he saith himself - Psa_110:1.
The Lord - The small capitals used in translating the word “Lord” in the Bible denote
that the original word is ‫יהוה‬ Yahweh. The Hebrews regarded this as the unique name of
God, a name incommunicable to any other being. It is not applied to any being but God
in the Scriptures. The Jews had such a reverence for it that they never pronounced it;
but when it occurred in the Scriptures they pronounced another name, ‫אדני‬ ̀ Adonaay.
Here it means, “Yahweh said,” etc.
My Lord - This is a different word in the Hebrew - it is ‫אדני‬ ̀ Adonaay. It properly is
applied by a servant to his master, or a subject to his sovereign, or is used as a title of
respect by an inferior to a superior. It means here, “Yahweh said to him whom I, David,
acknowledge to be my superior and sovereign.” Thus, though he regarded him as his
descendant according to the flesh, yet he regarded him also as his superior and Lord. By
reference to this passage our Saviour confounded the Pharisees, Mat_22:42-46. That the
passage in this Psalm refers to the Messiah is clear. Our Saviour, in Mat_22:42,
expressly applied it thus, and in such a manner as to show that this was the well-
understood doctrine of the Jews. See the notes on Mat_22:42, etc.
CLARKE,"David is not ascended - Consequently, he has not sent forth this
extraordinary gift, but it comes from his Lord, of whom he said, The Lord said unto my
Lord, etc. See the note on these words, Mat_22:44 (note).
GILL Verse 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens,.... In his body, that being
still in the grave, in his sepulchre, which remained to that day, though in his soul he was
ascended to heaven; his Spirit had returned to God that gave it, and was among the spirits
of just men made perfect: but he saith himself, in Psalm 110:1 "the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou on my right hand"; See Gill on "Mt 22:44."
HENRY, "Here is a glance at his ascension too. As David did not rise from the dead,
so neither did he ascend into the heavens, bodily, as Christ did, Act_2:34. And further,
to prove that when he spoke of the resurrection he meant it of Christ, he observes that
when in another psalm he speaks of the next step of his exaltation he plainly shows that
he spoke of another person, and such another as was his Lord (Psa_110:1): “The Lord
said unto my Lord, when he had raised him from the dead, Sit thou at my right hand, in
the highest dignity and dominion there; be thou entrusted with the administration of the
kingdom both of providence and grace; sit there as king, until I make thy foes either thy

311. friends or thy footstool,” Act_2:35. Christ rose from the grave to rise higher, and
therefore it must be of his resurrection that David spoke, and not his own, in the Psa_
16:1; for there was no occasion for him to rise out of his grave who was not to ascend to
heaven.
UNKNOWN, "V. 34 - David did not ascend - Peter again appeals to Scripture to
establish his case, using the same Scripture Jesus had used earlier to show the
misunderstanding of the Jews (see Matt. 22:41-45). It was Jesus who ascended into the
heavens to begin to reign, not David. We do not think that Peter affirmed anything about
what David did at death, bur rather stated what happened to Jesus as the subject of
prophecy.
CALVIN, "34. For doubtless David. Although they might easily gather by the
very effect which they saw with their eyes, that the principality was granted
and given to Christ, yet to the end his glory may carry the greater credit, he
proveth, by David his testimony, that it was so appointed in times past by God,
that Christ should be lifted up unto the highest degree of honor. For these
words, to "sit at the right hand of God," import as much as to bear the chief
rule, as we shall afterward more at large declare. Yet before he reciteth the
prophecy, he saith that it agreeth only to Christ. Therefore, to the end the sense
may be more manifest, the sentence must thus run. David pronounceth that it
was decreed by God that a king should sit at his right hand. But this doth not
appertain unto David, who was never extolled unto so great dignity. Therefore
lie speaketh this of Christ. Furthermore, that ought to have seemed no strange
thing unto the Jews which was foretold by the oracle of the Holy Ghost.
Hereby it appeareth in what sense Peter denieth that David ascended into
heaven. He intreateth not in this place of the soul of David, whether it were
received into blessed rest, and the heavenly dwelling or no; but the ascending
into heaven comprehendeth under it those things which Paul teacheth in the
Epistle to the Ephesians, (Ephesians 4:9), where he placeth Christ above all
heavens, that he may fulfill all things. Wherefore the disputation concerning
the estate of the dead is altogether superfluous in this place. For Peter goeth
about to prove no other thing but this, that the prophecy concerning the sitting
at the right hand of God was not fulfilled in David, and that, therefore, the
truth thereof must be sought elsewhere. And forasmuch as it can be found
nowhere else save only in Jesus Christ, it resteth that the Jews 2 do know that
that is showed to them in Christ which was foretold them so long before. That
is true, indeed, that David reigned, God being the author hereof, and, in some
respect, he was God's vicegerent; yet not so that he might be above all
creatures. Wherefore, this sitting agreeth to none, unless he excel and be above
all the whole world.
The Lord said unto my Lord. This is the most lawful manner of ruling, when
as the king (or by what other title soever he be called) doth know that he is
ordained of God, therefore David pronounceth that the commandment to reign

312. was given unto Christ by name, (Psalm 110:1.) As if he should say, He took
not the honor to himself rashly, but did only obey God when he commanded
him, (Hebrews 5:5.) ]Now must we see whether Peter's reason be sound
enough or no. He gathereth that the words concern Christ, because the sitting
at the right hand of God doth not agree to David. It seemeth that this may be
refuted, because David did reign by the peculiar commandment, name, and
help of God; which is to sit at the right hand of God. But Peter taketh that for a
thing which all men grant, which is true, and which I have already touched,
that a greater and more royal government is here spoken of than that which
David did enjoy. For howsoever he was God's vicegerent and did, as it. were,
represent his person in reigning, yet is this power far inferior to that, to sit
even at the right side of God. For this is attributed to Christ, because he is
placed above all principality, and above every name that is named, both in this
world, and in the world to come, (Ephesians 1:21.) Seeing that David is far
inferior to the angels, he doth possess no such place that he should be counted
next to God. For he must ascend far above all heavens, that he may come to
the right hand of God. Wherefore no man is said to sit at it, rightly and
properly, save only he which doth surpass all creatures in the degree of honor.
As for him which is resident amongst the creatures, although he be reckoned
in the order of angels, yet is he far from that highness. Again, we must not
seek the right hand of God amongst the creatures; but it doth also surpass all
heavenly principalities.
Furthermore, there is great weight even in the sentence itself. The king is
commanded to bear the chiefest rule, until God have put all his enemies under
his feet. Surely, although I grant that; he name of such an honorable sitting
may be applied unto earthly lordship: yet do I deny that David did reign until
such time as all his enemies were subdued. For we do hereby gather that the
kingdom of Christ is eternal. But the kingdom of David was not only
temporal, but also frail, and of a small continuance.
Moreover, when David died, he left many enemies alive here and there. he got
many notable victories, but he was far from subduing all his enemies. He
made many of those people which were round about him tributaries to him;
some did he put to flight and destroyed; but what is all this unto all? Finally,
we may prove by the whole text of the Psalm, that there can nothing else be
understood save only the kingdom of Christ. That I may pass over other
things: that which is here spoken touching the eternal priesthood is too far
disagreeing from David's person. I know that the Jews do prattle, that kings'
sons are called elsewhere cohenim. But he intreateth here of the priesthood as
it is ascribed by Moses to the king Melchizedek. And there is established by a
solemn oath a certain new kind of priesthood. And, therefore, we must not
here imagine any common or ordinary thing. But it had been wickedness for
David to thrust himself into any part of the priest's office. How should he then
be called cohen, greater than Aaron, and consecrated of God for ever? But
because I do not intend at this present to expound the whole Psalm, let this
reason suffice which Peter bringeth: That he is made Lord of heaven and earth,

313. which sitteth at the right hand of God. As touching the second member of the
verse, read those things which I have noted upon the fifteenth chapter (1
Corinthians 15:25) of the former Epistle to the Corinthians, concerning the
putting of his enemies under his feet.
COFFMAN, "This quotation from Psalms 110:1 indicated: (1) that the Son of
David would also be the Lord of David (Matthew 22:43ff), and (2) that the
Son of David would sit on the right hand of God, an idiomatic promise of the
ascension into heaven. Peter did not have to prove that David himself had not
ascended to heaven, for his grave was still in Jerusalem. In post-apostolic
times, Jewish commentators have attempted to deny the Davidic authorship of
this Psalm, with a view to softening the argument here; but the Lord Jesus
himself left no doubt whatever of it, naming David as the author (Matthew
22:43).
Having thus established a number of the most important truths regarding
Christianity, especially the power and godhead of Jesus Christ, his
resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, and sitting down upon the
throne of David in heaven, and the fact of Christ's having poured forth the
Holy Spirit in such a divine demonstration as the multitude had witnessed,
Peter then announced his conclusion.
CONSTABLE 34-35, Verse 34-35
Peter then added a second evidence that Jesus was the Christ. He had proved
that David had prophesied Messiah's resurrection (Acts 2:27). Now he said
that David also prophesied Messiah's ascension (Psalms 110:1). This was a
passage from the Old Testament that Jesus had earlier applied to Himself
(Matthew 22:43-44; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-42). It may have been Jesus'
use of this passage that enabled His disciples to grasp the significance of His
resurrection. It may also have served as the key to their understanding of these
prophecies of Messiah in the Old Testament.
David evidently meant that the LORD (Yahweh, God the Father) said the
following to David's Lord (Adonai, Master, evidently a reference to Messiah
or possibly Solomon). David may have composed this psalm on the occasion
of Solomon's coronation as Israel's king. Clearly it is an enthronement psalm.
Yahweh, the true King of Israel, extended the privilege of serving as His
administrator to Messiah (or Solomon), His vice-regent. Yahweh included a
promise that He would subdue His vice-regent's enemies. Peter took this
passage as a prophecy about David's greatest son, Messiah. Yahweh said to
David's Lord, Messiah, sit beside me and rule for me, and I will subdue your
enemies. This is something God the Father said to God the Son. Peter
understood David's reference to his Lord as extending to Messiah, David's
ultimate descendant.
"Peter's statement that Jesus is presently at 'the right hand of God,' in
fulfillment of Psalms 110:1, has been a focal point of disagreement between

314. dispensational and non-dispensational interpreters. Traditional
dispensationalists have understood this as teaching the present session of
Christ in heaven before his return to fulfill the Davidic messianic kingdom
promise of a literal reign on earth. They are careful to distinguish between the
Davidic throne and the position that Christ presently occupies in heaven at the
right hand of God (Acts 2:30). [Note: E.g., Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of
the Kingdom, p. 401.]
"Non-dispensationalists, by contrast, see Peter's statement as a clear indication
that the New Testament has reinterpreted the Davidic messianic prophecies.
The messianic throne has been transferred from Jerusalem to heaven, and
Jesus 'has begun his messianic reign as the Davidic king.'" [Note: Saucy, The
Case . . ., pp. 69-70. His quotation is from George E. Ladd, A Theology of the
New Testament, p. 336. Cf. Oswald T. Allis, Prophecy and the Church, p. 136.
Saucy's discussion of "the right hand of God," pp. 72-74, is helpful.]
"This does not mean that Jesus is at the present time ruling from the throne of
David, but that He is now at 'the right hand of the Father' until His enemies are
vanquished (Acts 2:33-35)." [Note: Cleon L. Rogers Jr., "The Davidic
Covenant in Acts-Revelation," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:601 (January-March
1994):74.]
". . . it is preferable to see David's earthly throne as different from the Lord's
heavenly throne, because of the different contexts of Psalms 110, 132. Psalms
110 refers to the Lord's throne (Acts 2:1) and a Melchizedekian priesthood
(Acts 2:4) but Psalms 132 refers to David's throne (Acts 2:11) and (Aaronic)
priests (Acts 2:9; Acts 2:16)....
"Because the Messiah is the anointed Descendant of David and the Davidic
Heir, He presently possesses the right to reign though He has not yet assumed
David's throne. This was also true of David, who assumed the throne over
Israel years after he was anointed.
"Before Christ will be seated on David's throne (Psalms 110:2), He is seated at
the right hand of God (Acts 2:1). His present session is a position of honor and
power, but the exercise of that power is restricted to what God has chosen to
give the Son. God the Father reigns and has decreed that Christ dispense
blessings from the Holy Spirit to believers in this present age. When Christ
returns to earth to begin His messianic reign on David's throne, He will
conquer His enemies (Psalms 110:2; Psalms 110:5-7). Until then, He is now
seated at God's right hand (Acts 2:1), exercising the decreed role of the
Melchizedekian King-Priest (Acts 2:4), the believer's great High Priest
(Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 4:14-15; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews
7:26; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 10:21)." [Note: Elliott E.
Johnson, "Hermeneutical Principles and the Interpretation of Psalms 110,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 149:596 (October-December 1992):434, 436.]
"Christ's enthronement at the time of His ascension was not to David's throne,

315. but rather was a restoration to the position at His Father's right hand (Hebrews
1:3; Acts 7:56), which position He had given up at the time of the Incarnation
(Philippians 2:6-8). It was for this restoration that Christ had prayed to His
Father in John 17:5. Since Christ had never occupied David's throne before the
Incarnation it would have been impossible to restore Him to what He had not
occupied previously. He was petitioning the Father to restore Him to His place
at the Father's right hand. Peter, in his message, establishes the fact of
resurrection by testifying to the Ascension, for one who had not been
resurrected could not ascend." [Note: Pentecost, pp. 272. Cf. Hodges, "A
Dispensational . . .," pp. 172-78.]
Normative dispensationalists:
Christ's messianic reign will be on earth.
Progressive dispensationalists:
Christ's messianic reign is now from heaven and will be on earth.
Non-dispensational premillenarians:
Christ's messianic reign is now from heaven and will be on earth.
Non-millennarians:
Christ's messianic reign is now and will be from heaven.
35until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet." '[g]
BARNES, "For David is not ascended into the heavens - That is, David has not
risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. This further shows that Psa_16:1-11 could
not refer to David, but must refer to the Messiah. Great as they esteemed David, and
much as they were accustomed to apply these expressions of the Scripture to him, yet
they could not be applicable to him. They must refer to some other being; and especially
that passage which Peter now proceeds to quote. It was of great importance to show that
these expressions could not apply to David, and also that David bore testimony to the
exalted character and dignity of the Messiah. Hence, Peter here adduces David himself
as affirming that the Messiah was to be exalted to a dignity far above his own. This does
not affirm that David was not saved, or that his spirit had not ascended to heaven, but
that he had not been exalted in the heavens in the sense in which Peter was speaking of
the Messiah.
But he saith himself - Psa_110:1.

316. The Lord - The small capitals used in translating the word “Lord” in the Bible denote
that the original word is ‫יהוה‬ Yahweh. The Hebrews regarded this as the unique name of
God, a name incommunicable to any other being. It is not applied to any being but God
in the Scriptures. The Jews had such a reverence for it that they never pronounced it;
but when it occurred in the Scriptures they pronounced another name, ‫אדני‬ ̀ Adonaay.
Here it means, “Yahweh said,” etc.
My Lord - This is a different word in the Hebrew - it is ‫אדני‬ ̀ Adonaay. It properly is
applied by a servant to his master, or a subject to his sovereign, or is used as a title of
respect by an inferior to a superior. It means here, “Yahweh said to him whom I, David,
acknowledge to be my superior and sovereign.” Thus, though he regarded him as his
descendant according to the flesh, yet he regarded him also as his superior and Lord. By
reference to this passage our Saviour confounded the Pharisees, Mat_22:42-46. That the
passage in this Psalm refers to the Messiah is clear. Our Saviour, in Mat_22:42,
expressly applied it thus, and in such a manner as to show that this was the well-
understood doctrine of the Jews. See the notes on Mat_22:42, etc.
CLARKE, "Until I make thy foes thy footstool - It was usual with conquerors to
put their feet on the necks of vanquished leaders, as emblematical of the state of
subjection to which they were reduced, and the total extinction of their power. By
quoting these words, Peter shows the Jews, who continued enemies to Christ, that their
discomfiture and ruin must necessarily take place, their own king and prophet having
predicted this in connection with the other things which had already been so literally
and circumstantially fulfilled. This conclusion had the desired effect, when pressed home
with the strong application in the following verse.
GILL, "Until I make thy foes thy footstool. See Gill on Mat_22:44.
36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God
has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both
Lord and Christ."
BARNES, "Therefore let all ... - “Convinced by the prophecies, by our testimony,
and by the remarkable scenes exhibited on the day of Pentecost, let all be convinced that
the true Messiah has come and has been exalted to heaven.”
House of Israel - The word “house” often means “family”: “let all the family of
Israel, that is, all the nation of the Jews, know this.”
Know assuredly - Be assured, or know without any hesitation or possibility of
mistake. This is the sum of his argument or his discourse. He had established the points

317. which he purposed to prove, and he now applies it to his hearers.
God hath made - God hath appointed or constituted. See Act_5:31.
That same Jesus - The very person who had suffered. He was raised with the same
body, and had the same soul; he was the same being, as distinguished from all others. So
Christians, in the resurrection, will be the same beings that they were before they died.
Whom ye have crucified - See Act_2:23. There was nothing better suited to show
them the guilt of having done this than the argument which Peter used. He showed them
that God had sent him as the Messiah, and that he had showed his love for him in raising
him from the dead. The Son of God, and the hope of their nation, they had put to death.
He was not an impostor, nor a man sowing sedition, nor a blasphemer, but the Messiah
of God; and they had imbrued their hands in his blood. There is nothing better suited to
make sinners fear and tremble than to show them that, in rejecting Christ, they have
rejected God; in refusing to serve him they have refused to serve God. The crime of
sinners has a double malignity, as committed against a kind and lovely Saviour, and
against the God who loved him, and appointed him to save people. Compare Act_3:14-
15.
Both Lord - The word “lord” properly denotes “proprietor, master, or sovereign.”
Here it means clearly that God had exalted him to be the king so long expected; and that
he had given him dominion in the heavens, or, as we should say, made him ruler of all
things. The extent of this dominion may be seen in Joh_17:2; Eph_1:21, etc. In the
exercise of this orifice, he now rules in heaven and on earth, and will yet come to judge
the world. This truth was particularly suited to excite their fear. They had murdered
their sovereign, now shown to be raised from the dead, and entrusted with infinite
power. They had reason, therefore, to fear that he would come forth in vengeance, and
punish them for their crimes. Sinners, in opposing the Saviour, are at war with their
living and mighty sovereign and Lord. He has all power, and it is not safe to contend
against the judge of the living and the dead.
And Christ - Messiah. They had thus crucified the hope of their nation; imbrued
their hands in the blood of him to whom the prophets had looked; and put to death that
Holy One, the prospect of whose coming had sustained the most holy men of the world
in affliction, and cheered them when they looked on to future years. He who was the
hope of their fathers had come, and they had put him to death; and it is no wonder that
the consciousness of this - that a sense of guilt, and shame, and confusion should
overwhelm their minds, and lead them to ask, in deep distress, what they should do.
CLARKE, "Both Lord and Christ - Not only the Messiah, but the supreme
Governor of all things and all persons, Jews and Gentiles, angels and men. In the
preceding discourse, Peter assumes a fact which none would attempt to deny, viz. that
Jesus had been lately crucified by them.
He then,
1. Proves his resurrection.
2. His ascension.
3. His exaltation to the right hand of God.
4. The effusion of the Holy Spirit, which was the fruit of his glorification, and which
had not only been promised by himself, but foretold by their own prophets: in
consequence of which,
5. It was indisputably proved that this same Jesus, whom they had crucified, was the

318. promised Messiah; and if so,
6. The Governor of the universe, from whose power and justice they had every thing
to dread, as they refused to receive his proffered mercy and kindness.
GILL, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,.... "With certain
knowledge", as the Arabic version renders it; with full assurance of it: this is a case that
is plain and clear, a matter of fact that may be depended on; which all the people of
Israel, called "the house of Israel", a phrase frequently used of that people in the Old
Testament, which every individual of that body of men might be assured of:
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Christ; that is, that God the Father had not only constituted and appointed Jesus of
Nazareth to be the Messiah, the Lord of lords, and King of kings, and had invested him
with that office, power, and authority, but he had made him manifest to be so by the
Holy Spirit which he had received, and now poured forth the same, and not another;
even him whom they had rejected with so much contempt; whom they had treated in
such a scornful and brutish manner; had spit upon, buffeted, and scourged, and at last
crucified; and yet, now, even he had all power in heaven, and in earth, given him, and
was exalted above every name; that in his name every knee should bow. The phrase of
"making a Messiah", or "Christ", is used in the Talmudic writings (f),
"The holy blessed God sought to make Hezekiah the Messiah, or Christ, and Sennacherib
Gog and Magog; the property or attribute of justice said before the holy blessed God,
Lord of the world, and what was David, the king of Israel, who said so many songs and
hymns before thee, and thou didst not make him Christ? Hezekiah, for whom thou hast
done all these wonders, and he hath not said a song before thee, wilt thou make him the
Messiah, or Christ? wherefore his mouth was shut up; and the earth opened, and said a
song before him; Lord of the world, I have said a song before thee, for this righteous one,
‫משיח‬ ‫,ועשהו‬ and he made him Messiah, or Christ.
HENRY, " The application of this discourse concerning the death, resurrection, and
ascension of Christ.
[1.] This explains the meaning of the present wonderful effusion of the Spirit in those
extraordinary gifts. Some of the people had asked (Act_2:12), What meaneth this? I will
tell you the meaning of it, says Peter. This Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God,
so some read it, to sit there; exalted by the right hand of God, so we read it, by his power
and authority - it comes all to one; and having received of the Father, to whom he has
ascended, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath given what he received (Psa_68:18),
and hath shed forth this which you now see and hear; for the Holy Ghost was to be
given when Jesus was glorified, and not before, Joh_7:39. You see and hear us speak
with tongues that we never learned; probably there was an observable change in the air
of their countenances, which they saw, as well as heard the change of their voice and
language; now this is from the Holy Ghost, whose coming is an evidence that Jesus is
exalted, and he has received this gift from the Father, to confer it upon the church,
which plainly bespeaks him to be the Mediator, or middle person between God and the
church. The gift of the Holy Ghost was, First, A performance of divine promises already
made; here it is called the promise of the Holy Ghost; many exceedingly great and
precious promises the divine power has given us, but this is the promise, by way of

319. eminency, as that of the Messiah had been, and this is the promise that includes all the
rest; hence God's giving the Holy Spirit to those that ask him (Luk_11:13) is his giving
them all good things, Mat_7:11. Christ received the promise of the Holy Ghost, that is,
the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, and has given it to us; for all the promises are yea
and amen in him. Secondly, It was a pledge of all divine favours further intended; what
you now see and hear is but an earnest of greater things.
[2.] This proves what you are all bound to believe, that Christ Jesus is the true
Messiah and Saviour of the world; this he closes his sermon with, as the conclusion of
the whole matter, the quod erat demonstrandum - the truth to be demonstrated (Act_
2:36): Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that this truth has now
received its full confirmation, and we our full commission to publish it, That God has
made that same Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ. They were
charged to tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ till after his resurrection (Mat_
16:20; Mat_17:9); but now it must be proclaimed on the housetops, to all the house of
Israel; he that hath ears to hear, let him hear it. It is not proposed as probable, but
deposed as certain: Let them know it assuredly, and know that it is their duty to receive
it as a faithful saying, First, That God has glorified him whom they have crucified. This
aggravates their wickedness, that they crucified one whom God designed to glorify, and
put him to death as a deceiver who had given such pregnant proofs of his divine mission;
and it magnifies the wisdom and power of God that though they crucified him, and
thought thereby to have put him under an indelible mark of infamy, yet God had
glorified him, and the indignities they had done him served as a foil to his lustre.
Secondly, That he has glorified him to such a degree as to make him both Lord and
Christ: these signify the same; he is Lord of all, and he is not a usurper, but is Christ,
anointed to be so. He is one Lord to the Gentiles, who had had lords many; and to the
Jews he is Messiah, which includes all his offices. He is the king Messiah, as the Chaldee
paraphrast calls him; or, as the angel to Daniel, Messiah the prince, Dan_9:25. This is
the great truth of the gospel which we are to believe, that that same Jesus, the very same
that was crucified at Jerusalem, is he to whom we owe allegiance, and from whom we
are to expect protection, as Lord and Christ.
JAMISON, "Therefore — that is, to sum up all.
let all the house of Israel — for in this first discourse the appeal is formally made
to the whole house of Israel, as the then existing Kingdom of God.
know assuredly — by indisputable facts, fulfilled predictions, and the seal of the
Holy Ghost set upon all.
that God hath made — for Peter’s object was to show them that, instead of
interfering with the arrangements of the God of Israel, these events were His own high
movements.
this same Jesus, whom ye have crucified — “The sting is at the close” [Bengel].
To prove to them merely that Jesus was the Messiah might have left them all unchanged
in heart. But to convince them that He whom they had crucified had been by the right
hand of God exalted, and constituted the “Lord” whom David in spirit adored, to whom
every knee shall bow, and the Christ of God, was to bring them to “look on Him whom
they had pierced and mourn for Him.”
ELLICOTT, "(36) That same Jesus. . . .—Better, this Jesus.

320. Both Lord and Christ.—Some MSS. omit “both.” The word “Lord” is used with special
reference to the prophetic utterance of the Psalm thus cited. There is a rhetorical force in
the very order of the words which the English can scarcely give: “that both Lord and
Christ hath God made this Jesus whom ye crucified.” The pronoun of the last verb is
emphatic, as pointing the contrast between the way in which the Jews of Jerusalem had
dealt with Jesus and the recognition which he had received from the Father. The
utterance of the word “crucified” at the close, pressing home the guilt of the people on
their consciences, may be thought of as, in a special manner, working the result
described in the next verse.
UNKNOWN,"V. 36 - Let...Israel know - By virtue of the prophecies, the testimonies
and the empirical evidence, the fact was clear: Jesus of Nazareth was Lord and Messiah,
the person the Jews had crucified. (Note John 17:5, 24-26; I Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:20-23;
etc.). Observe also how David痴 "Lord" and Peter痴 "Lord" are declared to be one and
the same, and that "Lord" and "Messiah" were equated, all in reference to Jesus.
Now, as we begin study of 2:38, we must recognize the following: The basics are to be
considered in this text, and 2:42. It must be recognized that good and honest men have
labored long over this whole section and yet have differed over what is therein said. It
will not do, therefore, to argue that the Bible "says" it (whatever), and suppose that
statement will end the discussion. The question to be resolved is: what does the Bible
"say," here or elsewhere? May we then approach the text within that sphere of thought,
and do our best to understand exactly what God did say to us. It may further be added that
even if we, or anyone else, is able to discern the exact import of these verses, that gives
no reason for pride, nor does it mean that practice will be equal to understanding. God
may well save because of faith and despite some/much misunderstanding (with the
resultant disobedience or lack of obedience). Stated differently, grace may be greatened to
some/many as God so desires. Be that as it may, no one is hereby relieved from knowing
and doing as well as possible. Neither are we privileged to offer salvation other than as
God directed.
CALVIN, "36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know. The house of Israel
did confess that that Christ should come which was promised; yet did they not
know Who it was. Therefore, Peter concludeth, that Jesus: whom they had so
spitefully handled, yea, whose name they did so greatly detest: is he whom
they ought to acknowledge to be their Lord, and whom they ought to
reverence. For, (saith he,) God hath made him Lord and Christ; that is, you
must look for none other than him whom God hath made and given.
Furthermore, he saith, That he was made, because God the Father gave him
this honor. He joineth the title Lord with the word Christ, because it was a
common thing among the Jews, that the Redeemer should be anointed upon
this condition, that he might be the Head of the Church, and that the chiefest
power over all things might be given him. He speaketh unto the whole house
of Israel; as if he should say, Whosoever will be reckoned among the sons of
Jacob, and do also look for the promise, let them know for a surety, that this is
he and none other. He useth the word house, because God had separated that

321. name and family from all other people. And he saith asfalwv, or for a surety,
not only that they may repose their sure confidence and trust in Christ, but that
he may take away all occasion of doubting from those which do oftentimes
willingly doubt even of matters which are certain and sure. In the end of his
oration he upbraideth unto them again, that they did crucify him, that being
touched with greater grief of conscience, they may desire remedy.
And now, forasmuch as they know that Jesus is the Anointed of the Lord, the
governor of the Church, and the giver of the Holy Ghost, the accusation hath
so much the more force. For the putting of him to death was not only full of
cruelty and wickedness, but also a testimony of outrageous disloyalty against
God, of sacrilege and unthankfulness, and, finally, of apostasy. But it was
requisite that they should be so wounded, lest they should have been slow to
seek for medicine. And yet, notwithstanding, they did not crucify him with
their own hands; but this is more than sufficient to make them guilty, in that
they desired to have him put to death. And we also are accused by this same
voice, if we crucify him in ourselves, being already glorified in heaven,
making a mock of him, as saith the Apostle, (Hebrews 6:6.)
COFFMAN, "All the house of Israel ... There seems to be good reason to
understand these words as being addressed not to the dwellers in all those
countries mentioned by Luke (Acts 2:8-12), but to the Jews of the Holy City
itself, there being no evidence that the Diaspora had taken any hand in the
rejection of Christ. This justifies the conclusion that the "speaking" of all the
Twelve in languages they had never learned, earlier that morning, was not in
any sense a preview of this sermon. This sermon was the first of the gospel
age, quite properly delivered "to the Jew first" as God had ordained; and,
therefore, it may be concluded, that those earlier "speakings" were concerned
with gathering an audience for Peter's message, the same purpose being
evident in the rushing sound and other divine manifestations of that hour.
CONSTABLE, "Peter wanted every Israelite to consider the evidence he had
just presented because it proved "for certain" that Jesus of Nazareth (cf. Acts
2:22) was God's sovereign ruler (Lord) and anointed Messiah (Christ). It is
clear from the context that by "Lord" Peter was speaking of Jesus as the
Father's co-regent. He referred to the same "Lord" he had mentioned in Acts
2:21.
"This title of 'Lord' was a more important title than Messiah, for it pictured
Jesus' total authority and His ability and right to serve as an equal with God
the Father." [Note: Bock, "A Theology . . .," p. 104. See Witherington's
excursus on Luke's Christology, pp. 147-53.]
Normative dispensationalists (both classical and revised, to use Blaising's
labels) hold that Peter only meant that Jesus of Nazareth was the Davidic
Messiah. Progressive dispensationalists, along with covenant theologians (i.e.,

322. non-dispensationalists), believe that Peter meant that Jesus not only was the
Davidic Messiah but that He was also reigning as the Davidic Messiah then.
Thus the Davidic messianic kingdom had begun. Its present (already) phase is
with Jesus on the Davidic throne ruling from heaven, and its future (not yet)
phase will be when Jesus returns to earth to rule on earth.
Progressive dispensationalists (and covenant theologians) also believe that
Jesus' reign as Messiah began during his earthly ministry. [Note: Blaising,
Progressive Dispensationalism, p. 248.] They see the church as the present
stage in the progressive unfolding of the messianic kingdom (hence the name
"progressive dispensationalism"). [Note: Ibid., p. 49.] Normative
dispensationalists interpret the Davidic kingdom as entirely earthly and say
that Jesus has not yet begun His messianic reign. He now sits on the Father's
throne in heaven ruling sovereignly, not on David's throne fulfilling Old
Testament prophecies concerning the Davidic king's future reign (cf.
Revelation 3:21).
Peter again mentioned his hearers' responsibility for crucifying Jesus to
convict them of their sin and to make them feel guilty (cf. Acts 2:23). [Note:
See Darrell L. Bock, "Jesus as Lord in Acts and in the Gospel Message,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 143:570 (April-June 1986):147-48.]
"Peter did not present the cross as the place where the Sinless Substitute died
for the world, but where Israel killed her own Messiah!" [Note: Wiersbe,
1:410.]
"Peter's preaching, then, in Acts 2:14 ff. must be seen as essentially a message
to the Jews of the world, not to the whole world." [Note: Witherington, pp.
140-41.]
"The beginning and ending of the main body of the speech emphasize the
function of disclosure. Peter begins, 'Let this be known to you,' and concludes,
'Therefore, let the whole house of Israel know assuredly ...,' forming an
inclusion (Acts 2:14; Acts 2:36). In the context this is a new disclosure, for it
is the first public proclamation of Jesus' resurrection and its significance. Acts
2:22-36 is a compact, carefully constructed argument leading to the conclusion
in Acts 2:36 : 'God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you
crucified.' Peter not only proclaims Jesus' authority but also reveals the
intolerable situation of the audience, who share responsibility for Jesus'
crucifixion. The Pentecost speech is part of a recognition scene, where, in the
manner of tragedy, persons who have acted blindly against their own best

323. interests suddenly recognize their error." [Note: Tannehill, 2:35.]
"The Pentecost speech is primarily the disclosure to its audience of God's
surprising reversal of their intentions, for their rejection has ironically resulted
in Jesus' exaltation as Messiah, Spirit-giver, and source of repentance and
forgiveness." [Note: Ibid., 2:37.]
God bestowed His Spirit on the believers on Pentecost (and subsequently) for
the same reason He poured out His Spirit on Jesus Christ when He began His
earthly ministry. He did so to empower them to proclaim the gospel of God's
grace (cf. Acts 1:8). Luke recorded both outpourings (Luke 3:21-22; Acts 2:2-
4; cf. Acts 4:27; Acts 10:28). This fact is further evidence that Luke wanted
his readers to view their own ministries as the extension of Jesus' ministry
(Acts 1:1-2).
"Luke's specific emphasis (and contribution) to NT pneumatology is that the
Holy Spirit was poured out on the church not just to incorporate each believer
into the body of Christ or provide the greater new covenant intimacy with him,
but also to consecrate the church to the task of worldwide prophetic ministry
as defined in Luke 4:16-30." [Note: Russell, p. 63.]
Peter mentioned that Jesus was now at the right hand of God in