THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S
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vellous. The cru st of centuries was broken, and th e re was victory over Jew ish prejudice, indifference and fear. The h earers are broken down and th e little company of 120 was multiplied by twenty-five. Three thousand souls were pricked in th e ir h earts, as was th e Council when P eter spoke to them (Acts 5 :3 3 ) and as were th e Scribes and P harisees when Jesu s spoke peace to th e adu lterou s woman (John 8 :7 -9 ). (1 ) T he sermon laid b are th e sin of th e ir h earts. There is a m ighty power in the Sword of th e Spirit, for P eter used th e Word of God. A deep sense of th e ir aw ful gu ilt was upon them . They had slain th e Messiah. Con science had done its faith fu l work by th e power of th e Holy Spirit, and they cried “W hat shall we do?” The tru e aim of preaching is to produce convic tion. (2 ) They w ere b rough t to rep en t ance,— a change of a ttitu d e tow ard the Lord (Acts 3:19, 1 7 :3 0 ), and they opened th e ir h earts to th e tru th and th e ir lives to th e Spirit. (S) They confessed C h rist by bap tism . They publicly confessed the' Lord Jesu s Christ whom they had slain as th e ir Messiah (Acts 8:36-38, 16:15; 16:31-34). Repentance is a change of a ttitu d e toward God. Baptism is a pub lic confession of th a t change, and th e new life is the proof of th a t change. Baptized into one Spirit, they became one w ith th e apostles and disciples, and one w ith the body of Christ, and mem bers of the F irs t Church of Jerusalem . They gladly received th e W ord; w ithout any undue pressure from men they yielded to th e Holy Sp irit’s power and there were added about th ree thou sand souls— added, th a t is, to the 120. The messenger preaches, the Holy Spirit takes th e Word and applies it, and God adds them to H is church. There is no t much seen of man here, b u t much of th e power of God. The Creed, vs. 42, 43. They continued steadfastly in the
apostles’ doctrine.' W hat was th e ir doctrine? It was th a t which P eter preached; it was th a t which God has always recognized and honored. F irst, — th e inspiration of th e Holy Scrip tures. P eter quoted from Joel (vs. 16- 21), and from David (vs. 25-35), and P aul set his seal to th e same Scripture as inspired, (2 .Tim. 3:16, 17) and P ete r did th e same (1 Pet. 1 :25 ; 2 Pet. 1 :2 1 ). The apostle magnified Jesus Christ. He was th e center of H is Gos pel message. All p arts of th e sermon led to Christ; all unfolding of Scripture is of Him. It was Jesu s Christ cruci fied (v. 23) pu t to death by God’« fore knowledge, and by deeds of wicked men; and th e doctrine of H is resu r rection which is th e cen tral doctrine and always distinguishes between tru e and false teaching. P e te r proved the resu rrection from Scripture prophecy, from personal w itnesses (v. 32 ), and by the m iracles, manifested by tongues, as He had prom ised. (v. 18,). The gifts to th e churches are all the g reat proof of this. T h at which followed was logical. If He rose from th e dead, and sent the Holy Spirit as th e proof, the re st of th e prophecy m ust be fulfilled. He must come back and hold the sceptre ‘ and ru le and reign for th e thousand years. (Acts 3:20, 21; Luke 1:32, 33; 1 Tim . 4:14-18; Rev. 2 0 :6 ). The Conduct of th e Church, vs. 44-47. It pleased the Lord to m anifest as a fu rth e r proof of th e re a lity of the heavenly life given to these believers, a little glimpse of a heavenly scene. “All things in common,” “w ith one accord,” are th e expressions which describe the conditions. The world knows nothing, and can know nothing of such a state. Such conditions demand a life from above th a t can give victory over th e selfish, sordid n atu re of men; and th is is P au l’s plea in Phil. 4 :10— "th e same m ind which was in Christ Jesu s.” These characteristics are manifest only th rough th e absolute yielding of
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