Acts 1

— his brethren.] Or kinsmen. See the note at Matt. xiii. 56.

— Lord, which knowest the hearts &c.] That the prayer is addressed on this occasion to the Lord Jesus, we may humbly conclude for the following reasons: 1st, Because He was “the Lord” specified immediately before this invocation, in St. Peter’s discourse, ver. 21. 2d, In the election of presbyters afterwards in the several churches, “after prayer and fasting,” the Apostles commended them to “the Lord on whom they believed,” chap. xiv. 23: but that Lord was unquestionably Christ. 3d. Our Lord Himself expressly and formally assumed the title here given Him, “And all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts,” Rev. ii. 23. From this instance then we are fully warranted in addressing prayer and enpplication to Christ, jointly with the Father. Dr. Hales.

Acts 1:5

5. — ye shall be baptized &c.] Ye shall be consecrated to My service by the plentiful shedding of the Holy Ghost upon you. Pyle. “Not many days hence:” there was an interval of ten days between our Lord’s ascension and the day of Pentecost. Beausole.

Acts 1:6

6. When they therefore were come together,] At Bethany. See Luke xxiv. 50.

— Lord, wilt thou at this time &c.] As Jesus had proved Himself to be the Messiah by His resurrection, they expected that His kingdom (which they considered as a temporal one) would immediately appear in all its grandeur; the consequence of which they thought must be the restoring the Jews to their former prosperous and independent state. Bp. Mann. This notion of a temporal kingdom of the Messiah was, and is to this day, the great delusion of the Jewish nation. Dr. Lightfoot.

Acts 1:7

7. 8. — It is not for you to know &c.] There are indeed, He tells them, great things spoken by the Prophets concerning the restoration and flourishing state of the Jewish church, under the Messiah, (Dan. vii. 13, 14,) but the particular time and manner in which God will please to accomplish these things, is one of those secrets which He has reserved to Himself, Deut. xxix. 29. In the mean time, the Holy Ghost, which I have so often promised, shall endow you with such power that you shall give miraculous evidences of the truth of My religion, not only to this city and the Jewish land, but even to very far and distant parts of the Gentile world. Pyle.

Acts 1:8

8. — in Jerusalem, and in all &c.] The order in which the Apostles preached the Gospel is here marked out: 1st, in Jerusalem; 2d, in Judea; 3rd, in Samaria; 4th, to the Gentiles.

Acts 1:10

10. — two men] Two angels in the form of men. Dean Stanhope.

Acts 1:11

11. — why stand ye gazing up into heaven?] The Apostles, we may suppose, were only occupied with the splendour of this event. From such a state of mind

the angels direct them, and call off their attention to a point which deserved it better, and concerned them more nearly. It is as if they had said, Suspend your admiration of this glorious spectacle, suppress all fond and useless speculations about the causes of this event, and learn from us the proper uses of it. Ye have seen your Master thus visibly carried up to heaven, by what means ye need not know, and may well forbear to enquire; but this intelligence receive from us, (and it much imports you to be made acquainted with it,) this same Jesus, who is thus gone up from you for a time into heaven, will come again with the same, or even additional glory, to judge the world in righteousness, to see what improvements ye have made of all that He hath done and suffered for you, and to fix your final doom according to your respective deserts or miscarriages. Think well on this instruction, which so naturally results from all He said while He was with you on earth, and from what has now passed before your eyes: drop all your other enquiries, and resolve them into this, which above all deserves your best attention, how ye may prepare yourselves for that day, when He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. The disciples were looking up into heaven, when they ought to have been considering how to follow their Redeemer thither. Is not our folly the same, or rather is it not more inexcusable, when, gazing with our weak reason on celestial objects, we neglect the ends for which a glimpse of them is afforded us? For there is not an article of our Creed which may not make us better, if not wiser; and obedience, that is, faith working by love, whatever some may think of it, is of another value in the sight of God, and of higher concern, than all knowledge. Bp. Hurd.

— shall so come in like manner &c.] Shall one day come to judge the world in the same glorious manner in which He has now ascended into heaven. Dr. Hammond.

12. — a sabbath day’s journey. About 2000 cubits, or half a mile. Beausole.

Acts 1:14

14. — Mary the mother of Jesus,] This is the last Y Peter exhorteth to fill up the place of the traitor Judas: Anno DOMINI 23.

Acts 1:15

15. — about an hundred and twenty,.] These were probably a small association of believers, met together, not merely as believers in Christ, but as personally connected with the Apostles, and with one another. Archdeacon Paley.

This is not to be accounted the whole number of believers at Jerusalem at this time, who, no doubt, consisted of many hundreds or thousands. Dr. Lightfoot.

Acts 1:16

16. — this scripture must needs have been fulfilled.] See the marginal reference. As this prophecy came from the Spirit of God, it was of necessity to have a completion, and accordingly was now punctually fulfilled in Judas, of whom the Holy Ghost foretold it. Dr. Hammond.

Acts 1:18

18. Now this man purchased a field] St. Matthew tells us, (chap. xxvii. 7,) that the chief priests bought the field with the money which Judas threw down in the midst of them. It is common in Scripture to consider a person as himself doing that of which he has been the occasion. Beausobre. St. Peter here shews the fruit and effect of his wretched covetousness; and how he that thought to enlarge his possessions by such horrid means, fell into the exact contrary, his revenues purchasing land for others, his habitation being desolate, and himself coming to so sad an end. Dr. Lightfoot.

— and falling headlong, he burst asunder &c.] St. Matthew (chap. xxvii. 5.) relates that Judas “hanged himself.” It seems from the account here given, that he fell from the place on which he had hanged himself, so that his body burst and his bowels came out. Abp. Newcome, Bp. Pearce.

Acts 1:19

19. — Aceldama, that is to say, the field of blood.] This interpretation of the word Aceldama seems to be an addition made by the historian to the words of St. Peter, as being necessary to explain them to a Greek reader. Biscoe.

The field was so called because it was purchased by the price of blood. Dr. Lightfoot.

Acts 1:20

20. — his bishoprick] That is, his office, called his ministry and apostleship in ver. 17, 25.

Acts 1:21

21. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us.] Let us consider how completely different the conduct of the Apostles on this occasion was from that which deceivers would have adopted. If a monopoly of power or influence was designed, would the men who possessed this monopoly propose or consent, without any apparent necessity, to admit an obscure individual to the same rank amongst the new converts which they themselves enjoyed? Certainly not. Again, let us consider the qualifications required in the person to be elected, and judge whether they are such as enthusiasts would naturally have selected. Did they look for an individual among the converts, who was most distinguished for warm zeal, spiritual ecstasies, or extravagant austerity? Far otherwise; no such ideas seem to have once entered into the imagination of the proposer. He looked for those qualities which would give to the new Apostle’s testimony the greatest weight in the judgment of sober reason, but which enthusiasm would have neglected or despised: he sought for a person who must have had full opportunity of examining all the facts which it was necessary he should attest. Dr. Graves.

Acts 1:23

23. — Joseph called Barsabas,] Probably he who is called Joses, (Mark vi. 3; xv. 40,) the brother of St. James the Less; the rather to be so supposed because he is surnamed Justus, as St. James was. Dr. Lightfoot.

Acts 1:24

24. And they prayed, and said, &c.] The manner of the election, while it displays a deep and heartfelt piety, with a firm confidence that the religion they taught was under the immediate protection of that Divine power which had already borne witness of it by the most stupendous miracles, yet was sober and regular as it was pious and sincere. The calm and decorous manner too in which the apostate Judas is mentioned in this prayer, seems as inconsistent with the violence of enthusiasm, as the qualification sought for in the new Apostle and the mode of his selection: all these circumstances bespeak truth and piety; all are inconsistent with deception or fanaticism. Dr. Graves.

From this example of the congregation of Christians making a solemn address to God that He would con-

Matthias is chosen by lot. The gift of the Holy Ghost. Anno DOMINI 23.

Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

Acts 1:25

25.—that he might go to his own place.] The meaning is, that the consequence of his conduct was, that he went to the place of destruction fit for him. “To his own place,” a place more fit for him than the Apostleship. Pyle, Abp. Newcome.

Acts 1:26

26. And they gave forth their lots;] The deciding of contingent things by lots was a practice instituted by God’s own command. See Numbers xxvi. 55; Josh. xiii. 2, 6; Judges xx. 9; 1 Chron. xxiv. 5; Luke i. 9. Hence, as a matter universally acknowledged among persons conversant in the religion and customs of the Jews, it appears that the putting the choice of an Apostle on this issue was a very solemn way of referring the decision to God Himself; which is yet further proved by their solemn invocation of Him on this important occasion. Dean Stanhope.

— and the lot fell upon Matthias;] Matthias had been a continual attendant on our Saviour all the time of His ministry, from His being baptised by St. John till His assumption into heaven, which is intimated by

some, and derided by others. 14 Whom Peter disproving, and shewing that the apostles spoke 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, a man known to them to be approved of God by his miracles, wonders, and signs, and not crucified without his determinate counsel and foreknowledge: 37 he baptizeth a great number that were converted. 41 Who afterwards devoutly and charitably converse together: the apostles working many miracles, and God daily increasing his church.

Anno DOMINI 23.

AND when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

St. Peter, ver. 21. He was probably one of the seventy disciples, and had been a witness of our Saviour’s resurrection, and of the most considerable passages of His life; so that He was fit to proclaim abroad those matters of fact concerning His Master, of which he had been a witness equally with the rest of the Apostles. St. Matthias continued at Jerusalem till the powers of the Holy Ghost were conferred on the Apostles to enable them to discharge their difficult employment; and then he is thought to have made the first fruits of his ministry in Judea with great success. It is supposed that he afterwards travelled into parts of the East, where he was treated with great inhumanity by the barbarous people; and, after many labours and sufferings in converting great numbers to Christianity, he at last obtained the crown of martyrdom. Nelson.

Chap. II. ver. 1.—when the day of Pentecost] Respecting the day of Pentecost see note at Levit. xxiii. 15. We should observe that this was the first day of the week, on which the Apostles were thus assembled, since it was on the first day of the week that our Lord rose from the dead, and the fiftieth day inclusive from that was also of necessity the first day. Hence we learn, what reason (independently of the direction of the Holy Spirit) the Apostles then and the Church ever since had, to make this the day of solemn worship, or rather to conclude that God had made it so to Christians; when His wise providence so ordered matters that the old Jewish sabbath, the seventh day, should be passed over, and this first made choice of, to be honoured with two such glorious miracles, as the resurrection of our blessed Lord from the dead, and the coming of the Holy Ghost from heaven; the one to justify, the other to enlighten and sanctify; the former to finish and prove, the latter to proclaim and qualify us for salvation. Dean Stanhope. See further note at chap. xx. 7.

— they were all] That is, all the twelve Apostles, Abp. Tillotson. Or rather, perhaps, many, if not all, of the 120, chap. i. 15; for divers of them were appointed by Christ to be ministers of the Gospel, Luke x.; and had been favoured with the power of miracles, ver. 17; had received the Holy Ghost on the day of the resurrection, John xx. 22, compared with Luke xxiv. 33, 36; had conversed with Christ before and after His resurrection, and had received the promise of the Father, as well as the Apostles. Dr. Lightfoot.

— in one place.] There is no certainty as to the place; but it is probable they were assembled in the temple, because it was then the third hour of the day, ver. 15, which was the Jewish hour of morning prayer in the temple, as the ninth hour was that of evening prayer there, chap. iii. 1; and because it is said that the

Y 2

The apostles, filled with the Holy Ghost, THE ACTS. and speaking divers languages, are

Anno DOMINI 24.