Acts 3:23

And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY SOUL, WHICH WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET, SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE. This part of the prediction is emphatically added, in order to shut up the audience to the obedience of faith, on pain of being finally 'cut off' from the congregation of the righteous ()....

23._Every soul. _Here, by a most grievous punishment against the rebellious, the authority of all the prophets, but most of all of Christ, is established; and that for good causes. For seeing there is nothing that God doth account more precious than his word, it cannot be that he should suffer the same to be freely contemned. Therefore, if any man despised the law of Moses, he was adjudged to die the death. And hereunto Moses had respect when he said, “He shall be put away from among the people.” For God had adopted the stock and kindred of Abraham unto himself, upon this condition, that this might be sufficient for them unto the chiefest felicity to be _reckoned _in that number, as it is said in the Psalm, “Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.” And in another place, “Blessed is the nation whom the Lord hath chosen to be his inheritance.” Wherefore it is not to be doubted, but th...

22-26 Here is a powerful address to warn the Jews of the dreadful consequences of their unbelief, in the very words of Moses, their favourite prophet, out of pretended zeal for whom they were ready to reject Christianity, and to try to destroy it. Christ came into the world to bring a blessing with him. And he sent his Spirit to be the great blessing. Christ came to bless us, by turning us from our iniquities, and saving us from our sins. We, by nature cleave to sin; the design of Divine grace is to turn us from it, that we may not only forsake, but hate it. Let none think that they can be happy by continuing in sin, when God declares that the blessing is in being turned from all iniquity. Let none think that they understand or believe the gospel, who only seek deliverance from the punishment of sin, but do not expect happiness in being delivered from sin itself. And let none expect to...

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS - It shall be, or shall occur. This is not the usual word rendered “it shall come to pass.” It is a word commonly expressing “futurity,” but here it conveys the notion of “obligation.” In this verse Peter has not quoted the passage in Deuteronomy literally, but he has given the sense. EVERY SOUL - Every “person” or “individual.” Soul is often put for the whole man by the Hebrews, Acts 7:14; Joshua 10:28. HEAR THAT PROPHET - That is, obey his instructions. He shall have authority to declare the will of God; and he that does not obey him refuses to obey God. Compare Luke 10:16;...

EXPOSITION ACTS 3:1 _Were going up _for _went up together, _A.V. and T.R. PETER AND JOHN. The close friendship of these two apostles is remarkable. The origin of it appears to have been their partnership in the fishing-boats in which they pursued their trade as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. For St. Luke tells us that the sons of Zebedee were "partners with Simon," and helped him to take the miraculous draught of fishes (Luke 5:10). We find the two sons of Zebedee associated with Peter in the inner circle of the Lord's apostles, at the Transfiguration, at the raising of Jairus's daughter, and at the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. But the yet closer friendship of Peter and John first appears in their going together to the palace of Caiaphas on the ni

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY SOUL,.... Every person, man or woman: WHICH WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET; neither believe what he says, nor do what he commands; or as it is in Deuteronomy 18:19 "will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name": for he that hears not him, hearkens not to God, in whose name he speaks, and whose word he delivers, SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE; in the Hebrew text it is, "I will require it of him"; the Hebrew word, מעמו, there used, by having different points, may be rendered "of him", or "from his people", which seems to be the reason of this difference: and requiring often intends punishment, or a cutting off; or as Aben Ezra explains it here, "death by the hand of heaven;'' that is, immediate destruction from God; and so Maimonides says k, he that transgres

You remember, dear friends, how Peter denied his Lord in the time of his trial. Now notice what a change was wrought in him after the Holy Spirit had fallen upon him on the day of Pentecost. We have often read the story of the man healed at the beautiful gate of the temple; now let us see what followed: Acts 3:11. _And as the lame man, which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering._ It is always easy to draw a crowd, but there was really something wonderful to be seen that day. The apostle was careful to turn to the very best account the curiosity of the crowd. See how quickly he carried their thoughts away from the man before him to the greater Man, the Divine Man, the Son of God whom they had rejected....

CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Healing of the lame Man (Acts 3:1)._ 2. Peter's address and appeal (Acts 3:12). The lame man, forty years old, at the gate called Beautiful is the type of the moral condition of the nation, like the impotent man whom the Lord healed (John 5:1). Israel with all its beautiful religious ceremonies was helpless, laying outside with no strength to enter in. Peter commands the lame man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to rise up and to walk. He is instantly healed. He then walked and leaped and entered through the gate as a worshipper into the temple, praising God. This great miracle was wrought as another evidence to the unbelieving nation that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had rejected and crucifi

SPEECH OF PETER. Acts 3:12. The Facts. The idea and arrangement of the speech closely resemble that of Acts 2:14; it exhibits the style of controversy with the Jews. The hearers are addressed as men of Israel; appeal is made to their history and beliefs as such. The apostles have not performed the cure by any power of their own nor merited it by their piety; the cure is due to the new act of God which has taken place in the old religion. God is spoken of by an elaborate title (Exodus 3:6; 1 Kings 18:36; Mark 12:26); it was through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that H

A NOTABLE DEED IS DONE (Acts 3:1-10)...