mh_parser/vol_split/44 - Acts/Chapter 13.xml

<div2 id="Acts.xiv" n="xiv" next="Acts.xv" prev="Acts.xiii" progress="13.58%" title="Chapter XIII">
<h2 id="Acts.xiv-p0.1">A C T S.</h2>
<h3 id="Acts.xiv-p0.2">CHAP. XIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Acts.xiv-p1">We have not yet met with any things concerning the
spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles which bears any proportion
to the largeness of that commission, "Go, and disciple all
nations." The door was opened in the baptizing of Cornelius and his
friends; but since then we had the gospel preached to the Jews
only, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.11.19" parsed="|Acts|11|19|0|0" passage="Ac 11:19"><i>ch.</i> xi. 19</scripRef>. It
should seem as if the light which began to shine upon the Gentile
world had withdrawn itself. But here in this chapter that work,
that great good work, is revived in the midst of the years; and
though the Jews shall still have the first offer of the gospel made
to them, yet, upon their refusal, the Gentiles shall have their
share of the offer of it. Here is, I. The solemn ordination of
Barnabas and Saul, by divine direction, to the ministry, to the
great work of spreading the gospel among the nations about (and it
is probable that other apostles or apostolical men dispersed
themselves by order from Christ, upon the same errand, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.1-Acts.13.3" parsed="|Acts|13|1|13|3" passage="Ac 13:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>). II. Their preaching the
gospel in Cyprus, and the opposition they met with there from
Elymas the sorcerer, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.4-Acts.13.13" parsed="|Acts|13|4|13|13" passage="Ac 13:4-13">ver.
4-13</scripRef>. III. The heads of a sermon which Paul preached to
the Jews at Antioch in Pisidia, in their synagogue, which is given
us as a specimen of what they usually preached to the Jews, and the
method they took with them, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.14-Acts.13.41" parsed="|Acts|13|14|13|41" passage="Ac 13:14-41">ver.
14-41</scripRef>. IV. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles
at their request, and upon the Jews' refusal of it, wherein the
apostles justified themselves against the displeasure which the
Jews conceived at it, and God owned them, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.42-Acts.13.49" parsed="|Acts|13|42|13|49" passage="Ac 13:42-49">ver. 42-49</scripRef>. V. The trouble which the
infidel Jews gave to the apostles, which obliged them to remove to
another place (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.50-Acts.13.52" parsed="|Acts|13|50|13|52" passage="Ac 13:50-52">ver.
50-52</scripRef>), so that the design of this chapter is to show
how cautiously, how gradually, and with what good reason the
apostles carried the gospel into the Gentile world, and admitted
the Gentiles into the church, which was so great an offence to the
Jews, and which Paul is so industrious to justify in his
epistles.</p>
<scripCom id="Acts.xiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13" parsed="|Acts|13|0|0|0" passage="Ac 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Acts.xiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.1-Acts.13.3" parsed="|Acts|13|1|13|3" passage="Ac 13:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.13.1-Acts.13.3">
<h4 id="Acts.xiv-p1.9">The Mission of Paul and
Barnabas.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xiv-p2">1 Now there were in the church that was at
Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that
was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been
brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.   2 As they
ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
  3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid <i>their</i>
hands on them, they sent <i>them</i> away.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p3">We have here a divine warrant and
commission to Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among
the Gentiles, and their ordination to that service by the
imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p4">I. Here is an account of the present state
of the church at Antioch, which was planted, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.11.20" parsed="|Acts|11|20|0|0" passage="Ac 11:20"><i>ch.</i> xi. 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p5">1. How well furnished it was with good
ministers; there were there <i>certain prophets and teachers</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.1" parsed="|Acts|13|1|0|0" passage="Ac 13:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), men that were
eminent for gifts, graces, and usefulness. Christ, when he
<i>ascended on high,</i> gave <i>some prophets and some
teachers</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.11" parsed="|Eph|4|11|0|0" passage="Eph 4:11">Eph. iv. 11</scripRef>);
these were both. Agabus seems to have been a prophet and not a
teacher, and many were teachers who were not prophets; but those
here mentioned were at times divinely inspired, and had
instructions immediately from heaven upon special occasions, which
gave them the title of prophets; and withal they were stated
teachers of the church in their religious assemblies, expounded the
scriptures, and opened the doctrine of Christ with suitable
applications. These were the prophets, and scribes, or teachers,
which Christ promised to send (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.34" parsed="|Matt|23|34|0|0" passage="Mt 23:34">Matt.
xxiii. 34</scripRef>), such as were every way qualified for the
service of the Christian church. Antioch was a great city, and the
Christians there were many, so that they could not all meet in one
place; it was therefore requisite they should have many teachers,
to preside in their respective assemblies, and to deliver God's
mind to them. Barnabas is first named, probably because he was the
eldest, and Saul last, probably because he was the youngest; but
afterwards the last became first, and Saul more eminent in the
church. Three others are mentioned. (1.) <i>Simeon,</i> or Simon,
who for distinction-sake was called <i>Niger, Simon the Black,</i>
from the color of his hair; like him that with us was surnamed the
Black Prince. (2.) <i>Lucius</i> of Cyrene, who some think (and Dr.
Lightfoot inclines to it) was the same with this Luke that wrote
the Acts, originally a Cyrenian, and educated in the Cyrenian
college or synagogue at Jerusalem, and there first receiving the
gospel. (3.) <i>Manaen,</i> a person of some quality, as it should
seem, for he was <i>brought up with Herod the tetrarch,</i> either
nursed of the same milk, or bred at the same school, or pupil to
the same tutor, or rather one that was his constant colleague and
companion—that in every part of his education was his comrade and
intimate, which gave him a fair prospect of preferment at court,
and yet for Christ's sake he quitted all the hopes of it; like
Moses, who, <i>when he had come to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter.</i> Had he joined in with Herod, with
whom he was brought up, he might have had Blastus's place, and have
been his chamberlain; but it is better to be fellow-sufferer with a
saint than fellow-persecutor with a tetrarch.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p6">2. How well employed they were (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.2" parsed="|Acts|13|2|0|0" passage="Ac 13:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>They ministered to
the Lord, and fasted.</i> Observe, (1.) Diligent faithful teachers
do truly minister unto the Lord. Those that instruct Christians
serve Christ; they really do him honour, and carry on the interest
of his kingdom. Those that minister to the church in praying and
preaching (both which are included here), <i>minister unto the
Lord,</i> for they are the church's servants for Christ's sake; to
him they must have an eye in their ministrations, and from him they
shall have their recompence. (2.) Ministering to the Lord, in one
way or other, ought to be the stated business of churches and their
teachers; to this work time ought to be set apart, nay, it is set
apart, and in this work we ought to spend some part of every day.
What have we to do as Christians and ministers but to <i>serve the
Lord Christ?</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.24 Bible:Rom.14.18" parsed="|Col|3|24|0|0;|Rom|14|18|0|0" passage="Col 3:24,Ro 14:18">Col. iii.
24; Rom. xiv. 18</scripRef>. (3.) Religious <i>fasting</i> is of
use in our ministering to the Lord, both as a sign of our
humiliation and a means of our mortification. Though it was not so
much practised by the disciples of Christ, <i>while the bridegroom
was with them,</i> as it was by the disciples of John and of the
Pharisees; yet, after the bridegroom was taken away, they abounded
in it, as those that had well learned to deny themselves and to
endure hardness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p7">II. The orders given by the Holy Ghost for
the setting apart of Barnabas and Saul, while they were engaged in
public exercises, the ministers of the several congregations in the
city joining in one solemn fast or day of prayer: The <i>Holy Ghost
said,</i> either by a voice from heaven, or by a strong impulse on
the minds of those of them that were prophets, <i>Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.</i> He
does not specify the work, but refers to a former call of which
they themselves knew the meaning, whether others did or no: as for
Saul, he was particularly told that he must <i>bear Christ's name
to the Gentiles</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.15" parsed="|Acts|9|15|0|0" passage="Ac 9:15"><i>ch.</i> ix.
15</scripRef>), that <i>he must be sent to the Gentiles</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.22.21" parsed="|Acts|22|21|0|0" passage="Ac 22:21"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 21</scripRef>); the
matter was settled between them at Jerusalem before this, that as
Peter, James, and John laid out themselves among those of the
circumcision, so Paul and Barnabas should <i>go to the heathen,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.2.7-Gal.2.9" parsed="|Gal|2|7|2|9" passage="Ga 2:7-9">Gal. ii. 7-9</scripRef>. Barnabas, it
is likely, knew himself designed for this service as well as Paul.
Yet they would not thrust themselves into this harvest, though it
appeared plenteous, till they received their orders from the Lord
of the harvest: <i>Thrust in thy sickle for the harvest is
ripe,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.15" parsed="|Rev|14|15|0|0" passage="Re 14:15">Rev. xiv. 15</scripRef>. The
orders were, <i>Separate me Barnabas and Saul.</i> Observe here, 1.
Christ by his Spirit has the nomination of his ministers; for it is
by the Spirit of Christ that they are qualified in some measure for
his services, inclined to it, and taken off from other cares
inconsistent with it. There are some whom the Holy Ghost has
separated for the service of Christ, has distinguished from others
as men that are offered and that willingly offer themselves to the
temple service; and concerning them directions are given to those
who are competent judges of the sufficiency of the abilities and
the sincerity of the inclination: <i>Separate</i> them. 2. Christ's
ministers are separated to him and to the Holy Ghost: <i>Separate
them to me;</i> they are to be employed in Christ's work and under
the Spirit's guidance, to the glory of God the Father. 3. All that
are separated to Christ as his ministers are separated to work;
Christ keeps no servants to be idle. <i>If any man desires the
office of a bishop, he desires a good work;</i> that is what he is
separated to, <i>to labour in the word and doctrine.</i> They are
separated to take pains, not to take state. 4. The work of Christ's
ministers, to which they are to be separated, is work that is
already settled, and that which all Christ's ministers hitherto
have been called to, and which they themselves have first been, by
an external call, directed to and have chosen.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p8">III. Their ordination, pursuant to these
orders: not to the ministry in general (Barnabas and Saul had both
of them been ministers long before this), but to a particular
service in the ministry, which had something peculiar in it, and
which required a fresh commission, which commission God saw fit at
this time to transmit by the hands of <i>these prophets and
teachers,</i> for the giving of this direction to the church, that
teachers should ordain teachers (for prophets we are not now any
longer to expect), and that those who have the dispensing of the
oracles of Christ committed to them should, for the benefit of
posterity, <i>commit the same to faithful men, who shall be able
also to teach others,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.2.2" parsed="|2Tim|2|2|0|0" passage="2Ti 2:2">2 Tim. ii.
2</scripRef>. So here, Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, faithful
teachers at this time in the church of Antioch, <i>when they had
fasted and prayed, laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent
them away</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.3" parsed="|Acts|13|3|0|0" passage="Ac 13:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
according to the directions received. Observe, 1. They prayed for
them. When good men are going forth about good work, they ought to
be solemnly and particularly prayed for, especially by their
brethren that are their fellow-labourers and fellow-soldiers. 2.
They joined fasting with their prayers, as they did in their other
ministrations, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.3" parsed="|Acts|13|3|0|0" passage="Ac 13:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
Christ has taught us this by his abstaining from sleep (a
night-fast, if I may so call it) the night before he sent forth his
apostles, that he might spend it in prayer. 3. They laid their
hands on them. Hereby, (1.) They gave them their manumission,
dismission, or discharge from the present service they were engaged
in, in the church of Antioch, acknowledging that they went off not
only fairly and with consent, but honourably and with a good
report. (2.) They implored a blessing upon them in their present
undertaking, begged that God would be with them, and give them
success; and, in order to this, that <i>they might be filled with
the Holy Ghost</i> in their work. This very thing is explained
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.14.26" parsed="|Acts|14|26|0|0" passage="Ac 14:26"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 26</scripRef>, where
it is said, concerning Paul and Barnabas, that from <i>Antioch they
had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they
fulfilled.</i> As it was an instance of the humility of Barnabas
and Saul that they submitted to the imposition of the hands of
those that were their equals, or rather their inferiors; so it was
of the good disposition of the other teachers that they did not
envy Barnabas and Saul the honour to which they were preferred, but
cheerfully committed it to them, with hearty prayers for them; and
<i>they sent them away</i> with all expedition, out of a concern
for those countries where they were to break up fallow ground.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xiv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.4-Acts.13.13" parsed="|Acts|13|4|13|13" passage="Ac 13:4-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.13.4-Acts.13.13">
<h4 id="Acts.xiv-p8.6">Elymas Struck with
Blindness.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xiv-p9">4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost,
departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
  5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of
God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to
<i>their</i> minister.   6 And when they had gone through the
isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a
Jew, whose name <i>was</i> Bar-jesus:   7 Which was with the
deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called
for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.  
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation)
withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
  9 Then Saul, (who also <i>is called</i> Paul,) filled with
the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,   10 And said, O full of
all subtilty and all mischief, <i>thou</i> child of the devil,
<i>thou</i> enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord?   11 And now, behold, the
hand of the Lord <i>is</i> upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not
seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a
mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by
the hand.   12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done,
believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.   13
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to
Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to
Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p10">In these verses we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p11">I. A general account of the coming of
Barnabas and Saul to the famous island of Cyprus; and perhaps
thitherward they steered their course because Barnabas was a native
of that country (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.4.36" parsed="|Acts|4|36|0|0" passage="Ac 4:36"><i>ch.</i> iv.
36</scripRef>), and he was willing they should have the
first-fruits of his labours, pursuant to his new commission.
Observe, 1. Their being sent forth by the Holy Ghost was the great
thing that encouraged them in this undertaking, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.4" parsed="|Acts|13|4|0|0" passage="Ac 13:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. If the Holy Ghost send them
forth, he will go along with them, strengthen them, carry them on
in their work, and give them success; and then they fear no
colours, but can cheerfully venture upon a stormy sea from Antioch,
which was now to them a quiet harbour. 2. They came to Seleucia,
the sea-port town opposite to Cyprus, thence crossed the sea to
Cyprus, and in that island the first city they came to was Salamis,
a city on the east side of the island (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.5" parsed="|Acts|13|5|0|0" passage="Ac 13:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); and, when they had sown good
seed there, <i>thence they</i> went onward <i>through the isle</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.6" parsed="|Acts|13|6|0|0" passage="Ac 13:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) till they came
to Paphos, which lay on the western coast. 3. <i>They preached the
word of God</i> wherever they came, <i>in the synagogues of the
Jews;</i> so far were they from excluding them that they gave them
the preference, and so left those among them who believed not
inexcusable; <i>they would have gathered them, but they would
not.</i> They did not act clandestinely, nor preach the Messiah to
others unknown to them, but laid their doctrine open to the censure
of the rulers of their synagogues, who might, if they had any thing
to say, object against it. Nor would they have acted separately,
but in concert with them, if they had not driven them out from
them, and from their synagogues. 4. <i>They had John for their
minister;</i> not their servant in common things, but their
assistant in the things of God, either to prepare their way in
places where they designed to come or to carry on their work in
places where they had begun it, or to converse familiarly with
those to whom they preached publicly, and explain things to them;
and such a one might be many ways of use to them, especially in a
strange country.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p12">II. A particular account of their encounter
with <i>Elymas the sorcerer,</i> whom they met with at Paphos,
where the governor resided; a place famous for a temple built to
Venus there, thence called <i>Paphian Venus;</i> and therefore
there was more than ordinary need that <i>the Son of God</i> should
there <i>be manifested to destroy the works of the devil.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p13">1. There the <i>deputy,</i> a Gentile,
<i>Sergius Paulus</i> by name, encouraged the apostles, and was
willing to hear their message. He was governor <i>of the
country,</i> under the Roman emperor; proconsul or proprætor, such
a one as we should call <i>lord lieutenant of the island.</i> He
had the character of <i>a prudent man,</i> an intelligent,
considerate man, that was ruled by reason, not passion nor
prejudice, which appeared by this, that, having a character of
Barnabas and Saul, he sent for them, <i>and desired to hear the
word of God.</i> Note, When that which we hear has a tendency to
lead us to God, it is prudence to desire to hear more of it. Those
are wise people, however they may be ranked among the foolish of
this world, who are inquisitive after the mind and will of God.
Though he was a great man, and a man in authority, and the
preachers of the gospel were men that made no figure, yet, if they
have a message from God, let him know what it is, and, if it appear
to be so, he is ready to receive it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p14">2. There Elymas, a Jew, a <i>sorcerer,</i>
opposed them, and did all he could to obstruct their progress. This
justified the apostles in <i>turning to the Gentiles,</i> that this
Jew was so malignant against them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p15">(1.) This Elymas was a pretender <i>to the
gift of prophecy, a sorcerer, a false-prophet</i>—one that would
be taken for a divine, because he was skilled in the arts of
divination; he was a conjurer, and took on him to tell people their
fortune, and to discover things lost, and probably was in league
with the devil for this purpose; <i>his name was Bar-jesus—the son
of Joshua;</i> it signifies <i>the son of salvation;</i> but the
Syriac calls him, <i>Bar-shoma—the son of pride; filius
inflationis—the son of inflation.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p16">(2.) He was hanging on at court, <i>was
with the deputy</i> of the country. It does not appear that the
deputy called for him, as he did for Barnabas and Saul; but he
thrust himself upon him, aiming, no doubt, to make a hand of him,
and get money by him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p17">(3.) He made it his business to withstand
Barnabas and Saul, as the magicians of Egypt, in Pharaoh's court,
<i>withstood</i> Moses and Aaron, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.3.8" parsed="|2Tim|3|8|0|0" passage="2Ti 3:8">2
Tim. iii. 8</scripRef>. He set up himself to be a messenger from
heaven, and denied that they were. And <i>thus he sought to turn
away the deputy from the faith</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.8" parsed="|Acts|13|8|0|0" passage="Ac 13:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), to keep him from receiving the
gospel, which he saw him inclined to do. Note, Satan is in a
special manner busy with great men and men of power, to keep them
from being religious; because he knows that their example, whether
good or bad, will have an influence upon many. And those who are in
any way instrumental to prejudice people against the truths and
ways of Christ are doing the devil's work.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p18">(4.) Saul (who is here for the first time
called Paul) fell upon him for this with a holy indignation.
<i>Saul, who is also called Paul,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.9" parsed="|Acts|13|9|0|0" passage="Ac 13:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Saul was his name as he was a
Hebrew, and of the tribe of Benjamin; Paul was his name as he was a
citizen of Rome. Hitherto we have had him mostly conversant among
the Jews, and therefore called by his Jewish name; but now, when he
is sent forth among the Gentiles, he is called by his Roman name,
to put somewhat of a reputation upon him in the Roman cities,
Paulus being a very common name among them. But some think he was
never called Paul till now that he was instrumental in the
conversion of Sergius Paulus to the faith of Christ, and that he
took the name Paulus as a memorial of this victory obtained by the
gospel of Christ, as among the Romans he that had conquered a
country took his denomination from it, as <i>Germanicus,
Britannicus, Africanus;</i> or rather, Sergius Paulus himself gave
him the name Paulus in token of his favour and respect to him, as
Vespasian gave his name Flavius to Josephus the Jew. Now of Paul it
is said,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p19">[1.] That he was <i>filled with the Holy
Ghost</i> upon this occasion, filled with a holy zeal against a
professed enemy of Christ, which was one of the graces of the Holy
Ghost—<i>a spirit of burning;</i> filled with power to denounce
the wrath of God against him, which was one of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost—<i>a spirit of judgment.</i> He felt a more than
ordinary fervour in his mind, as the prophet did when he was
<i>full of power by the Spirit of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.8" parsed="|Mic|3|8|0|0" passage="Mic 3:8">Mic. iii. 8</scripRef>), and another prophet when <i>his
face was made harder than flint</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.9" parsed="|Ezek|3|9|0|0" passage="Eze 3:9">Ezek. iii. 9</scripRef>), and another when his <i>mouth
was made like a sharp sword,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.2" parsed="|Isa|49|2|0|0" passage="Isa 49:2">Isa.
xlix. 2</scripRef>. What Paul said did not come from any personal
resentment, but from the strong impressions which the Holy Ghost
made upon his spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p20">[2.] He <i>set his eyes upon him,</i> to
face him down, and to show a holy boldness, in opposition to his
wicked impudence. He set his eyes upon him, as an indication that
the eye of the heart-searching God was upon him, and saw through
and through him; nay, <i>that the face of the Lord was against
him,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.16" parsed="|Ps|34|16|0|0" passage="Ps 34:16">Ps. xxxiv. 16</scripRef>. He
fixed his eyes upon him, to see if he could discern in his
countenance any marks of remorse for what he had done; for, if he
could have discerned the least sign of this, it would have
prevented the ensuing doom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p21">[3.] He gave him his true character, not in
passion, but by the Holy Ghost, who knows men better than they know
themselves, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.10" parsed="|Acts|13|10|0|0" passage="Ac 13:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
He describes him to be, <i>First,</i> An agent for hell; and such
there have been upon this earth (the seat of the war between <i>the
seed of the woman and of the serpent</i>) ever since Cain <i>who
was of that wicked one,</i> an incarnate devil, <i>slew his
brother,</i> for no other reason than because <i>his own works were
evil and his brother's righteous.</i> This Elymas, though called
<i>Bar-jesus—a son of Jesus,</i> was really a <i>child of the
devil,</i> bore his image, did his lusts, and served his interests,
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:John.8.44" parsed="|John|8|44|0|0" passage="Joh 8:44">John viii. 44</scripRef>. In two
things he resembled the devil as a child does his father—1. In
craftiness. <i>The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the
field</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.1" parsed="|Gen|3|1|0|0" passage="Ge 3:1">Gen. iii. 1</scripRef>), and
Elymas, though void of all wisdom, was <i>full of all subtlety,</i>
expert in all the arts of deceiving men and imposing upon them. 2.
In malice. He was <i>full of all mischief</i>—a spiteful
ill-conditioned man, and a sworn implacable enemy to God and
goodness. Note, A fulness of subtlety and mischief together make a
man indeed a child of the devil. <i>Secondly,</i> An adversary to
heaven. If he be a child of the devil, it follows of course that he
is <i>an enemy to all righteousness,</i> for the devil is so. Note,
Those that are enemies to the doctrine of Christ are enemies to all
righteousness, for in it all righteousness is summed up and
fulfilled.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p22">[4.] He charged upon him his present crime,
and expostulated with him upon it: "<i>Wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord,</i> to misrepresent them, to
put false colours upon them, and so to discourage people from
entering into them, and walking in them?" Note, <i>First,</i> The
ways of the Lord are right: they are all so, they are perfectly so.
The ways of the Lord Jesus are right, the only right ways to heaven
and happiness. <i>Secondly,</i> There are those who pervert these
right ways, who not only wander out of these ways themselves (as
Elihu's penitent, who owns, <i>I have perverted that which was
right and it profited me not</i>), but mislead others, and suggest
to them unjust prejudices against these ways: as if the doctrine of
Christ were uncertain and precarious, the laws of Christ
unreasonable and impractical, and the service of Christ unpleasant
and unprofitable, which is an unjust perverting of the right ways
of the Lord, and making them seem crooked ways. <i>Thirdly,</i>
Those who pervert the right ways of the Lord are commonly so
hardened in it that, though the equity of those ways be set before
them by the most powerful and commanding evidence, yet they will
not cease to do it. <i>Etsi suaseris, non persuaseris—You may
advise, but you will never persuade;</i> they will have it their
own way; <i>they have loved strangers, and after them they will
go.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p23">[5.] He denounced the judgment of God upon
him, in a present blindness (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.11" parsed="|Acts|13|11|0|0" passage="Ac 13:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): "<i>And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon
thee,</i> a righteous hand. God is now about to lay hands on thee,
and make thee his prisoner, for thou art taken in arms against him;
<i>thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.</i>" This
was designed both for the proof of his crime, as it was a miracle
wrought to confirm the right ways of the Lord, and consequently to
show the wickedness of him who would not cease to pervert them, as
also for the punishment of his crime. It was a suitable punishment;
he shut his eyes, the eyes of his mind, against the light of the
gospel, and therefore justly were the eyes of his body shut against
the light of the sun; he sought to blind the deputy (as an agent
for <i>the god of this world, who blindeth the minds of those that
believe not, lest the light of the gospel should shine unto
them,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.4" parsed="|2Cor|4|4|0|0" passage="2Co 4:4">2 Cor. iv. 4</scripRef>), and
therefore is himself struck blind. Yet it was a moderate
punishment: he was only struck blind, when he might most justly
have been struck dead; and it was only <i>for a season;</i> if he
will repent, and give glory to God, by making confession, his sight
shall be restored; nay, it should seem, though he do not, yet his
sight shall be restored, to try if he will be led to repentance
either by the judgments of God or by his mercies.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p24">[6.] This judgment was immediately
executed: <i>There fell on him a mist and a darkness,</i> as on the
Sodomites when they persecuted Elisha. This silenced him presently,
filled him with confusion, and was an effectual confutation of all
he said against the doctrine of Christ. Let not him any more
pretend to be a guide to the deputy's conscience who is himself
struck blind. It was also an earnest to him of a much sorer
punishment if he repent not; for he is one of those <i>wandering
stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.13" parsed="|Jude|1|13|0|0" passage="Jude 1:13">Jude 13</scripRef>. Elymas did
himself proclaim the truth of the miracle, when <i>he went about
seeking some to lead him by the hand;</i> and where now is all his
skill in sorcery, upon which he had so much valued himself, when he
can neither find his way nor find a friend that will be so kind as
to lead him!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p25">3. Notwithstanding all the endeavours of
Elymas <i>to turn away the deputy from the faith,</i> he was
brought to believe, and this miracle, wrought upon the magician
himself (like <i>the boils of Egypt,</i> which <i>were upon the
magicians, so that they could not stand before Moses,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.9.11" parsed="|Exod|9|11|0|0" passage="Ex 9:11">Exod. ix. 11</scripRef>), contributed to it. The
deputy was a very sensible man, and observed something uncommon,
and which intimated its divine original, (1.) In Paul's preaching:
he was <i>astonished at the doctrine of the Lord,</i> the Lord
Christ—the doctrine that <i>is from him,</i> the discoveries he
has made of the Father—the doctrine that <i>is concerning him,</i>
his person, natures, offices, undertaking. Note, The doctrine of
Christ has a great deal in it that is astonishing; and the more we
know of it the more reason we shall see to wonder and stand amazed
at it. (2.) In this miracle: <i>When he saw what was done,</i> and
how much Paul's power transcended that of the magician, and how
plainly Elymas was baffled and confounded, he believed. It is not
said that he was baptized, and so made a complete convert, but it
is probable that he was. Paul would not do his business by the
halves; <i>as for God, his work is perfect.</i> When he became a
Christian, he neither laid down his government, nor was turned out
of it, but we may suppose, as a Christian magistrate, by his
influence helped very much to propagate Christianity in that
island. The tradition of the Romish church, which has taken care to
find bishoprics for all the eminent converts we read of in <i>the
Acts,</i> has made this Sergius Paulus bishop of Narbon in France,
left there by Paul in his journey to Spain.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p26">III. Their departure from the island of
Cyprus. It is probable that they did a great deal more there than
is recorded, where an account is given only of that which was
extraordinary—the conversion of the deputy. When they had done
what they had to do, 1. They quitted the country, and <i>went to
Perga.</i> Those that went were <i>Paul and his company,</i> which,
it is probable, was increased in Cyprus, many being desirous to
accompany him. <b><i>Anachthentes hoi peri ton
Paulon</i></b>—<i>Those that were about Paul loosed from
Paphos,</i> which supposes that he went too; but such an affection
had his new friends for him that they were always about him, and by
their good will would be never from him. 2. Then John <i>Mark
quitted them, and returned to Jerusalem,</i> without the consent of
Paul and Barnabas; either he did not like the work, or he wanted to
go and see his mother. It was his fault, and we shall hear of it
again.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xiv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.14-Acts.13.41" parsed="|Acts|13|14|13|41" passage="Ac 13:14-41" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.13.14-Acts.13.41">
<h4 id="Acts.xiv-p26.2">Paul at Antioch in Pisidia.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xiv-p27">14 But when they departed from Perga, they came
to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath
day, and sat down.   15 And after the reading of the law and
the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying,
<i>Ye</i> men <i>and</i> brethren, if ye have any word of
exhortation for the people, say on.   16 Then Paul stood up,
and beckoning with <i>his</i> hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that
fear God, give audience.   17 The God of this people of Israel
chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as
strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them
out of it.   18 And about the time of forty years suffered he
their manners in the wilderness.   19 And when he had
destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their
land to them by lot.   20 And after that he gave <i>unto
them</i> judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years,
until Samuel the prophet.   21 And afterward they desired a
king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the
tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.   22 And when
he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king;
to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the
<i>son</i> of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil
all my will.   23 Of this man's seed hath God according to
<i>his</i> promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:   24
When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel.   25 And as John
fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not
<i>he.</i> But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of
<i>his</i> feet I am not worthy to loose.   26 Men <i>and</i>
brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you
feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.   27
For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they
knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read
every sabbath day, they have fulfilled <i>them</i> in condemning
<i>him.</i>   28 And though they found no cause of death <i>in
him,</i> yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.   29
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took
<i>him</i> down from the tree, and laid <i>him</i> in a sepulchre.
  30 But God raised him from the dead:   31 And he was
seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.   32 And we
declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made
unto the fathers,   33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us
their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is
also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee.   34 And as concerning that he raised him up
from the dead, <i>now</i> no more to return to corruption, he said
on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.   35
Wherefore he saith also in another <i>psalm,</i> Thou shalt not
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.   36 For David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep,
and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:   37 But
he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.   38 Be it known
unto you therefore, men <i>and</i> brethren, that through this man
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:   39 And by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses.   40 Beware therefore,
lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;  
41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work
in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it unto you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p28">Perga in Pamphylia was a noted place,
especially for a temple there erected to the goddess Diana, yet
nothing at all is related of what Paul and Barnabas did there, only
that <i>thither they came</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.13" parsed="|Acts|13|13|0|0" passage="Ac 13:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), and <i>thence they
departed,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.14" parsed="|Acts|13|14|0|0" passage="Ac 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
But the history of the apostles' travels, as that of Christ's,
passes by many things worthy to have been recorded, because, <i>if
all had been written, the world could not have contained the
books.</i> But the next place we find them in is another Antioch,
said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria
from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser
Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the
metropolis of it. Abundance of Jews lived there, and to them <i>the
gospel was to be first preached;</i> and Paul's sermon to them is
what we have in these verses, which, it is likely, is the substance
of what was preached by the apostles generally to the Jews in all
places; for in dealing with them the proper way was to show them
how the New Testament, which they would have them to receive,
exactly agreed with the Old Testament, which they not only
received, but were zealous for. We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p29">I. The appearance which Paul and Barnabas
made in a religious assembly of the Jews at Antioch, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.14" parsed="|Acts|13|14|0|0" passage="Ac 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Though they had lately
had such good success with a Roman deputy, yet, <i>when they came
to Antioch,</i> they did not enquire for the chief magistrate, nor
make their court to him, but they applied to the Jews, which is a
further proof of their good affection to them and their desire of
their welfare. 1. They observed their time of worship, <i>on the
sabbath day,</i> the Jewish sabbath. <i>The first day of the
week</i> they observed among themselves as a Christian sabbath;
but, if they will meet the Jews, it must be on the seventh-day
sabbath, which therefore, upon such occasions, they did as yet
sometimes observe. For, though it was by the death of Christ that
the ceremonial law died, yet it was in the ruins of Jerusalem that
it was to be buried; and therefore, though the morality of the
fourth commandment was entirely transferred to the Christian
sabbath, yet it was not incongruous to join with the Jews in their
sabbath sanctification. 2. They met them in their place of worship,
<i>in the synagogue.</i> Note, Sabbath days should be kept holy in
solemn assemblies; they are instituted chiefly for public worship.
<i>The sabbath day is a holy convocation,</i> and for that reason
<i>no servile work must be done therein.</i> Paul and Barnabas were
strangers; but, wherever we come, we must enquire out God's
faithful worshippers, and join with them (as these apostles here
did), as those that desire to keep up a communion with all saints;
though they were strangers, yet they were admitted into the
synagogue, and to sit down there. Care should be taken in places of
public worship that strangers be accommodated, even the poorest;
for, of those of whom we know nothing else, we know this, that they
have precious souls, for which our charity binds us to be
concerned.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p30">II. The invitation given them to preach. 1.
The usual service of the synagogue was performed (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.15" parsed="|Acts|13|15|0|0" passage="Ac 13:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>The law and the
prophets were read,</i> a portion of each, the lessons for the day.
Note, When we come together to worship God, we must do it not only
by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of
God; hereby we <i>give him the glory due to his name,</i> as our
Lord and Lawgiver. 2. When that was done, they were asked by <i>the
rulers of the synagogue</i> to give them a sermon (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.15" parsed="|Acts|13|15|0|0" passage="Ac 13:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): They sent a messenger
to them with the respectful message, <i>Men and brethren, if you
have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.</i> It is
probable that the rulers of the synagogue had met with them, and
been in private conversation with them before; and, if they had not
an affection to the gospel, yet they had at least the curiosity to
hear Paul preach; and therefore not only gave him permission, but
begged the favour of him that he would speak a <i>word of
exhortation to the people.</i> Note, (1.) The bare reading of the
scriptures in the public assemblies is not sufficient, but they
should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is
spreading the net, and assisting people in doing that which is
necessary to the making of the word profitable to them—that is,
the applying of it to themselves. (2.) Those that preside, and have
power, in public assemblies, should provide for a word of
exhortation to the people, whenever they come together. (3.)
Sometimes a word of exhortation from a strange minister may be of
great use to the people, provided he be well approved. It is likely
Paul did <i>often preach in the synagogue,</i> when he was not thus
invited to it by the rulers of the synagogues; for he often
preached <i>with much contention,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.2.2" parsed="|1Thess|2|2|0|0" passage="1Th 2:2">1
Thess. ii. 2</scripRef>. But these were more noble, more generous,
than the rulers of the synagogues generally were.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p31">III. The sermon Paul preached in the
synagogue of the Jews, at the invitation of the rulers of the
synagogue. He gladly embraced the opportunity given him to preach
Christ to his countrymen the Jews. He did not object to them that
he was a stranger, and that it was none of his business; nor object
to himself, that he might get ill-will by preaching Christ among
the Jews; but <i>stood up,</i> as one prepared and determined to
speak, <i>and beckoned with his hand,</i> to excite and prepare
them to hear. He waved his hand as an orator, not only desiring
silence and attention, but endeavouring to move affection, and to
show himself in earnest. Perhaps, upon the moving of them <i>to
give an exhortation to the people,</i> there were those in the
synagogue that were ready to mutiny against the rulers, and opposed
the toleration of Paul's preaching, and that occasioned some tumult
and commotion, which Paul endeavoured to quiet by that decent
motion of his hand; as also by his modest desire of a patient
impartial hearing: "<i>Men of Israel,</i> that are <i>Jews</i> by
birth, <i>and you that fear God,</i> that are proselyted to the
Jewish religion, <i>give audience;</i> let me beg your attention a
little, for I have something to say to you which concerns your
everlasting peace, and would not say it in vain." Now this
excellent sermon is recorded, to show that those who preached the
gospel to the Gentiles did it not till they had first used their
utmost endeavours with the Jews, to persuade them to come in and
take the benefit of it; and that they had no prejudice at all
against the Jewish nation, nor any desire <i>that they should
perish, but rather that they should turn and live.</i> Every thing
is touched in this sermon that might be proper either to convince
the judgment or insinuate into the affections of the Jews, to
prevail with them to receive and embrace Christ as the promised
Messiah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p32">1. He owns them to be God's favourite
people, whom he had taken into special relation to himself, and for
whom he had done great things. Probably <i>the Jews of the
dispersion,</i> that lived in other countries, being more in danger
of mingling with the nations, were more jealous of their
peculiarity than those that lived in their own land were; and
therefore Paul is here very careful to take notice of it, to their
honour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p33">(1.) That <i>the God of the whole earth</i>
was, in a particular manner, <i>the God of this people Israel,</i>
a God <i>in covenant with them,</i> and that he had given them a
revelation of his mind and will, such as he <i>had not given to any
other nation or people;</i> so that hereby they were distinguished
from, and dignified above, all their neighbours, having peculiar
precepts to be governed by, and peculiar promises to depend
upon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p34">(2.) That he had <i>chosen their
fathers</i> to be his friends: Abraham was called <i>the friend of
God;</i> to be his prophets, by whom he would reveal his mind to
his church, and to be the trustees of his covenant with the church.
He puts them in mind of this, to let them know that the reason why
God favoured them, though undeserving, and ill deserving, was
because he would adhere to the choice he had made of <i>their
fathers,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p34.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.7-Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|7|7|8" passage="De 7:7,8">Deut. vii. 7,
8</scripRef>. <i>They were beloved</i> purely <i>for the fathers'
sakes,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p34.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.28" parsed="|Rom|11|28|0|0" passage="Ro 11:28">Rom. xi. 28</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p35">(3.) That he had <i>exalted that
people,</i> and put a great deal of honour upon them, had advanced
them into a people, and raised them from nothing, <i>when they
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt,</i> and had nothing in
them to recommend them to the divine favour. They ought to remember
this, and to infer hence that God was no debtor to them; for it was
<i>ex mero motu—out of his mere good pleasure,</i> and not upon a
valuable consideration, that they had the grant of the divine
favour; and therefore it was revocable at pleasure; and God did
them no wrong if he at length plucked up the hedge of their
peculiarity. But they were debtors to him, and obliged to receive
such further discoveries as he should make to his church.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p36">(4.) That he had <i>with a high hand
brought them out of Egypt,</i> where they were not only strangers,
but captives, had delivered them at the expense of a great many
miracles, both of mercy to them and judgment on their oppressors
(<i>signs and wonders,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.34" parsed="|Deut|4|34|0|0" passage="De 4:34">Deut. iv.
34</scripRef>), and at the expense of a great many lives, <i>all
the first-born of Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his host, in the Red Sea;
I gave Egypt for thy ransom, gave men for thee.</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p36.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.3-Isa.43.4" parsed="|Isa|43|3|43|4" passage="Isa 43:3,4">Isa. xliii. 3, 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p37">(5.) That <i>he had suffered their manners
forty years in the wilderness,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p37.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.18" parsed="|Acts|13|18|0|0" passage="Ac 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>, <b><i>Etropophoresen.</i></b>
Some think it should be read, <b><i>etrophophoresen</i></b>—<i>he
educated them,</i> because this is the word the Septuagint use
concerning the fatherly care God took of that people, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p37.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.1.31" parsed="|Deut|1|31|0|0" passage="De 1:31">Deut. i. 31</scripRef>. Both may be included;
for, [1.] God made a great deal of provision for them for forty
years in the wilderness: miracles were their daily bread, and kept
them from starving: <i>They lacked not any thing.</i> [2.] He
exercised a great deal of patience with them. They were a
provoking, murmuring, unbelieving people; and yet he bore with
them, did not deal with them as they deserved, but suffered his
anger many a time to be turned away by the prayer and intercession
of Moses. So many years as we have each of us lived in this world,
we must own that God has thus been as a tender father to us, has
supplied our wants, has <i>fed us all our life long unto this
day,</i> has been indulgent to us, a God of pardons (as he was to
Israel, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p37.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.17" parsed="|Neh|9|17|0|0" passage="Ne 9:17">Neh. ix. 17</scripRef>), and
<i>not extreme to mark what we have done amiss;</i> we have tried
his patience, and yet not tired it. Let not the Jews insist too
much upon the privileges of their peculiarity, for they have
forfeited them a thousand times.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p38">(6.) That he had put them in possession of
the land of Canaan (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p38.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.19" parsed="|Acts|13|19|0|0" passage="Ac 13:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>When he had destroyed seven nations in the land
of Canaan,</i> that were doomed to be rooted out to make room for
them, <i>he divided their land to them by lot,</i> and put them in
possession of it. This was a signal favour of God to them, and he
owns that hereby a great honour was put upon them, from which he
would not in the least derogate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p39">(7.) That he had raised up men, inspirited
from heaven, to deliver them out of the hands of those that invaded
their rights, and oppressed them after their settlement in Canaan,
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.20-Acts.13.21" parsed="|Acts|13|20|13|21" passage="Ac 13:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20, 21</scripRef>. [1.]
He <i>gave them judges,</i> men qualified for public service, and,
by an immediate impulse upon their spirits, called to it, <i>pro re
nata—as the occasion required.</i> Though they were a provoking
people, and were never in servitude but their sin brought them to
it, yet upon their petition a deliverer was raised up. The critics
find some difficulty in computing <i>these four hundred and fifty
years.</i> From the <i>deliverance out of Egypt</i> to David's
expulsion of <i>the Jebusites from the stronghold of Zion,</i>
which completed the casting out of the heathen nations, <i>was four
hundred and fifty years;</i> and most of that time they were under
judges. Others thus: The government of the judges, from the death
of Joshua to the death of Eli, was just <i>three hundred and
thirty-nine years,</i> but it is said to be [<b><i>os</i></b>] as
it were <i>four hundred and fifty years,</i> because the years of
their servitude to the several nations that oppressed them, though
really they were included in the years of the judges, are yet
mentioned in the history as if they had been distinct from them.
Now these, all put together, make <i>one hundred and eleven
years,</i> which added to the <i>three hundred and thirty nine,</i>
make them <i>four hundred and fifty;</i> as so many, though not
really so many. [2.] He governed them by a <i>prophet, Samuel,</i>
a man divinely inspired to preside in their affairs. [3.] He
<i>afterwards</i> at their request <i>set a king over them</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.21" parsed="|Acts|13|21|0|0" passage="Ac 13:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), <i>Saul,
the son of Cis.</i> Samuel's government and his lasted <i>forty
years,</i> which was a kind of transition from the theocracy to the
kingly government. [4.] At last, he made David their king,
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.22" parsed="|Acts|13|22|0|0" passage="Ac 13:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. <i>When God
had removed Saul,</i> for his mal-administration, <i>he raised up
unto them David to be their king,</i> and made <i>a covenant of
royalty with him, and with his seed.</i> When he had removed one
king, he did not leave them as sheep without a shepherd, but soon
raised up another, raised him up from a mean and low estate,
<i>raised him up on high,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.1" parsed="|2Sam|23|1|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:1">2 Sam.
xxiii. 1</scripRef>. He quotes the testimony God gave concerning
him, <i>First,</i> That his choice was divine: <i>I have found
David,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.20" parsed="|Ps|89|20|0|0" passage="Ps 89:20">Ps. lxxxix. 20</scripRef>.
God himself pitched upon him. Finding implies seeking; as if God
had ransacked all the families of Israel to find a man fit for his
purpose, and this was he. <i>Secondly,</i> That his character was
divine: <i>A man after my own heart,</i> such a one as I would
have, one on whom the image of God is stamped, and therefore one in
whom God is well pleased and whom he approves. This character was
given of him before he was first anointed, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p39.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.13.14" parsed="|1Sam|13|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 13:14">1 Sam. xiii. 14</scripRef>. <i>The Lord hath sought out
a man after his own heart,</i> such a one as he would have.
<i>Thirdly,</i> That his conduct was divine, and under divine
direction: <i>He shall fulfil all my will.</i> He shall desire and
endeavour to do the will of God, and shall be enabled to do it, and
employed in the doing of it, and go through with it. Now all this
seems to show not only the special favour of God to the people of
Israel (with the acknowledgment of which the apostle is very
willing to oblige them) but the further favours of another nature
which he designed them, and which were now, by the preaching of the
gospel, offered to them. Their deliverance out of Egypt, and
settlement in Canaan, <i>were types and figures of good things to
come.</i> The changes of their government showed that it <i>made
nothing perfect,</i> and therefore must give way to the spiritual
kingdom of the Messiah, which was now in the setting up, and which,
if they would admit it and submit to it, would be <i>the glory of
their people Israel;</i> and therefore they needed not conceive any
jealousy at all of the preaching of the gospel, as if it tended in
the least to damage the true excellences of the Jewish church.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p40">2. He gives them a full account of our Lord
Jesus, passing from David to the Son of David, and shows that this
Jesus is his promised Seed (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p40.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.23" parsed="|Acts|13|23|0|0" passage="Ac 13:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>): <i>Of this man's seed,</i> from that <i>root of
Jesse,</i> from that <i>man after God's own heart, hath God,
according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour—Jesus,</i>
who carries salvation in his name.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p41">(1.) How welcome should the preaching of
the gospel of Christ be to the Jews, and how should they embrace
it, as <i>well worthy of all acceptation,</i> when it brought them
the tidings, [1.] Of a Saviour, to deliver <i>them out of the hands
of their enemies,</i> as the judges of old, who were therefore
called <i>saviours;</i> but this <i>a Saviour</i> to do that for
them which, it appears by the history, those could not do—<i>to
save them from their sins,</i> their worst enemies. [2.] A Saviour
of God's raising up, that has his commission from heaven. [3.]
Raised up <i>to be a Saviour unto Israel,</i> to them in the first
place: <i>He was sent to bless them;</i> so far was the gospel from
designing the gathering of them. [4.] Raised up <i>of the seed of
David,</i> that ancient royal family, which the people of Israel
gloried so much in, and which at this time, to the great disgrace
of the whole nation, was buried in obscurity. It ought to be a
great satisfaction to them <i>that God had raised up this horn of
salvation for them in the house of his servant David,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p41.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.69" parsed="|Luke|1|69|0|0" passage="Lu 1:69">Luke i. 69</scripRef>. [5.] Raised up
<i>according to his promise,</i> the promise to David (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p41.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.132.11" parsed="|Ps|132|11|0|0" passage="Ps 132:11">Ps. cxxxii. 11</scripRef>), the promise to the
Old-Testament church in the latter times of it: <i>I will raise
unto David a righteous branch,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p41.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.5" parsed="|Jer|23|5|0|0" passage="Jer 23:5">Jer. xxiii. 5</scripRef>. This promise was it <i>to
which the twelve tribes hoped to come</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p41.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.26.7" parsed="|Acts|26|7|0|0" passage="Ac 26:7"><i>ch.</i> xxvi. 7</scripRef>); why then should they
entertain it so coldly, now that it was brought to them? Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p42">(2.) Concerning this Jesus, he tells
them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p43">[1.] That John the Baptist was his
harbinger and forerunner, that great man whom all acknowledged to
be a prophet. Let them not say that the Messiah's coming was a
surprise upon them, and that this might excuse them if they took
time to consider whether they should entertain him or no; for they
had sufficient warning by John, who <i>preached before his
coming,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p43.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.24" parsed="|Acts|13|24|0|0" passage="Ac 13:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>.
Two things he did—<i>First,</i> He made way for his entrance, by
preaching <i>the baptism of repentance,</i> not to a few select
disciples, but <i>to all the people of Israel.</i> He showed them
their sins, <i>warned them of the wrath to come, called them to
repentance,</i> and <i>to bring forth fruits meet for
repentance,</i> and bound those to this who were willing to be
bound by the solemn rite or sign of baptism; and by this he <i>made
ready a people prepared for the Lord Jesus,</i> to whom his grace
would be acceptable when they were thus brought to know themselves.
<i>Secondly,</i> He gave notice of his approach (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p43.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.25" parsed="|Acts|13|25|0|0" passage="Ac 13:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>As he fulfilled his
course,</i> when he was going on vigorously in his work, and had
had wonderful success in it, and an established interest: "Now,"
saith he to those that attended his ministry, "<i>Whom think you
that I am?</i> What notions have you of me, what expectations from
me? You may be thinking that I am <i>the Messiah,</i> whom you
expect; but you are mistaken, <i>I am not he</i> (see <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p43.3" osisRef="Bible:John.1.20" parsed="|John|1|20|0|0" passage="Joh 1:20">John i. 20</scripRef>), but he is at the door;
<i>behold, there cometh one</i> immediately <i>after me,</i> who
will so far exceed me upon all accounts, <i>that I am not
worthy</i> to be employed in the meanest office about him, no, not
to help him on and off with his shoes—<i>whose shoes of his feet I
am not worthy to loose,</i> and you may guess who that must
be."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p44">[2.] That the rulers and people of the
Jews, who should have welcomed him, and been his willing, forward,
faithful subjects, were his persecutors and murderers. When the
apostles preach Christ as <i>the Saviour,</i> they are so far from
concealing his ignominious death, and drawing a veil over it, that
they always <i>preach Christ crucified,</i> yea, and (though this
added much to the reproach of his sufferings) crucified by his own
people, by <i>those that dwelt in Jerusalem,</i> the holy city—the
royal city, and <i>their rulers,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.27" parsed="|Acts|13|27|0|0" passage="Ac 13:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. <i>First,</i> Their sin was
<i>that though they found no cause of death in him,</i> could not
prove him, no, nor had any colour to suspect him, guilty of any
crime (the judge himself that tried him, when he had heard all they
could say against him, declared he <i>found no fault with him), yet
they desired Pilate that he might be slain</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.28" parsed="|Acts|13|28|0|0" passage="Ac 13:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>), and presented their address
against Christ with such fury and outrage that they compelled
Pilate to crucify him, not only contrary to his inclination, but
contrary to his conscience; they condemned him <i>to so great a
death,</i> though they could not convict him of the least sin. Paul
cannot charge this upon his hearers, as Peter did (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.23" parsed="|Acts|2|23|0|0" passage="Ac 2:23"><i>ch.</i> ii. 23</scripRef>): <i>You have with
wicked hands crucified and slain him;</i> for these, though Jews,
were far enough off; but he charges it upon the Jews at Jerusalem
and the rulers, to show what little reason those Jews of the
dispersion had to be so jealous for the honour of their nation as
they were, when it had brought upon itself such a load and stain of
guilt as this, and how justly they might have been cut off from all
benefit by the Messiah, who had thus abused him, and yet they were
not; but, notwithstanding all this, the preaching of this gospel
shall begin at Jerusalem. <i>Secondly,</i> The reason of this was
because <i>they knew him not,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.27" parsed="|Acts|13|27|0|0" passage="Ac 13:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. They knew not who he was, nor
what errand he came into the world upon; for, <i>if they had known,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.</i> Christ owned
this in extenuation of their crime: <i>They know not what they
do;</i> and so did Peter: <i>I wot that through ignorance you did
this,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.3.17" parsed="|Acts|3|17|0|0" passage="Ac 3:17"><i>ch.</i> iii.
17</scripRef>. It was also because they knew not the voice of the
prophets though they heard them read every sabbath day. They did
not understand nor consider that it was foretold that the Messiah
should suffer, or else they would never have been the instruments
of his suffering. Note, Many that read the prophets do not know the
voice of the prophets, do not understand the meaning of the
scriptures; they have the sound of the gospel in their ears, but
not the sense of it in their heads, nor the savour of it in their
hearts. And <i>therefore</i> men do not know Christ, nor know how
to carry it towards him, because they do not know the voice of the
prophets, who <i>testified beforehand concerning Christ.
Thirdly,</i> God overruled them, for the accomplishment of the
prophecies of the Old-Testament: <i>Because they knew not the voice
of the prophets,</i> which warned them not to touch God's Anointed,
<i>they fulfilled them in condemning him;</i> for so it was written
that <i>Messiah the prince shall be cut off, but not for
himself.</i> Note, It is possible that men may be fulfilling
scripture prophecies, even when they are breaking scripture
precepts, particularly in the persecution of the church, as in the
persecution of Christ. And this justifies the reason which is
sometimes given for the obscurity of scripture prophecies, that, if
they were too plain and obvious, the accomplishment of them would
thereby be prevented. So Paul saith here, <i>Because they knew not
the voice of the prophets,</i> therefore <i>they have fulfilled
them,</i> which implies that if they had understood them they would
not have fulfilled them. <i>Fourthly,</i> All that was foretold
concerning the sufferings of the Messiah was fulfilled in Christ
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p44.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.29" parsed="|Acts|13|29|0|0" passage="Ac 13:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>): <i>When
they had fulfilled all</i> the rest <i>that was written of him,</i>
even to the giving of him vinegar to drink in his thirst, then they
fulfilled what was foretold concerning his being buried. They
<i>took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.</i>
This is taken notice of here as that which made his resurrection
the more illustrious. Christ was separated from this world, as
those that are buried have nothing more to do with this world, nor
this world with them; and therefore our complete separation from
sin is represented by our being <i>buried with Christ.</i> And a
good Christian will be willing to be buried alive with Christ. They
laid him in a sepulchre, and thought they had him fast.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p45">[3.] That he <i>rose again from the
dead,</i> and saw no corruption. This was the great truth that was
to be preached; for it is the main pillar, by which the whole
fabric of the gospel is supported, and therefore he insists largely
upon this, and shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p46"><i>First,</i> That he rose by consent. When
he was imprisoned in the grave for our debt, he did not break
prison, but had a fair and legal discharge from the arrest he was
under (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p46.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.30" parsed="|Acts|13|30|0|0" passage="Ac 13:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>):
<i>God raised him from the dead,</i> sent an angel on purpose to
roll away the stone from the prison-door, returned to him the
spirit which at his death he had committed into the hands of his
Father, and quickened him by the Holy Ghost. His enemies laid him
in a sepulchre, with design he should always lay there; but God
said, <i>No;</i> and it was soon seen whose purpose should stand,
his or theirs.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p47"><i>Secondly,</i> That there was sufficient
proof of his having risen (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p47.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.31" parsed="|Acts|13|31|0|0" passage="Ac 13:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>): <i>He was seen many days,</i> in divers places,
upon divers occasions, by those that were most intimately
acquainted with him; for they <i>came up with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem,</i> were his constant attendants, and <i>they are his
witnesses unto the people.</i> They were appointed to be so, have
attested the thing many a time, and are ready to attest it, though
they were to die for the same. Paul says nothing of his own seeing
him, which was more convincing to himself than it could be when
produced to others.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p48"><i>Thirdly,</i> That the resurrection of
Christ was the performance of the promise made to the patriarchs;
it was not only true news, but good news: "In declaring this, we
<i>declare unto you glad tidings</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p48.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.32-Acts.13.33" parsed="|Acts|13|32|13|33" passage="Ac 13:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>), which should be in a
particular manner acceptable to you Jews. So far are we from
designing to put any slur upon you, or do you any wrong, that the
doctrine we preach, if you receive it aright, and understand it,
brings you the greatest honour and satisfaction imaginable; for it
is in the resurrection of Christ that <i>the promise which was made
to your fathers is fulfilled to you.</i>" He acknowledges it to be
the dignity of the Jewish nation that <i>to them pertained the
promises</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p48.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.4" parsed="|Rom|9|4|0|0" passage="Ro 9:4">Rom. ix. 4</scripRef>),
that they were the heirs of the promise, as they were the children
of the patriarchs to whom the promises were first made. The great
promise of the Old Testament was that of the Messiah, <i>in whom
all the families of the earth should be blessed,</i> and not the
family of Abraham only; though it was to be the peculiar honour of
that family that he should be raised up of it, yet it was to be the
common benefit of all families that he should be raised up to them.
Note, 1. God hath <i>raised up Jesus,</i> advanced him, and exalted
him; <i>raised</i> him <i>again</i> (so we read it), meaning
<i>from the dead.</i> We may take in both senses. God raised up
Jesus to be a prophet at his baptism, to be a priest to make
atonement at his death, and to be a king to rule over all at his
ascension; and <i>his raising him up from the dead</i> was the
confirmation and ratification of all these commissions, and proved
him raised of God to these offices. 2. This is the fulfilling of
the promises made to the fathers, the promise of sending the
Messiah, and of all those benefits and blessings which were to be
had with him and by him: "This is he that should come, and in him
you have all that God promised in the Messiah, though not all that
you promised yourselves." Paul puts himself into the number of the
Jews to whom the promise was fulfilled: <i>To us their
children.</i> Now, if those who preached the gospel brought them
<i>these glad tidings,</i> instead of looking upon them as enemies
to their nation, they ought to caress them as their best friends,
and embrace their doctrine with both arms; for if they valued the
promise so much, and themselves by it, much more the performance.
And the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, which was the
great thing that the Jews found themselves aggrieved at, was so far
from infringing the promise made to them that the promise itself,
that <i>all the families of the earth</i> should be blessed in the
Messiah, could not otherwise be accomplished.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p49"><i>Fourthly,</i> That the resurrection of
Christ was the great proof of his being the Son of God, and
confirms what was written in the second Psalm (thus ancient was the
order in which the Psalms are now placed), <i>Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee.</i> That the resurrection of Christ from
the dead was designed to evidence and evince this is plain from
that of the apostle (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p49.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.4" parsed="|Rom|1|4|0|0" passage="Ro 1:4">Rom. i.
4</scripRef>): <i>He was declared to be the Son of God with power,
by the resurrection from the dead.</i> When he was first raised up
out of obscurity, God declared concerning him by a voice from
heaven, <i>This is my beloved Son</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p49.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.17" parsed="|Matt|3|17|0|0" passage="Mt 3:17">Matt. iii. 17</scripRef>), which has a plain reference to
that in the second Psalm, <i>Thou art my Son.</i> Abundance of
truth there is couched in those words: that this Jesus was
<i>begotten of the Father before all worlds</i>—was <i>the
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person,</i> as
the son is of the father's—that he was the <b><i>logos,</i></b>
the <i>eternal thought of the eternal mind,</i>—that he was
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin;
for upon this account, also, <i>that holy thing was called the Son
of God</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p49.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.35" parsed="|Luke|1|35|0|0" passage="Lu 1:35">Luke i. 35</scripRef>),
that he was God's agent in creating and governing the world, and in
redeeming it and reconciling it to himself, and <i>faithful as a
son in his own house,</i> and as such was <i>heir of all
things.</i> Now all this, which was declared at Christ's baptism
and again at his transfiguration, was undeniably proved by his
resurrection. The decree which was so long before declared was then
confirmed; and the reason why it was impossible he should be held
by the bands of death was because he was the Son of God, and
consequently had <i>life in himself,</i> which he could not lay
down but with a design to resume it. When his eternal generation is
spoken of, it is not improper to say, <i>This day have I begotten
thee;</i> for <i>from everlasting to everlasting</i> is with God as
it were one and the same eternal day. Yet it may also be
accommodated to his resurrection, in a subordinate sense, "This day
have I made it to appear that I have begotten thee, and this day
have I begotten all that are given to thee;" for it is said
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p49.4" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.3" parsed="|1Pet|1|3|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:3">1 Pet. i. 3</scripRef>) that <i>the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,</i> as our God and Father,
<i>hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p50"><i>Fifthly,</i> That his being raised the
third day, so as not to see corruption, and to a heavenly life, so
as no more to return to corruption, that is, to the state of the
dead, as others did who were raised to life, further confirms his
being the Messiah promised.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p51"><i>a.</i> He rose to die no more; so it is
expressed, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p51.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.9" parsed="|Rom|6|9|0|0" passage="Ro 6:9">Rom. vi. 9</scripRef>: <i>As
concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to
return to corruption,</i> that is, to the grave, which is called
<i>corruption,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p51.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.17.14" parsed="|Job|17|14|0|0" passage="Job 17:14">Job xvii.
14</scripRef>. Lazarus came out of the grave with his grave-clothes
on, because he was to use them again; but Christ, having no more
occasion for them, left them behind. Now this was the fulfilling of
that scripture (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p51.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.3" parsed="|Isa|55|3|0|0" passage="Isa 55:3">Isa. lv.
3</scripRef>), <i>I will give you the sure mercies of David;</i>
<b><i>ta hosia Dabid ta pista</i></b>—<i>the holy things of David,
the faithful things;</i> for in the promise made to David, and in
him to Christ, great stress is laid upon the faithfulness of God
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p51.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.1-Ps.89.2 Bible:Ps.89.5 Bible:Ps.89.24 Bible:Ps.89.33" parsed="|Ps|89|1|89|2;|Ps|89|5|0|0;|Ps|89|24|0|0;|Ps|89|33|0|0" passage="Ps 89:1,2,5,24,33">Ps. lxxxix. 1, 2, 5, 24,
33</scripRef>), and upon the oath God had sworn <i>by his
holiness,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p51.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.35" parsed="|Ps|89|35|0|0" passage="Ps 89:35">Ps. lxxxix.
35</scripRef>. Now this makes them sure mercies indeed that he who
is entrusted with the dispensing of them has risen to die no more;
so that he ever lives to see his own will executed, and the
blessings he hath purchased for us given out to us. As, if Christ
had died and had not risen again, so if he had risen to die again,
we had come short of the sure mercies, or at least could not have
been sure of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p52"><i>b.</i> He rose so soon after he was dead
that his body did not see corruption; for it is not till the third
day that the body begins to change. Now this was promised to David;
it was one of <i>the sure mercies of David,</i> for it was said to
him in <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p52.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.10" parsed="|Ps|16|10|0|0" passage="Ps 16:10">Ps. xvi. 10</scripRef>,
<i>Neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p52.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.35" parsed="|Acts|13|35|0|0" passage="Ac 13:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. God had
promised to David that he would raise up the Messiah of his seed,
who should therefore be a man, but should not, like other men, see
corruption. This promise could not have its accomplishment in
David, but looked forward to Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p53">(<i>a.</i>) It could not be accomplished in
David himself (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.36" parsed="|Acts|13|36|0|0" passage="Ac 13:36"><i>v.</i>
36</scripRef>), for <i>David, after he had served his own
generation, by the will of God,</i> who raised him up to be what he
was, <i>fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw
corruption.</i> Here we have a short account of the life, death,
and burial, of the patriarch David, and his continuance under the
power of death. [<i>a.</i>] His life: <i>He served his own
generation, by the will of God,</i> before he slept the sleep of
death. David was a useful good man; he did good in the world <i>by
the will of God.</i> He made God's precepts his rule; he <i>served
his own generation</i> so as therein to serve God; he so
<i>served</i> and <i>pleased men (as whatever the king did pleased
the people,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.3.36" parsed="|2Sam|3|36|0|0" passage="2Sa 3:36">2 Sam. iii.
36</scripRef>), as still to keep himself the faithful servant of
God. See <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.1.10" parsed="|Gal|1|10|0|0" passage="Ga 1:10">Gal. i. 10</scripRef>. He
served the good of men, but did not serve the will of men. Or, by
the will of God's providence so ordering it, qualifying him for,
and calling him to, a public station, he <i>served his own
generation;</i> for every creature is that to us which God makes it
to be. David was a great blessing to the age wherein he lived; he
was the <i>servant</i> of his generation: many are the curse, and
plague, and burden of their generation. Even those that are in a
lower and narrower sphere must look upon it that they live to
<i>serve their generation;</i> and those that will do good in the
world must make themselves <i>servants of all,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.19" parsed="|1Cor|9|19|0|0" passage="1Co 9:19">1 Cor. ix. 19</scripRef>. We were not born for
ourselves, but are members of communities, to which we must study
to be serviceable. Yet here is the difference between David and
Christ, that David was to serve only his own generation, that
generation in which he lived, and therefore when he had done what
he had to do, and written what he had to write, he died, and
continued in the grave; but Christ (not by his writings or words
upon record only as David, but by his personal agency) was to serve
<i>all</i> generations, must ever live to reign over the house of
Jacob, not as David, for forty years, but for all ages, as long as
the sun and moon endure, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.29 Bible:Ps.89.36 Bible:Ps.89.37" parsed="|Ps|89|29|0|0;|Ps|89|36|0|0;|Ps|89|37|0|0" passage="Ps 89:29,36,37">Ps.
lxxxix. 29, 36, 37</scripRef>. His throne must be as the days of
heaven, and all generations must be blessed in him, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.17" parsed="|Ps|72|17|0|0" passage="Ps 72:17">Ps. lxxii. 17</scripRef>. [<i>b.</i>] His death:
<i>He fell asleep.</i> Death is a sleep, a quiet rest, to those
who, while they lived, laboured in the service of God and their
generation. Observe, He did not fall asleep till he had served his
generation, till he had done the work for which God raised him up.
God's servants have their work assigned them; and, when they have
<i>accomplished as a hireling their day,</i> then, and not till
then, they are called to rest. God's witnesses never die till they
have finished their testimony; and then <i>the sleep,</i> the
death, <i>of the labouring man will be sweet.</i> David was not
permitted to build the temple, and therefore when he had made
preparation for it, which was the service he was designed to, he
fell asleep, and left the work to Solomon. [<i>c.</i>] His burial:
<i>He was laid to his fathers.</i> Though he was buried in <i>the
city of David</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.7" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.2.10" parsed="|1Kgs|2|10|0|0" passage="1Ki 2:10">1 Kings ii.
10</scripRef>), and not in the sepulchre of Jesse his father in
Bethlehem, yet he might be said to be <i>laid to his fathers;</i>
for the grave, in general, is the habitation of our fathers, of
those that are gone before us, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.19" parsed="|Ps|49|19|0|0" passage="Ps 49:19">Ps.
xlix. 19</scripRef>. [<i>d.</i>] His continuance in the grave:
<i>He saw corruption.</i> We are sure he did not rise again; this
Peter insists upon when he freely speaks of the patriarch David
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p53.9" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.29" parsed="|Acts|2|29|0|0" passage="Ac 2:29"><i>ch.</i> ii. 29</scripRef>): <i>He
is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this
day.</i> He saw corruption, and therefore that promise could not
have its accomplishment in him. But,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p54">(<i>b.</i>) It was accomplished in the Lord
Jesus (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p54.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.37" parsed="|Acts|13|37|0|0" passage="Ac 13:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>): <i>He
whom God raised again saw no corruption;</i> for it was in him that
the sure mercies were to be reserved for us. He rose the third day,
and therefore did not see corruption then; and he rose to die no
more, and therefore never did. Of him therefore the promise must be
understood, and no other.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p55"><i>c.</i> Having given them this account of
the Lord Jesus, he comes to make application of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p56">(<i>a.</i>) In the midst of his discourse,
to engage their attention, he had told his hearers that they were
concerned in all this (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p56.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.26" parsed="|Acts|13|26|0|0" passage="Ac 13:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>): "<i>To you is the word of this salvation sent,</i>
to you first. If you by your unbelief make it a word of rejection
to you, you may thank yourselves; but it is sent to you for a word
of salvation; if it be not so, it is your own fault." Let them not
peevishly argue that because it was sent to the Gentiles, who had
no communion with them, therefore it was not sent to them; for to
them it was sent in the first place. "<i>To you men</i> this is
sent, and not to the angels that sinned. To you living men, and not
to the congregation of the dead and damned, whose day of grace is
over." He therefore speaks to them with tenderness and respect: You
are <i>men and brethren;</i> and so we are to look upon all those
that stand fair with us for the great salvation as having the word
of salvation sent to them. Those to whom he does by warrant from
heaven here bring the <i>word of salvation</i> are, [<i>a.</i>] The
native Jews, Hebrews of the Hebrews, as Paul himself was:
"<i>Children of the stock of Abraham,</i> though a degenerate race,
yet to you is this word of salvation sent; nay, it is therefore
sent to you, to save you from your sins." It is an advantage to be
of a good stock; for, though salvation does not always follow the
children of godly parents, yet the word of salvation does:
<i>Abraham will command his children and his house-hold after
him.</i> [<i>b.</i>] The proselytes, the Gentiles by birth, that
were in some degree brought over to the Jews' religion:
"<i>Whosoever among you that feareth God.</i> You that have a sense
of natural religion, and have subjected yourselves to the laws of
that, and taken hold of the comforts of that, <i>to you is the word
of this salvation sent;</i> you need the further discoveries and
directions of revealed religion, are prepared for them, and will
bid them welcome, and therefore shall certainly be welcome to take
the benefit of them."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p57">(<i>b.</i>) In the close of his discourse
he applies what he had said concerning Christ to his hearers. He
had told them a long story concerning <i>this Jesus;</i> now they
would be ready to ask, What is all this to us? And he tells them
plainly what it is to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p58">[<i>a.</i>] It will be their unspeakable
advantage if they embrace Jesus Christ, and believe this word of
salvation. It will relieve them where their greatest danger lies;
and that is from the guilt of their sins: "<i>Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren</i>—we are warranted to proclaim it to
you, and you are called to take notice of it." He did not stand up
to preach before them, but to preach to them, and not without hopes
of prevailing with them; for they are men, reasonable creatures,
and capable of being argued with; they are <i>brethren,</i> spoken
to, and dealt with, by men like themselves; not only of the same
nature, but of the same nation. It is proper for the preachers of
the gospel to call their hearers brethren, as speaking familiarly
to them, and with an affectionate concern for their welfare, and as
being equally interested with them in the gospel they preach. Let
all that hear the gospel of Christ know these two
things—<i>1st,</i> That it is an act of indemnity granted by the
King of kings to the children of men, who stand attainted at his
bar of treason against his crown and dignity; and it is for and in
consideration of the mediation of Christ between God and man that
this act of grace is passed and proclaimed (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p58.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.38" parsed="|Acts|13|38|0|0" passage="Ac 13:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>): <i>"Through this man,</i> who
died and rose again, <i>is preached unto you the forgiveness of
sins.</i> We have to tell you, in God's name, that your sins,
though many and great, may be forgiven, and how it is come about
that they may be so, without any injury to God's honour, and how
you may obtain the forgiveness of your sins. We are to preach
repentance for the remission of sins, and divine grace giving both
<i>repentance and remission of sins.</i> The remission of sins is
<i>through this man.</i> By his merit it was purchased, in his name
it is offered, and by his authority it is bestowed; and therefore
you are concerned to be acquainted with him, and interested in him.
We preach to you <i>the forgiveness of sins.</i> That is the
salvation we bring you, the word of God; and therefore you ought to
bid us welcome and look upon us as your friends, and messengers of
good tidings." <i>2ndly,</i> That it does that for us which the law
of Moses could not do. The Jews were jealous for the law, and
because it prescribed expiatory and pacificatory sacrifices, and a
great variety of purifications, fancied they might be justified by
it before God. "No," saith Paul, "be it known to you that it is by
Christ only that <i>those who believe in him,</i> and none else,
are <i>justified from all things,</i> from all the guilt and stain
of sin, <i>from which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses</i>" (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p58.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.39" parsed="|Acts|13|39|0|0" passage="Ac 13:39"><i>v.</i> 39</scripRef>);
therefore they ought to entertain and embrace the gospel, and not
to adhere to the law in opposition to it, because the gospel is
perfective, not destructive, of the law. Note, 1. The great concern
of sinners it to be justified, to be acquitted from guilt and
accepted as righteous in God's sight. 2. Those who are truly
justified are acquitted from all their guilt; for if any be left
charged upon the sinner he is undone. 3. It was impossible for a
sinner to be justified by the law of Moses. Not by his moral law,
for we have all broken it, and are transgressing it daily, so that
instead of justifying us it condemns us. Not by his remedial law,
for it was not possible that the <i>blood of bulls and goats should
take away sin,</i> should satisfy God's offended justice, or pacify
the sinner's wounded conscience. It was but a ritual and typical
institution. See <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p58.3" passage="Heb 9:9,10:1,4">Heb. ix. 9; x.
1, 4</scripRef>. 4. By Jesus Christ we obtain a complete
justification; for by him a complete atonement was made for sin. We
are justified, not only by him as our Judge, but by him as our
righteousness, <i>the Lord our righteousness.</i> 5. All that
believe in Christ, that rely upon him and give up themselves to be
ruled by him, are justified by him, and none but they. 6. What the
law <i>could not do</i> for us, <i>in that it was weak,</i> that
the gospel of Christ does; and therefore it was folly, out of a
jealousy for the law of Moses and the honour of that institution,
to conceive a jealousy of the gospel of Christ and the designs of
that more perfect institution.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p59">[<i>b.</i>] It is at their utmost peril if
they reject the gospel of Christ, and turn their backs upon the
offer now made them (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.40-Acts.13.41" parsed="|Acts|13|40|13|41" passage="Ac 13:40,41"><i>v.</i> 40,
41</scripRef>): <i>Beware therefore;</i> you have a fair invitation
given you, look to yourselves, lest you either neglect or oppose
it." Note, Those to whom the gospel is preached must see themselves
upon their trial and good behaviour, and are concerned to beware
lest they be found refusers of the grace offered. "Beware lest you
not only come short of the blessings and benefits spoken of in the
prophets as coming upon those that believe, but fall under the doom
spoken of in the prophets as coming upon those that persist in
unbelief: <i>lest that come upon you which is spoken of.</i>" Note,
The threatenings are warnings ; what we are told will come upon
impenitent sinners is designed to awaken us to beware lest it
should come upon us. Now the prophecy referred to we have <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.5" parsed="|Hab|1|5|0|0" passage="Hab 1:5">Hab. i. 5</scripRef>, where the destruction of
the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans is foretold as an incredible
unparalleled destruction; and this is here applied to the
destruction that was coming upon that nation by the Romans, for
their rejecting the gospel of Christ. The apostle follows the
Septuagint translation, which reads, <i>Behold, you despisers</i>
(for, <i>behold, you among the heathen</i>); because it made the
text more apposite to his purpose. 1<i>st,</i> "Take heed lest the
guilt come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets—the guilt
of despising the gospel and the tenders of it, and despising the
Gentiles that were advanced to partake of it. Beware lest it be
said to you, <i>Behold, you despisers.</i>" Note, It is the ruin of
many that they despise religion, they look upon it as a thing below
them, and are not willing to stoop to it. 2<i>ndly,</i> "Take heed
lest the judgment come upon you which was spoken of in the
prophets: that <i>you shall wonder and perish,</i> that is,
wonderfully perish; your perdition shall be amazing to yourselves
and all about you." Those that will not wonder and be saved shall
wonder and perish. Those that enjoyed the privileges of the church,
and flattered themselves with a conceit that these would save them,
will wonder when they find their vain presumption overruled and
that their privileges do but make their condemnation the more
intolerable. Let the unbelieving Jews expect that God will <i>work
a work in their days which you shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it unto you.</i> This may be understood as a
prediction, either, 1. Of their sin, that they should be
incredulous, that that great work of God, the redemption of the
world by Christ, though it should be in the most solemn manner
declared unto them, yet they would <i>in no wise believe it,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.1" parsed="|Isa|53|1|0|0" passage="Isa 53:1">Isa. liii. 1</scripRef>, <i>Who hath
believed our report?</i> Though it was of God's working, to whom
nothing is impossible, and of his declaring, who cannot lie, yet
they would not give credit to it. Those that had the honour and
advantage to have this work wrought in their days had not the grace
to believe it. Or, 2. Of their destruction. The dissolving of the
Jewish polity, the taking of the kingdom of God from them and
giving it to the Gentiles, the destruction of their holy house and
city, and the dispersion of their people, was a work which one
would not have believed should have ever been done, considering how
much they had been the favourites of Heaven. The calamities that
were brought upon them were such as were never before brought upon
any people, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.21" parsed="|Matt|24|21|0|0" passage="Mt 24:21">Matt. xxiv. 21</scripRef>.
It was said of their destruction by the Chaldeans, and it was true
of their last destruction, <i>All the inhabitants of the world
would not have believed that the enemy would have entered into the
gates of Jerusalem as they did,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.12" parsed="|Lam|4|12|0|0" passage="La 4:12">Lam. iv. 12</scripRef>. Thus is there a <i>strange
punishment to the workers of iniquity,</i> especially to the
despisers of Christ, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p59.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.3" parsed="|Job|31|3|0|0" passage="Job 31:3">Job xxxi.
3</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xiv-p59.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.42-Acts.13.52" parsed="|Acts|13|42|13|52" passage="Ac 13:42-52" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.13.42-Acts.13.52">
<h4 id="Acts.xiv-p59.8">Paul at Antioch in Pisidia.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xiv-p60">42 And when the Jews were gone out of the
synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached
to them the next sabbath.   43 Now when the congregation was
broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul
and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in
the grace of God.   44 And the next sabbath day came almost
the whole city together to hear the word of God.   45 But when
the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake
against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and
blaspheming.   46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said,
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken
to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.  
47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, <i>saying,</i> I have set
thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for
salvation unto the ends of the earth.   48 And when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the
Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.  
49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the
region.   50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable
women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution
against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
  51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them,
and came unto Iconium.   52 And the disciples were filled with
joy, and with the Holy Ghost.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p61">The design of this story being to vindicate
the apostles, especially Paul (as he doth himself at large,
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p61.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.1-Rom.11.36" parsed="|Rom|11|1|11|36" passage="Ro 11:1-36">Rom. xi.</scripRef>), from the
reflections of the Jews upon him for preaching the gospel to the
Gentiles, it is here observed that he proceeded therein with all
the caution imaginable, and upon due consideration, of which we
have here an instance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p62">I. There were some of the Jews that were so
incensed against the preaching of the gospel, not to the Gentiles,
but to themselves, that they would not bear to hear it, but <i>went
out of the synagogue</i> while Paul was preaching (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p62.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.42" parsed="|Acts|13|42|0|0" passage="Ac 13:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>), in contempt of him and
his doctrine, and to the disturbance of the congregation. It is
probable they whispered among themselves, exciting one another to
it, and did it by consent. Now this bespoke, 1. An open infidelity,
as plain a profession of unbelief as coming to hear the gospel is
of faith. They thus publicly avowed their contempt of Christ and of
his doctrine and law, were not ashamed, neither could they blush;
and they thus endeavoured to beget prejudices in the minds of
others against the gospel; they went out to draw others to follow
their pernicious ways. 2. An obstinate infidelity. They went out of
the synagogue, not only to show that they did not believe the
gospel, but because they were resolved they would not, and
therefore got out of the hearing of those things that had a
tendency to convince them. They stopped their ears like the deaf
adder. Justly therefore was the gospel taken from them, when they
first took themselves from it, and turned themselves out of the
church before they were turned out of it. For it is certainly true
that God never leaves any till they first leave him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p63">II. The Gentiles were as willing to hear
the gospel as those rude and ill-conditioned Jews were to get out
of the hearing of it: <i>They besought that these words,</i> or
words to this effect, <i>might be preached to them the next
sabbath;</i> in <i>the week between,</i> so some take it; on the
second and fifth days of the week, which in some synagogues were
their lecture days. But it appears (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p63.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.44" parsed="|Acts|13|44|0|0" passage="Ac 13:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>) that it was the next sabbath
day that they came together. They begged, 1. That the same offer
might be made to them that was made to the Jews. Paul in this
sermon had brought the word of salvation to the Jews and
proselytes, but had taken no notice of the Gentiles; and therefore
they begged that forgiveness of sins through Christ might be
preached to them, as it was to the Jews. The Jews' leavings, nay,
loathings, were their longings. This justifies Paul in his
preaching to them, that he was invited to it, as Peter was sent for
to Cornelius. Who could refuse to break the bread of life to those
who begged so hard for it, and to give that to the poor at the door
which the children at the table threw under their feet? 2. That the
same instructions might be given to them. They had heard the
doctrine of Christ, but did not understand it at the first hearing,
nor could they remember all that they had heard, and therefore they
begged it might be preached to them again. Note, It is good to have
the word of Christ repeated to us. What we have heard we should
desire to hear again, that it may take deep root in us, and the
nail that is driven may be clenched and be <i>as a nail in a sure
place.</i> To hear <i>the same things</i> should not be grievous,
because it is safe, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p63.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.1" parsed="|Phil|3|1|0|0" passage="Php 3:1">Phil. iii.
1</scripRef>. It aggravates the bad disposition of the Jews that
the Gentiles desired to hear that often which they were not willing
to hear once; and commends the good disposition of the Gentiles
that they did not follow the bad example which the Jews set
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p64">III. There were some, nay, there were many,
both of Jews and proselytes, that were wrought upon by the
preaching of the gospel. Those who aggravated the matter of the
Jews' rejection by the preaching of the gospel, cried out, as is
usual in such cases, "They have cast away, and cast off, all the
people of God." "Nay," says Paul, "it is not so; for abundance of
the Jews have embraced Christ, and are taken in;" himself for one,
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p64.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.1 Bible:Rom.11.5" parsed="|Rom|11|1|0|0;|Rom|11|5|0|0" passage="Ro 11:1,5">Rom. xi. 1, 5</scripRef>. So it was
here: <i>Many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul
and Barnabas,</i> and received further instructions and
encouragement from them. 1. They submitted to the grace of God, and
were admitted to the benefit and comfort of it, which is implied in
their being exhorted to continue in it. They <i>followed Paul and
Barnabas;</i> they became their disciples, or rather the disciples
of Christ, whose agents they were. Those that join themselves to
Christ will join themselves to his ministers, and follow them. And
Paul and Barnabas, though they were sent to the Gentiles, yet bade
those of the Jews welcome that were willing to come under their
instructions, such hearty well-wishers were they to all the Jews
and their friends, if they pleased. 2. They were exhorted and
encouraged to persevere herein: <i>Paul and Barnabas, speaking to
them</i> with all the freedom and friendship imaginable,
<i>persuaded them to continue in the grace of God,</i> to hold fast
that which they had received, to continue in their belief of the
gospel of grace, their dependence upon the Spirit of grace, and
their attendance upon the means of grace. And the grace of God
shall not be wanting to those who thus continue in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p65">IV. There was a cheerful attendance upon
the preaching of the gospel the <i>next sabbath day</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p65.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.44" parsed="|Acts|13|44|0|0" passage="Ac 13:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>): <i>Almost the whole
city</i> (the generality of whom were Gentiles) <i>came together to
hear the word of God.</i> 1. It is probable that Paul and Barnabas
were not idle in the week-days, but took all opportunities in the
week between (as some think the Gentiles desired) to bring them
acquainted with Christ, and to raise their expectations from him.
They did a great deal of service to the gospel in private discourse
and conversation, as well as in their public sermons. Wisdom cried
in the chief places of concourse, and the opening of the gates, as
well as in the synagogues, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p65.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.20-Prov.1.21" parsed="|Prov|1|20|1|21" passage="Pr 1:20,21">Prov. i.
20, 21</scripRef>. 2. This brought a vast concourse of people to
the synagogue on the sabbath day. Some came out of curiosity, the
thing being new; others longing to see what the Jews would do upon
the second tender of the gospel to them; and many who had heard
something of the word of God came to hear more, and to hear it,
<i>not as the word of men but as the word of God,</i> by which we
must be ruled and judged. Now this justified Paul in preaching to
the Gentiles, that he met with the most encouraging auditors among
them. There <i>the fields were white to the harvest,</i> and
therefore why should he not there put in his sickle?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p66">V. The Jews were enraged at this; and not
only would not receive the gospel themselves, but were filled with
indignation at those that crowded after it (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p66.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.45" parsed="|Acts|13|45|0|0" passage="Ac 13:45"><i>v.</i> 45</scripRef>): <i>When the Jews saw the
multitudes,</i> and considered what an encouragement it was to Paul
to go on in his work when he saw the people thus flying like doves
to their windows, and what probability there was that among these
multitudes some would be, without doubt, wrought upon, and probably
the greater part, to embrace Christ—this <i>filled them with
envy.</i> 1. They grudged the interest the apostles had in the
people, were vexed to see the synagogue so full when they were
going to preach. This was the same spirit that worked in the
Pharisees towards Christ; they were cut to the heart when they saw
<i>the whole world go after him.</i> When the kingdom of heaven was
opened they not only would not go in themselves, but were angry
with those that did. 2. They opposed the doctrine the apostles
preached: <i>They spoke against those things that were spoken by
Paul,</i> cavilled at them, started objections against them,
finding some fault or other with every thing he said,
<i>contradicting and blaspheming;</i> <b><i>antelegon
antilegontes</i></b>—<i>contradicting, they contradicted.</i> They
did it with the utmost spite and rage imaginable: they persisted in
their contradiction, and nothing would silence them, they
contradicted for contradiction-sake, and denied that which was most
evident; and, when they could find no colour of objection, they
broke out into ill language against Christ and his gospel,
blaspheming him and it. From the language of the carnal man that
receives not the things of the Spirit of God, and therefore
contradicts them, they proceed to the language of incarnate devils,
and blaspheme them. Commonly those who begin with contradicting end
with blaspheming.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p67">VI. The apostles hereupon solemnly and
openly declare themselves discharged from their obligations to the
Jews, and at liberty to bring the word of salvation to the
Gentiles, even by the tacit consent of the Jews themselves. Never
let the Jew lay the fault of the carrying of the kingdom of God to
the Gentiles upon the apostles, for that complaint of theirs is for
ever silenced by their own act and deed, for what they did here is
for ever a bar to it. "Tender and refusal (we say) are good payment
in law." The Jews had the tender of the gospel, and did refuse it,
and therefore ought not to say any thing against the Gentiles
having it. In declaring this, it is said (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.46" parsed="|Acts|13|46|0|0" passage="Ac 13:46"><i>v.</i> 46</scripRef>), <i>Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold,</i> more bold than they had been while they were shy of
looking favourably upon the Gentiles, for fear of giving offence to
the Jews, and laying a stumbling-block in their way. Note, There is
a time for the preachers of the gospel to show as much of the
boldness of the lion as of the wisdom of the serpent and the
harmlessness of the dove. When the adversaries of Christ's cause
begin to be daring, it is not for its advocates to be timid. While
there is any hope of working upon those that oppose themselves they
must be <i>instructed with meekness</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.2" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.2.25" parsed="|2Tim|2|25|0|0" passage="2Ti 2:25">2 Tim. ii. 25</scripRef>); but, when that method has
long been tried in vain, we must wax bold, and tell them what will
be the issue of their opposition. The impudence of the enemies of
the gospel, instead of frightening, should rather embolden its
friends; for they are sure that they have a good cause, and they
know in whom they have trusted to bear them out. Now Paul and
Barnabas, having made the Jews a fair offer of gospel grace, here
give them fair notice of their bringing it to the Gentiles, <i>if
by any means</i> (as Paul says <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.14" parsed="|Rom|11|14|0|0" passage="Ro 11:14">Rom.
xi. 14</scripRef>) <i>they might provoke them to emulation.</i> 1.
They own that the Jews were entitled to the first offer: "<i>It was
necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to
you,</i> to whom the promise was made, to you <i>of the lost sheep
of the house of Israel,</i> to whom Christ reckoned himself first
sent." And his charge to the preachers of his gospel to <i>begin at
Jerusalem</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.47" parsed="|Luke|24|47|0|0" passage="Lu 24:47">Luke xxiv.
47</scripRef>) was a tacit direction to all that went into other
countries to begin with the Jews, <i>to whom pertained the giving
of the law,</i> and therefore the preaching of the gospel. <i>Let
the children first be served,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.5" osisRef="Bible:Mark.7.27" parsed="|Mark|7|27|0|0" passage="Mk 7:27">Mark
vii. 27</scripRef>. 2. They charge them with the refusal of it:
"<i>You put it from you;</i> you will not accept of it; nay, you
will not so much as bear the offer of it, but take it as an affront
to you." If men put the gospel from them, God justly takes it from
them; why should manna be given to those that loathe it and call it
<i>light bread,</i> or the privileges of the gospel forced on those
that put them away, and say, <i>We have no part in David?</i>
Herein they <i>judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life.</i>
In one sense we must all judge ourselves unworthy of everlasting
life, for there is nothing in us, nor done by us, by which we can
pretend to merit it, and we must be made sensible of this; but here
the meaning is, "You discover, or make it to appear, that you are
not meet for eternal life; you throw away all your claims and give
up your pretensions to it; since you will not take it from his
hands, into whose hand the Father has given it,
<b><i>krinete,</i></b> <i>you do,</i> in effect, <i>pass this
judgment</i> upon yourselves, and <i>out of your own mouth you
shall be judged;</i> you will not have it by Christ, by whom alone
it is to be had, and so shall your doom be, you shall not have it
at all." 3. Upon this they ground their preaching the gospel to the
uncircumcised: "Since you will not accept eternal life as it is
offered, our way is plain, <i>Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.</i> If
one will not, another will. If those that were first invited to the
wedding-feast will not come, we must invite out of the highways and
hedges those that will, for <i>the wedding must be furnished with
guests.</i> If he that is next of kin will not do the kinsman's
part, he must not complain that another will," <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.6" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.4" parsed="|Ruth|4|4|0|0" passage="Ru 4:4">Ruth iv. 4</scripRef>. 4. They justify themselves in this
by a divine warrant (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.47" parsed="|Acts|13|47|0|0" passage="Ac 13:47"><i>v.</i>
47</scripRef>): "<i>For so hath the Lord commanded us;</i> the Lord
Jesus gave us directions to witness to him in Jerusalem and Judea
first, and after that <i>to the utmost part of the earth,</i> to
preach the gospel to <i>every creature,</i> to <i>disciple all
nations.</i>" This is according to what was foretold in the
Old-Testament. When the Messiah, in the prospect of the Jews'
infidelity, was ready to say, <i>I have laboured in vain,</i> he
was told, to his satisfaction, that though <i>Israel were not
gathered,</i> yet <i>he should be glorious,</i> that his blood
should not be shed in vain, nor his purchase made in vain, nor his
doctrine preached in vain, nor his Spirit sent in vain—"For <i>I
have set thee,</i> not only raised thee up, but established thee,
to be <i>a light of the Gentiles,</i> not only a shining light for
a time, but a standing light, set thee for a light, <i>that thou
shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.</i>" Note,
(1.) Christ is not only the Saviour, but the salvation, is himself
our righteousness, and life, and strength. (2.) Wherever Christ is
designed to be salvation, he is set up to be a light; he enlightens
the understanding, and so saves the soul. (3.) He is, and is to be,
light and salvation to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth.
Those of every nation shall be welcome to him, some of every nation
have heard of him (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p67.8" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.18" parsed="|Rom|10|18|0|0" passage="Ro 10:18">Rom. x.
18</scripRef>), and all nations shall at length become his kingdom.
This prophecy has had its accomplishment in part in the setting up
of the kingdom of Christ in this island of ours, which lies, as it
were, in the <i>ends of the earth,</i> a corner of the world, and
shall be accomplished more and more when the time comes for the
<i>bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p68">VII. The Gentiles cheerfully embraced that
which the Jews scornfully rejected, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p68.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.48-Acts.13.49" parsed="|Acts|13|48|13|49" passage="Ac 13:48,49"><i>v.</i> 48, 49</scripRef>. Never was land lost for
want of heirs; <i>through the fall of the Jews, salvation is come
to the Gentiles:</i> the <i>casting off of them was the reconciling
of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the
Gentiles;</i> so the apostle shows at large, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p68.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.11-Rom.11.12 Bible:Rom.11.15" parsed="|Rom|11|11|11|12;|Rom|11|15|0|0" passage="Ro 11:11,12,15">Rom. xi. 11, 12, 15</scripRef>. The Jews, the
natural branches, were broken off, and the Gentiles, that were
branches of the wild olive, were thereupon grafted in, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p68.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.17 Bible:Rom.11.19" parsed="|Rom|11|17|0|0;|Rom|11|19|0|0" passage="Ro 11:17,19"><i>v.</i> 17, 19</scripRef>. Now here we are
told how the Gentiles welcomed this happy turn in their favour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p69">1. They took the comfort of it: <i>When
they heard this they were glad.</i> It was good news to them that
they might have admission into covenant and communion with God by a
clearer, nearer, and better way than submitting to the ceremonial
law, and being proselyted to the Jewish religion—that the
partition-wall was taken down and they were as welcome to the
benefits of the Messiah's kingdom as the Jews themselves, and might
share in their promise, without coming under their yoke. This was
indeed <i>glad tidings of great joy to all people.</i> Note, Our
being put into a possibility of salvation, and a capacity for it,
ought to be the matter of our rejoicing; when the Gentiles did but
hear that the offers of grace should be made them, the word of
grace preached to them, and the means of grace afforded them,
<i>they were glad.</i> "Now there is some hope for us." Many grieve
under doubts whether they have an interest in Christ or no, when
they should be rejoicing that they have an interest in him; the
golden sceptre is held out to them, and they are invited to come
and touch the top of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p70">2. They gave God the praise of it: <i>They
glorified the word of the Lord;</i> that is, Christ (so some), the
essential Word; they entertained a profound veneration for him, and
expressed the high thoughts they had of him. Or, rather, <i>the
gospel;</i> the more they knew of it, the more they admired it. Oh!
what a light, what a power, what a treasure, does this gospel bring
along with it! How excellent are its truths, its precepts, its
promises! How far transcending all other institutions! How plainly
divine and heavenly is its origin! Thus they <i>glorified the word
of the Lord,</i> and it is this which he has himself <i>magnified
above all his name</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p70.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.138.2" parsed="|Ps|138|2|0|0" passage="Ps 138:2">Ps. cxxxviii.
2</scripRef>), and will <i>magnify</i> and <i>make honourable,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p70.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.42.21" parsed="|Isa|42|21|0|0" passage="Isa 42:21">Isa. xlii. 21</scripRef>. They
glorified the word of the Lord, (1.) Because now the knowledge of
it was diffused and not confined to the Jews only. Note, It is the
glory of the word of the Lord that the further it spreads the
brighter it shines, which shows it to be not like the light of the
candle, but like that of the sun when he goes forth in his
strength. (2.) Because now the knowledge of it was brought to them.
Note, Those speak best of the honour of the word of the Lord that
speak experimentally, that have themselves been subdued by its
power, and comforted by its sweetness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p71">3. Many of them became, not only professors
of the Christian faith, but sincerely obedient to the faith: <i>As
many as were ordained to eternal life believed.</i> God by his
Spirit wrought true faith in those for whom he had in his councils
from everlasting designed a happiness to everlasting. (1.) Those
believed to whom God gave grace to believe, whom by a secret and
mighty operation he brought into subjection to the gospel of
Christ, and made willing in the day of his power. Those came to
Christ whom the Father drew, and to whom the Spirit made the gospel
call effectual. It is called <i>the faith of the operation of
God</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p71.1" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.12" parsed="|Col|2|12|0|0" passage="Col 2:12">Col. ii. 12</scripRef>), and
is said to be <i>wrought by the same power that raised up
Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p71.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.1.19-Eph.1.20" parsed="|Eph|1|19|1|20" passage="Eph 1:19,20">Eph. i. 19,
20</scripRef>. (2.) God gave this grace to believe to all those
among them who were ordained to eternal life (for <i>whom he had
predestinated, them he also called,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p71.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.30" parsed="|Rom|8|30|0|0" passage="Ro 8:30">Rom. viii. 30</scripRef>); or, <i>as many as were
disposed to eternal life,</i> as many as had a concern about their
eternal state, and aimed to make sure of eternal life, believed in
Christ, in whom God hath treasured up that life (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p71.4" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.11" parsed="|1John|5|11|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:11">1 John v. 11</scripRef>), and who is the only way to it;
and it was the grace of God that wrought it in them. Thus all those
captives, and those only, took the benefit of Cyrus's proclamation,
<i>whose spirit God had raised up to build the house of the Lord
which is in Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p71.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.5" parsed="|Ezra|1|5|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:5">Ezra i.
5</scripRef>. Those will be brought to believe in Christ that by
his grace are well disposed to eternal life, and make this their
aim.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p72">4. When they believed they did what they
could to spread the knowledge of Christ and his gospel among their
neighbours (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p72.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.49" parsed="|Acts|13|49|0|0" passage="Ac 13:49"><i>v.</i> 49</scripRef>):
<i>And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the
region.</i> When it was received with so much satisfaction in the
chief city, it soon spread into all parts of the country. Those new
converts were themselves ready to communicate to others that which
they were so full of themselves. <i>The Lord gave the word, and
then great was the company of those that published it,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p72.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.11" parsed="|Ps|68|11|0|0" passage="Ps 68:11">Ps. lxviii. 11</scripRef>. Those that
have become acquainted with Christ themselves will do what they can
to bring others acquainted with him. Those in great and rich cities
that have received the gospel should not think to engross it, as
if, like learning and philosophy, it were only to be the
entertainment of the more polite and elevated part of mankind, but
should do what they can to get it published in the country among
the ordinary sort of people, the poor and unlearned, who have souls
to be saved as well as they.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p73">VIII. Paul and Barnabas, having sown the
seeds of a Christian church there, quitted the place, and went to
do the like else-where. We read not any thing of their working
miracles here, to confirm their doctrine, and to convince people of
the truth of it; for, though God then did ordinarily make use of
that method of conviction, yet he could, when he pleased, do his
work without it; and begetting faith by the immediate influence of
his Spirit was itself the greatest miracle to those in whom it was
wrought. Yet, it is probable that they did work miracles, for we
find they did in the next place they came to, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p73.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.14.3" parsed="|Acts|14|3|0|0" passage="Ac 14:3"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 3</scripRef>. Now here we are told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p74">1. How <i>the unbelieving Jews</i> expelled
the apostles out of that country. They first turned their back upon
them, and then <i>lifted up the heel against them</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p74.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.50" parsed="|Acts|13|50|0|0" passage="Ac 13:50"><i>v.</i> 50</scripRef>): <i>They raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas,</i> excited the mob to
persecute them in <i>their</i> way by insulting their persons as
they went along the streets; excited the magistrates to persecute
them in <i>their</i> way, by imprisoning and punishing them. When
<i>they could not resist the wisdom and spirit wherewith they
spoke,</i> they had recourse to these brutish methods, the last
refuge of an obstinate infidelity. Satan and his agents are most
exasperated against the preachers of the gospel when they see them
go on successfully, and therefore then will be sure to raise
persecution against them. Thus it has been the common lot of the
best men in the world to suffer ill for doing well, to be
persecuted instead of being preferred for the good services they
have done to mankind. Observe, (1.) What method the Jews took to
give them trouble: <i>They stirred up the devout and honourable
women</i> against them. They could not make any considerable
interest themselves, but they applied to some ladies of quality in
the city, that were well affected to the Jewish religion, and were
proselytes of the gate, therefore called <i>devout women.</i>
These, according to the genius of their sex, were zealous in their
way, and bigoted; and it was easy, by false stories and
misrepresentations, to incense them against the gospel of Christ,
as if it had been destructive of all religion, of which really it
is perfective. It is good to see honourable women devout, and well
affected to religious worship: The less they have to do in the
world, the more they should do for their souls, and the more time
they should spend in communion with God; but it is sad when, under
colour of devotion to God, they conceive an enmity to Christ, as
those here mentioned. What! women persecutors! Can they forget the
tenderness and compassion of their sex? What! honourable women! Can
they thus stain their honour, and disgrace themselves, and do so
mean a thing? But, which is strangest of all, devout women! Will
they kill Christ's servants, and think therein they do God service?
Let those therefore that have zeal see that it be according to
knowledge. By these devout and honourable women they stirred up
likewise <i>the chief men of the city,</i> the magistrates and the
rulers, who had power in their hands and set them against the
apostles, and they had so little consideration as to suffer
themselves to be made the tools of this ill-natured party, who
<i>would neither go into the kingdom of heaven themselves nor
suffer those who were entering to go in.</i> (2.) How far they
carried it, so far that <i>they expelled them out of their
coasts;</i> they banished them, ordered them to be carried, as we
say, from constable to constable, till they were forced out of
their jurisdiction; so that it was not by fear, but downright
violence, that they were driven out. This was one method which the
overruling providence of God took to keep the first planters of the
church from staying too long at a place; as <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p74.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.23" parsed="|Matt|10|23|0|0" passage="Mt 10:23">Matt. x. 23</scripRef>, <i>When they persecute you in
one city flee to another,</i> that thus you may the sooner <i>go
over the cities of Israel.</i> This was likewise a method God took
to make those that were well disposed the more warmly affected
towards the apostles; for it is natural to us to pity those that
are persecuted, to think the better of those that suffer when we
know they suffer unjustly, and to be the more ready to help them.
The expelling of the apostles out of their coasts made people
inquisitive what evil they had done, and perhaps raised them more
friends than conniving at them in their coasts would have done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p75">2. How the apostles abandoned and rejected
the unbelieving Jews (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p75.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.51" parsed="|Acts|13|51|0|0" passage="Ac 13:51"><i>v.</i>
51</scripRef>): <i>They shook off the dust of their feet against
them.</i> When they went out of the city they used this ceremony in
the sight of those that sat in the gate; or, when they went out of
the borders of their country, in the sight of those that were sent
to see the country rid of them. Hereby, (1.) They declared that
they would have no more to do with them, would take nothing that
was theirs; for <i>they sought not theirs, but them.</i> Dust they
are, and let them keep their dust to themselves, it shall not
cleave to them. (2.) They expressed their detestation of their
infidelity, and that, though they were Jews by birth, yet, having
rejected the gospel of Christ, they were in their eyes no better
than heathen and profane. As Jews and Gentiles, if they believe,
are equally acceptable to God and good men; so, if they do not,
they are equally abominable. (3.) Thus they set them at defiance,
and expressed their contempt of them and their malice, which they
looked upon as impotent. It was as much as to say, "Do your worst,
we do not fear you; we know whom we serve and whom we have
trusted." (4.) Thus they left a testimony behind them that they had
had a fair offer made them of the grace of the gospel, which shall
be proved against them in the day of judgment. This dust will prove
that the preachers of the gospel had been among them, but were
expelled by them. Thus Christ had ordered them to do, and for this
reason, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p75.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.14 Bible:Luke.9.5" parsed="|Matt|10|14|0|0;|Luke|9|5|0|0" passage="Mt 10:14,Lu 9:5">Matt. x. 14; Luke ix.
5</scripRef>. When <i>they left them, they came to Iconium,</i> not
so much for safety, as for work.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xiv-p76">3. What frame they left the new converts in
<i>at Antioch</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p76.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.52" parsed="|Acts|13|52|0|0" passage="Ac 13:52"><i>v.</i>
52</scripRef>): <i>The disciples,</i> when they saw with what
courage and cheerfulness Paul and Barnabas not only bore the
indignities that were done them, but went on with their work
notwithstanding, they were in like manner inspirited. (1.) They
were very cheerful. One would have expected that when Paul and
Barnabas were expelled out of their coasts, and perhaps forbidden
to return upon pain of death, the disciples would have been full of
grief and full of fear, looking for no other than that, if the
planters of Christianity go, the plantation would soon come to
nothing; or that it would be their turn next to be banished the
country, and to them it would be more grievous, for it was their
own. But no; <i>they were filled with joy</i> in Christ, had such a
satisfactory assurance of Christ's carrying on and perfecting his
own work in them and among them, and that either he would screen
them from trouble or bear them up under it, that all their fears
were swallowed up in their believing joys. (2.) They were
courageous, wonderfully animated with a holy resolution to cleave
to Christ, whatever difficulties they met with. This seems
especially to be meant by <i>their being filled with the Holy
Ghost,</i> for the same expression is used of Peter's boldness
(<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p76.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.4.8" parsed="|Acts|4|8|0|0" passage="Ac 4:8"><i>ch.</i> iv. 8</scripRef>), and
Stephen's (<scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p76.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.55" parsed="|Acts|7|55|0|0" passage="Ac 7:55"><i>ch.</i> vii.
55</scripRef>), and Paul's, <scripRef id="Acts.xiv-p76.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.9" parsed="|Acts|13|9|0|0" passage="Ac 13:9"><i>ch.</i>
xiii. 9</scripRef>. The more we relish the comforts and
encouragements we meet with in the power of godliness, and the
fuller our hearts are of them, the better prepared we are to face
the difficulties we meet with in the profession of godliness.</p>
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