APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION 1-3. Here we find Peter is interrupted in the midst of this glorious sermon by the priests and the captain of the Levitical temple guards and the Sadducees, the most wealthy and consequently influential sect of the Jewish church, though quite heterodoxical in their theology, a... [ Continue Reading ]
FIVE THOUSAND CONVERTED 4. This wonderful accession augments the Nazarenes to eight thousand. While doubtless many of them were born from above for the first time in life, you must remember that the great salient fact is conversion to the Christhood of Jesus. Among the thousands of “devout” Jews (re... [ Continue Reading ]
SANHEDRIN 5-7. The judgment hall of the Sanhedrin stands on Mt. Zion, about a thousand rods from the city wall, on the brow of that mountain. I was in it three years ago, my guide certifying to its identity. Jesus was arraigned there. Here we see both Annas, the high priest, endorsed by the Romans,... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ONLY 11, 12. Can we not learn this truth? There is salvation in none but Jesus. If you differ from this you are an idolater. Our Jesus needs no help to save a soul. Some worship a water-god; others, a day-god, and still others worship gods of wood and stone in the form of a fine edifice, whil... [ Continue Reading ]
ILLITERACY OF THE APOSTLES 13. _“Seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and observing that they are unlearned and ignorant men, they continue to be astonished and recognize that they were with Jesus.”_ No ingenuity of scholarship can evade the force of this statement of the Holy Ghost. The Greek for... [ Continue Reading ]
ECCLESIASTICAL USURPATION 15-22. Here we see the preachers in authority at Jerusalem determine to crush out the holiness movement started by Jesus of Nazareth and perpetuated by His Apostles. So they issue to Peter and John a positive prohibition to preach any more, augmenting that interdiction by... [ Continue Reading ]
_“Peter and John responding, said unto them, If it is righteous before God to hear you rather than God, judge ye.”_ Lord, help us all to follow the example of the Apostles, and in every case _“obey God rather than men.”_ When ecclesiastical law is in harmony with God as revealed to us by His Word, S... [ Continue Reading ]
SECOND PENTECOST 23-31. During the imprisonment and trial of Peter and John the one hundred and eighteen, with quite a host of the Pentecostal converts, are pushing the battle for God and souls on the great temple campus on Mt. Moriah in the east end of the city, the judgment hall, where Peter and J... [ Continue Reading ]
THE UNIFICATION OF GOD'S PEOPLE 32. _“Of the multitude of those who believed there was one heart and soul.”_ The power of God's salvation to literally unify all its recipients, regardless of race, color, sect or nationality, has been the puzzle of wicked people and counterfeit professors in all ages... [ Continue Reading ]
BARNABAS 33-37. Here we have another allusion to the community of goods, practiced by the Apostolic church, necessitated by the suddenness and improvidence of the Pentecostal revival, and inspired by the hostility of their environments and the vivid anticipation of the Lord's speedy return. Barnabas... [ Continue Reading ]