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the surrounding Gentile nations as laid down in the Old Testament. When the Apostle came up to Jerusalem we are
told:
`... they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and
didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them ...'
(Acts 11:2-4).
Peter has to justify his action before the assembly and the record continues:
`When they (the Jerusalem church) heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life' (Acts 11:18),
which would have been entirely meaningless if Gentiles had been addressed and saved before this point. Moreover
we have the astonishment of the believing Jews that accompanied Peter recorded in chapter 10:
`While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the
circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost' (verses 44 and 45).
Later on we shall deal with the importance of the admission of the Gentile during the Acts period and in doing this,
we shall take care to keep to the Scripture record and reject popular ideas which have become associated with this
subject.
There is no doubt that a crucified Messiah presented a great problem to the Jew, who looked for a strong
deliverer from the yoke of Rome. Peter answers this in his first speech by stressing the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus to show His identity and right to the throne of David. This had formed an important part of the unconditional
covenant by God recorded in Old Testament Scripture with which we have already dealt. That Messiah, as a true
descendant of David would sit on his historic throne, God had sworn with an oath:
`The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy
throne' (Psa. 132:11),
and this is what Peter emphasizes in Acts 2:29-31:
`Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David ... Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ ...'.
This produces another sure link with the Messianic kingdom of the Old Testament.
The resurrection of Christ in the Acts specially stresses two facts which are practically always overlooked:
(1) the restoration of the throne of David, as promised by God with an oath (Acts 2:29-31) and
(2) the giving of repentance (a change of heart and mind) to the people of Israel (Acts 5:30,31).
Peter's answer to the high priest's charge against him and his associates is recorded in Acts 5:29-32:
`Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a
Prince and a Saviour, for to give (in order to give) repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His
witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him'.
Many are the truths which flow from the supremely important fact that Christ rose from the grave as the conqueror
of death and now lives for ever for His people. These are often dealt with in Christian literature, but the two effects
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus mentioned above are nearly always ignored or passed over. Yet they are
absolutely necessary for the correct interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. One cannot help feeling that they
present too many problems to some interpretations that are considered `orthodox'. David's throne is a vital element
of the Messianic kingdom and the repentance of Israel is absolutely crucial to its establishment, as the third chapter
has shown, and if realised, would have been followed by His Second Advent to the earth and the setting up of that
great kingdom planned by God.