31 Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins.
And so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father's word that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see and have knowledge of.
And that teaching about a change of heart and forgiveness of sins is to be given to Jerusalem first and to all nations in his name.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
And hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying, Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they may have life.
For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.
And I will send down on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of prayer; and their eyes will be turned to the one who was wounded by their hands: and they will be weeping for him as for an only son, and their grief for him will be bitter, like the grief of one sorrowing for his oldest son.
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah: Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; which agreement was broken by them, and I gave them up, says the Lord. But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their inner parts, writing it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean. And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my orders and do them. So that you may go on living in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be to me a people, and I will be to you a God. And I will make you free from all your unclean ways: and at my voice the grain will come up and be increased, and I will not let you be short of food. And I will make the tree give more fruit and the field fuller produce, and no longer will you be shamed among the nations for need of food. And at the memory of your evil ways and your wrongdoings, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of your evil-doings and your disgusting ways, O children of Israel. Not because of you am I doing it, says the Lord; let it be clear to you, and be shamed and made low because of your ways, O children of Israel. This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I make you clean from all your evil-doings I will let the towns be peopled and there will be building on the waste places. And the land which was waste will be farmed, in place of being a waste in the eyes of everyone who went by. And they will say, This land which was waste has become like the garden of Eden; and the towns which were unpeopled and wasted and pulled down are walled and peopled. Then the rest of the nations round about you will be certain that I the Lord am the builder of the places which were pulled down and the planter of that which was waste: I the Lord have said it, and I will do it. This is what the Lord has said: The children of Israel will again make prayer to me for this, that I may do it for them; I will make them increased with men like a flock. Like sheep for the offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem at her fixed feasts, so the unpeopled towns will be made full of men: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
And she will give birth to a son; and you will give him the name Jesus; for he will give his people salvation from their sins.
And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.
Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.
And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;
In whom we have our salvation, the forgiveness of sins:
But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever. So be it.
For if, after they have got free from the unclean things of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again taken in the net and overcome, their last condition is worse than their first.
Simon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who with us have a part in the same holy faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been put under his rule.
But when the mercy of God our Saviour, and his love to man was seen, Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but in the measure of his mercy, he gave us salvation, through the washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit, Which he gave us freely through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;
Not taking what is not theirs, but giving clear signs of their good faith, in all things doing credit to the teaching of God our Saviour.
Gently guiding those who go against the teaching; if by chance God may give them a change of heart and true knowledge, And so they may get themselves free from the net of the Evil One, being made the prisoners of the Lord's servant, for the purpose of God.
So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.
But my faith and my mercy will be with him; and in my name will his horn be lifted up.
<A Psalm. Of David.> The Lord said to my lord, Be seated at my right hand, till I put all those who are against you under your feet. The Lord will send out the rod of your strength from Zion; be king over your haters.
I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no saviour but me.
Give the word, put forward your cause, let us have a discussion together: who has given news of this in the past? who made it clear in early times? did not I, the Lord? and there is no God but me; a true God and a saviour; there is no other.
And it will be clear to all the trees of the field that I the Lord have made low the high tree and made high the low tree, drying up the green tree and making the dry tree full of growth; I the Lord have said it and have done it.
And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David their ruler; I the Lord have said it.
And they will be living in the land which I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers were living; and they will go on living there, they and their children and their children's children, for ever: and David, my servant, will be their ruler for ever.
Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork.
But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being. Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand. They will be ruled by you with a rod of iron; they will be broken like a potter's vessel. So now be wise, you kings: take his teaching, you judges of the earth. Give worship to the Lord with fear, kissing his feet and giving him honour, For fear that he may be angry, causing destruction to come on you, because he is quickly moved to wrath. Happy are all those who put their faith in him.
And Jesus said to them again, May peace be with you! As the Father sent me, even so I now send you. And when he had said this, breathing on them, he said to them, Let the Holy Spirit come on you: Any to whom you give forgiveness, will be made free from their sins; and any from whom you keep back forgiveness, will still be in their sins.
So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord;
To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.
From this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his word;
And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you: And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free.
But if you give forgiveness to anyone, I do the same: for if I have given forgiveness for anything, I have done it because of you, in the person of Christ;
In whom we have salvation through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, through the wealth of his grace,
By which he made Christ come back from the dead, and gave him a place at his right hand in heaven, Far over all rule and authority and power and every name which is named, not only in the present order, but in that which is to come: And he has put all things under his feet, and has made him to be head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the full measure of him in whom all things are made complete.
For this reason God has put him in the highest place and has given to him the name which is greater than every name; So that at the name of Jesus every knee may be bent, of those in heaven and those on earth and those in the underworld, And that every tongue may give witness that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 5
Commentary on Acts 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
In this chapter we have,
Act 5:1-11
The chapter begins with a melancholy but, which puts a stop to the pleasant and agreeable prospect of things which we had in the foregoing chapters; as every man, so every church, in its best state has its but.
Act 5:12-16
We have here an account of the progress of the gospel, notwithstanding this terrible judgment inflicted upon two hypocrites.
Act 5:17-25
Never did any good work go on with any hope of success, but it met with opposition; those that are bent to do mischief cannot be reconciled to those who make it their business to do good. Satan, the destroyer of mankind, ever was, and will be, an adversary to those who are the benefactors of mankind; and it would have been strange if the apostles had gone on thus teaching and healing and had had no check. In these verses we have the malice of hell and the grace of heaven struggling about them, the one to drive them off from this good work, the other to animate them in it,
Act 5:26-42
We are not told what it was that the apostles preached to the people; no doubt it was according to the direction of the angel-the words of this life; but what passed between them and the council we have here an account of; for in their sufferings there appeared more of a divine power and energy than even in their preaching. Now here we have,