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shown in Matthew 12:6,41,42, that the Lord speaks of His church (a called-out company) as distinct from the nation
as a whole, and gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter (Matt. 16:18,19).
The point we seek to press is that Peter used these keys in the Acts of the Apostles, and they are strictly confined
to the church of the kingdom of the heavens, that remnant of faith which in apostolic times anticipated the full glory
of the kingdom yet to be. This we can test by reading the Acts, the following notes drawing attention to outstanding
features.
The sphere of Peter"s ministry.
In Acts 1:8 the Lord indicated the sphere of the ministry of those associated with Pentecost, and in the
Authorised Version it appears to spread from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth. Rotherham"s version
reads, "the uttermost parts of the land", which removes all necessity for accusing Peter and the twelve of
unfaithfulness, and reveals the true extent of their commission. The word is translated in the Authorised Version
"land" 42 times, and "country" twice, and in the Acts itself it is rendered "land" 14 times.
On the day of Pentecost, after the baptism of the Spirit, and in the opening words of this new ministry, we should
surely expect truth without prejudice. Let us watch Peter turning the key of the kingdom of heaven, and note some
of the special wards of the lock that his key must fit. The first item that strikes us is that the objects of his address
are always and only Israel:
"Men of JUDAEA, and all that dwell at JERUSALEM" (Acts 2:14).
"Men of ISRAEL" and "All the house of ISRAEL" (Acts 2:22,36).
"Ye men of ISRAEL ... ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you" (Acts
3:12-14).
"Ye are the children of the PROPHETS, and of the covenant which God made with OUR FATHERS" (Acts 3:25).
The God of Pentecost is:
"The God of ABRAHAM, and of ISAAC, and of JACOB, the God of OUR FATHERS" (Acts 3:13).
The resurrection of Christ and the shedding of the Spirit are focussed upon the "throne of David" (Acts 2:30,33).
Such was the "church" of Acts 2:47, a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel (Acts 2:17-21).
We still find the same wards of the lock in other chapters. In Acts 5:30,31 Christ is said to have been raised up
by "The God of our fathers, to give repentance to Israel", and lest the reader should be tempted to say that this is but
the outworking of Jewish prejudice, the passage continues:
"And we are His witnesses of these things; AND SO IS ALSO THE HOLY GHOST" (Acts 5:32).
which makes criticism a serious thing, and so far as the charge of his having acted under Jewish prejudice is
concerned, Peter goes on to say that this holy spirit has been given by God to "all that OBEY Him" (Acts 5:32).
The first turn in the lock of the Gentile door was made by Stephen, who was promptly destroyed by the evil one,
and Saul who heard his burning words and saw his shining face was destined as another Seth to bear that message on
to its glorious consummation. Chapter 11 finds missionaries as far as Phenice, Cyprus and Antioch, who however
were:
"preaching the word to NONE but unto the JEWS ONLY"(11:19).
We must, however, retrace our steps, for Acts 9 and 10 are critical. In Acts 9 the same Lord Who chose Peter to
bear the keys of the kingdom of heaven, now chooses Saul of Tarsus to bear His name before the Gentiles. Here we
have for the first time in the Acts the Gentiles as an object of mercy. In chapter 10 Peter receives a warning, which