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Observations on the

THE ACTS.

foreknowledge of God.

So without least impulse or shadow of fate,
Or aught by me immutably foreseen,
They trespass, authors to themselves in all
Both what they judge, and what they choose, for so
I formed them free, and free they must remain
Till they enthral themselves: I else must change
Their nature, and revoke the high decree
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordained

Their freedom; they themselves ordained their fall.
Ibid. b. iii. 1. 98. 103. 120.

absolutely certain, having nothing contingent in them, then he has ordained them to be so: and if no contingency, then no free agency, and God alone is the sole actor. Hence, the blasphemous, though, from the premises, fair conclusion, that God is the author of all the evil and sin that are in the world; and hence follows that absurdity, that as God can do nothing that is wrong, WHATEVER IS, is RIGHT. Sin is no more sin; a vicious human action is no crime, if God have decreed it, and by his foreknowledge and will impelled the creature to act it. On this ground there can be no punishment for delinquencies; for if every thing be done as God has predetermined, and his determinations must necessarily I shall conclude these observations with a short extract be all right, then neither the instrument nor the agent has from Mr. Bird's Conferences, where in answer to the obdone wrong. Thus all vice and virtue, praise and blame,jection, " If many things fall out contingently, or as it were, merit and demerit, guilt and innocence, are at once confounded; and all distinctions of this kind confounded with them. Now, allowing the doctrine of the contingency of human actions, (and it must be allowed in order to shun the above absurdities and blasphemies) then we see every intelligent creature accountable for its own works, and for the use it makes of the power with which God has endued it: and to grant all this consistently, we must also grant, that God foresees nothing as absolutely and inevitably certain, which he has made contingent; and because he has designed it to be contingent, therefore he cannot know it as absolutely and inevitably certain. I conclude that God, although omniscient, is not obliged, in consequence of this, to know all that he can know; no more than he is obliged, because he is omnipotent, to do all that he can do.

How many, by confounding the self and free agency of God with a sort of continual impulsive necessity, have raised that necessity into an all-commanding and over-ruling energy, to which God himself is made subject. Very properly did Milton set his damned spirits about such work as this, and has made it a part of their endless punishment.

Others apart sat on a hill retired,

In thoughts more elevate; and reason'd high
Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate:
Fix'd fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute,
And found no end in wand'ring mazes lost.
PARAD. LOST. b. ii. l. 557.

Among some exceptionable expressions, the following are
also good thoughts on the free agency and fall of man:
I made him just and right,

Sufficient to have stood, though free to full.
Not free, what proof could they have giv'n sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith or love.
When only what they needs must do appear'd,

Not what they would? What praise could they receive?
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil'd,
Made passive both, had served NECESSITY,
Not ME.

by accident, God's foreknowledge of them can be but contin-
gent, dependent on man's free-will;" he answers: "It is one
thing to know that a thing will be done necessarily; and another,
to know necessarily, that a thing will be done. God doth ne
cessarily foreknow all that will be done; but he doth not
know, that those things which shall be done voluntarily,
will be done necessarily: he knoweth that they will be done;
but he knoweth withal, that they might have fallen out other
wise, for ought he had ordered to the contrary. So likewise,
God knew that Adam would fall; and yet he knew that he
would not fall necessarily for it was possible for him not to
have fallen. And as touching God's pre-ordination going be-
fore his prescience, as the cause of all events: this would be,
to make God the author of all the sin in the world; his
knowledge comprehending that, as well as other things. God
indeed, foreknoweth all things, because they will be done;
but things are not (therefore) done, because he foreknoweth
them. It is impossible that any man, by his voluntary man-,
ner of working, should elude God's foresight; but then, this
foresight doth not necessitate the will; for this were, to take
it wholly away. For, as the knowledge of things present,
imports no necessity on that which is done; so, the fore-
knowledge of things future, lays no necessity on that which
shall be because, whosoever knows and sees things, he
knows and sees them as they are, and not as they are not:
so that God's knowledge doth not confound things, but reaches
to all events, not only which come to pass, but as they come
to pass, whether contingently or necessarily, As for exam-
ple: when you see a man walking upon the earth, and at the
very same instant the sun shining in the heavens; do you not
see the first as voluntary, and the second as natural? And
though at the instant you see both done, there is a necessity
that they be done, (or else you could not see them at all);
yet there was a necessity of one only, before they were done,
(namely, the sun's shining in the heavens), but none at all
of the other, (viz. the man's walking upon the earth.) The
sun could not but shine, as being a natural agent;
the man
might not have walked, as being a voluntary one." This is
a good argument; but I prefer that which states the know-
ledge of God to be absolutely free..

1

The lame man at the

CHAP. III.

Beautiful gate of the temple.

CHAPTER III.

Peter and John go to the temple at the hour of prayer, and heal a man who had been lame from his mother's womb, 1-8. The people are astonished, and the apostles inform them that it was not by their own power they had healed the man, but through the power of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, 9—16. Peter both excuses and reproves them, and exhorts them to repentance, 17-21. Shews that in Jesus Christ the prophecy of Moses was fulfilled; and that all the prophets testified of Jesus and his salvation, 22-24; and that in him, the covenant made with Abraham is fulfilled; and that Christ came to bless them by turning them away from their iniquities, 25, 26.

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NOTES ON CHAP. III. Verse 1. Peter and John went up together] The words IT TO AUTO, which we translate together, and which are the first words in this chapter in the Greek text, we have already seen, chap. ii. 47. are added by several MSS. and Versions to the last verse of the preceding chapter. But they do not make so good a sense there, as they do here; and should be translated, not together, which really makes no sense here, but at that time; intimating that this transaction occurred nearly about the same time that those took place, which are mentioned at the close of the former chapter.

At the hour of prayer] This, as is immediately added, was the ninth hour, which answers, in a general way, to our three o'clock in the afternoon. The third hour, which was the other grand time of public prayer among the Jews, answered, in a general way, to our nine in the morning. See the note on chap. ii. ver. 15.

It appears that there were three hours of the day destined by the Jews to public prayer: perhaps they are referred to by David, Ps. Iv. 17. EVENING and MORNING and at NOON will I pray and cry aloud. There are three distinct times marked in the book of the Acts. The THIRD hour, chap. ii. 15. answering, as we have already seen, to nearly our nine o'clock in the morning; the SIXTH hour, chap. x. 9. answering to about twelve with us; and the NINTII hour, mentioned in this verse, and answering to our three in the afternoon. The Rabbins believed that Abraham instituted the time of morning prayer; Isaac that at noon; and Jacob, that of the evening for which they quote several scriptures, which have little reference to the subject in behalf of which they are produced. Others of the Rabbins, particularly Tanchum, made

a more natural division. Men should pray, 1. When the sun rises; 2. when the sun has gained the meridian; 3. when the sun has set, or passed just under the horizon. At each of these three times they required men to offer prayer to God; and I should be glad to know that every Christian in the universe observed the same rule: it is the most natural division of the day; and he who conscientiously observes these three stated times of prayer, will infallibly grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Verse 2. A-man lume from his mother's zomb] The case of this man must have been well known, 1. from the long standing of his infirmity; 2. from his being daily exposed in a place so public. It appears that he had no power to walk, and was what we term a cripple, for he was carried to the gate of the temple, and laid there in order to excite compassion. These circumstances are all marked by St. Luke, the more fully to shew the greatness and incontestible nature of the miracle.

The gate-which is called Beautiful] There are different opinions concerning this gate. Josephus observes, Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. v. sect. 3. that the temple had nine gates, which were on every side covered with gold and silver; but there was one gate, which was without the holy house, and was of Corinthian brass, and greatly excelled those which were only. covered with gold and silver : πολύ τη τιμη τας καταργύρους και περίχρυσους υπεραγουσα. The magnitudes of the other gates were equal one to another; but that over the Corinthian gate, which opened on the Fast, over against the gate of the holy house itself, was much larger: πεντήκοντα γαρ πήχων ουσα την αναστασιν, τεσσαράκοντα πήχεις τας θύρας είχε, και τον κοσμον πολυτελέστερον, επί δαψιλες πάχος από

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4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon and entered with them into the tem- A. M. 4033. ple, walking, and leaping, and prais

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5 And he gave heed unto them, pecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: a In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

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7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ancle-bones received strength; 8 And he

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9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

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10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

11 And as the lame man which was healed held

leaping up, stood, and walked, Peter and John, all the people ran together unto

Ch. 4. 10.- Isai. 35. 6.

yupou тE xaι Xpurov for its height was fifty cubits, and its doors were forty cubits, and it was adorned after a most costly manner, as having much richer and thicker plates of silver and gold upon them than upon the other. This last was probably the gate which is here called Beautiful; because it was on the outside of the temple, to which there was an easy access, and because it was evidently the most costly, according to the account in Josephus; but it must be granted that the text of Josephus is by no means clear.

Verse 4. Look on us] He wished to excite and engage his attention that he might see what was done to produce his miraculous cure; and it is likely, took this occasion to direct his faith to Jesus Christ. See note on verse 16. Peter and John probably felt themselves suddenly drawn by the Holy Spirit, to pronounce the healing name in behalf of this

poor man.

Verse 5. Expecting to receive something of them.] Because it was a constant custom for all who entered the temple to carry money with them to give to the treasury, or to the poor, or to both. It was on this ground that the friends of the lame man laid him at the gate of the temple, as this was the most likely place to receive alms.

Verse 6. Silver and gold have I none] Though it was customary for all those who entered the temple to carry some money with them, for the purposes mentioned above, yet so poor were the apostles, that they had nothing to give, either to the sacred treasury, or to the distressed. The Popish writers are very dextrous at forming analogies between St. Peter and the Pope; but it is worthy of note, that they have not attempted any here. Even the judicious and generally liberal Calmet, passes by this important saying of the person whom he believed to have been the first Pope. Thomas Aquinas, surnamed the angelical Doctor, who was highly esteemed by Pope Innocent IV. going one day into the Pope's chamber, where they were reckoning large sums of money, the Pope, addressing himself to Aquinas, said: "You see that the church is no longer in an age in which she can say,

• Ch. 4. 16, 21. Like John 8.

?"

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Silver and gold have I none "It is true, holy Father," replied the angelical Doctor, nor can she now say to the lame man, Rise up and walk!" This was a faithful testimony, and must have cut deep for the moment. One thing is very remarkable, that though the saints of this church can work no miracles while alive, they work many when dead; and it is the attestation of those post mortem miracles, that leads to their canonization. Thomas a Becket, who did no good while he lived, is reported to have done much after his death. Many have visited his tomb, and in days of yore, many were said to be healed of whatsoever disease they had. The age is more enlightened, and the tomb of this reputed saint has lost all its power.

Verse 7. Immediately his feet and ancle-bones received strength.] The suddenness of the cure was the proof of the miracle his walking and leaping were the evidences of it.

Verse 8. Walking, and leaping, and praising God.] These actions are very naturally described. He walked, in obedience to the command of the apostle, rise up and walk he leaped, to try the strength of his limbs, and to be convinced of the reality of the cure: he praised God, as a testimony of the gratitude he felt for the cure he had received. Now was fulfilled, in the most literal manner, the words of the prophet Isa. chap. xxxv. 6. The lame man shall leap as a hart.

Verse 9. And all the people saw him] The miracle was wrought in the most public manner, and in the most public place; and in a place, where the best judgment could be formed of it: for as it was a divine operation, the priests, &c. were the most proper persons to judge of it; and under their notice it was now wrought.

Verse 11. Held Peter and John] He felt the strongest affection for them, as the instruments by which the divine influence was conveyed to his diseased body.

In the porch that is called Solomon's] On this portico, see Bp. Pearce's note, inserted in this work, John x. 23. Verse 12. As though by our own power] Avvaμɛi, miraculous energy;

The people wonder at the miracle;

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A. M. 4033. them in the porch that is called So- denied him in the presence of Pilate, An. Olymp. lomon's, greatly wondering. when he was determined to let him go. 14 But ye denied 'the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

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John 10. 23. ch. 5. 12. ch. 5. 30.- John 7. 39. & 12. 16. & 17. 1. Matt. 27. 2. Matt. 27. 20. Mark 15. 11. Luke 23. 18, 20, 21. John 18. 40. & 19. 15. ch. 13. 28.

f Ps. 16. 10. Mark 1. 24. Luke 1. 35. ch. 2. 27. & 4. 27. ch. 7. 52. & 22. 14. Or, author, Hebr. 2. 10. & 5. 9. 1 John 5. 11.ch. 2. 24. ch. 2. 32. Matt. 9. 22. ch. 4. 10. & 14. 9.

Or holiness] &, EUTECɛia, meaning religious attachment to the worship of God. Do not think that we have wrought this miracle by any power of our own; or that any super-eminent piety in us should have induced God thus to honour us, by enabling us to work it. Instead of vrecia holiness, the Syriac of Erpen, Armenian, Vulgate, and some copies of the Itala, have souria, power or authority; but the first, appears to be the legitimate reading.

Verse 13. The God of Abraham, &c.] This was wisely. introduced, to shew them that HE whom they called their God, had acknowledged Jesus Christ for his Son, and wrought this miracle in his name; and by thus honouring Jesus whom they slew, he had charged home the guilt of that murder upon them..

prime leader or author, a captain, from ap the beginning, head, or chief; and ayw I lead. In Heb. ii. 10. Christ is called Axos ons ownpias, the Captain of salvation. He teaches the doctrine of life and salvation, leads the way in which men should walk, and has purchased the eternal life and glory which are to be enjoyed at the end of the way. So the Jews preferred a son of death, a destroyer of life, to the Author and Procurer of life and immortality!

Whereof we are witnesses.] They had now wrought a most striking miracle in the name of Christ, and immediately proposed themselves as witnesses of his resurrection from the dead; the miracle which they had thus wrought being an unimpeachable proof of this resurrection.

Verse 16. And his name] JESUS, the Saviour: through Denied him in the presence of Pilate] Hornoaobe, ye have faith in his name, as the Saviour, and author of life, and all renounced him as your king, and denounced him to death its concomitant blessings, such as health, &c. It is not clear as a malefactor, when Pilate, convinced of his perfect inno-whether the apostles refer to their own faith in Jesus, or to cence, was determined, xvavros judged it proper and just the faith of the lame man. It is true Christ had promised to let him go. Pilate wished to act according to justice; that they should perform miracles in his name, Mark xvi. you acted contrary to justice and equity in all their forms. 17, 18. And that whatsoever they asked of the Father in Verse 14. Ye denied the HOLY ONE] Toy ayov, a ma- his name, he would grant it, John xvi. 23. And they might nifest reference to Psal. xvi. 10. Thou wilt not suffer thy have been led at this time to make request unto God, to HOLY ONE to see corruption, where the original word be enabled to work this miracle; and the faith they had in Ton Chasideyca, thy HOLY ONE, is translated by the Sep- his unlimited power and unchangeable truth might have intuagint To Ocio cou, a word of the same import with that duced them to make this request. Or, the faith might have used by Peter. been that of the lame man; the apostles, in the time they desired him to look on them, might have taught him the necessity of believing in Christ in order to his healing; and the man's mind might have been prepared for this by the miracle of the gift of tongues, of which he must have heard; and heard that this mighty effusion of the Spirit had come in the name and through the power of Christ. However the faith may be understood, it was only the means to receive the blessing, which the apostles most positively attri bute, not to their power or holiness, but to Jesus Christ alone. Faith always receives; never gives.

And desired a murderer] Barabbas: the case must have been fresh in their own remembrance. Like cleaves to like, and begets its like: they were murderers themselves, and so Christ calls them, Matt. xxii. 7. and they preferred a murderer to the Holy and Righteous ONE of God.

Verse 15. And killed the Prince of life] Tov apxyor TS Cwns, the author of this life: not only implying that all life proceeds from Jesus Christ as its source; but that the life-giving influence of that religion which they were now proclaiming, came all through him. Apxyos signifies a

Peter exhorts them to repent,

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from the presence of the Lord;

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Verse 17. I wot] Oda I know. Wot is from the AngloSaxon, pitan to know; and hence wit, science or understanding.

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Numb. v. 23. Their sins were written down against them, and cried aloud for punishment; for they themselves had said, his blood be upon us, and upon our children, Matt. xxvi. 25. and unless they took refuge in this sacrificial blood, and got their sins blotted out by it, they could not be saved. When the times of refreshing shall come] Dr. Lightfoot contends, and so ought all, that oras av extwos xaipos ava

Through ignorance ye did it] This is a very tender excuse for them; and one which seems to be necessary, in order to shew them that their state was not utterly desperate: for if all that they did to Christ had been through absolute malice, (they well knowing who he was) if any sin could be supposed to be unpardonable, it must have been theirs. Peter, foreseeing that they might be tempted thus to think, and consequently to despair of salvation, tells them that their offence was extenuated by their ignorance of the person they had tormented and crucified. And one must suppose, that had they been fully convinced that this Jesus was the only Messiah, they never would have crucified him; but they did not permit themselves to receive conviction on the subject. Verse 18. But those things he hath so fulfilled.] Your || and communion with himself. See on ver. 21. ignorance and malice have been overruled by the sovereign wisdom and power of God, and have become the instruments of fulfilling the divine purpose, that Christ must suffer, in order to make an atonement for the sin of the world. All the prophets had declared this; some of them in express terms, others indirectly and by symbols; but as the whole Mosaic dispensation referred to Christ, all that prophesied or ministered under it, must have referred to him also.

sws, should be translated, THAT the times of refreshing MAY come. Avautis signifies a breathing time, or respite, and may be here applied to the space that elapsed from this time till the destruction of Jersusalem by the Romans. This was a time of respite, which God gave them to repent of their sins, and be converted to himself. Taking the word in the sense of refreshment in general, it may mean the whole reign of the kingdom of grace, and the blessings which God gives here below to all genuine believers, peace, love, joy,

Verse 20. Which before was preached unto you] Instead of poxsxnpuyμεvov before preached, ABCDE, 53 others, both the Syriac, all the Arabic, the Armenian, Chrysostom, and others, have ponɛɛipiouevor, who was before designed, or appointed; and this is without doubt the true reading. Christ crucified was the person whom God had from the beginning appointed or designed for the Jewish people. It was not a triumphant Messiah which they were to expect; but one who was to suffer and die. Jesus was this person; and by believing in him as thus suffering and dying for their sins, he should be again sent, in the power of his Spirit, to justify and save them.

Verse 19. Repent ye therefore] Now that ye are convinced that this was the Messiah, let your minds be changed, and your hearts become contrite for the sins you have committed. And be converted] Emiorefare; turn to God through this Christ, deeply deploring your transgressions, and believing Verse 21. Whom the heaven must receive] He has alon his name: that your sins may be blotted out, which are ready appeared upon earth, and accomplished the end of his not only recorded against you, but for which you are con-appearing: he has ascended unto heaven, to administer the demned by the justice of God; and the punishment due to concerns of his kingdom, and there he shall continue till he them must be executed upon you, unless prevented by your comes again to judge the quick and the dead. repentance, and turning to him whom ye have pierced. The blotting out of sins may refer to the ceremony of the waters of jealousy, where the curse that was written in the book, was to be blotted out with the bitter water. See the note on

The times of restitution of all things] The word azoxaracracis, from ano, which signifies from, and xabioTaveir, to establish, or settle any thing, viz. in a good state; and when ano is added to it, then this preposition implies, that

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