down to the hope of Israel, whether that hope be heavenly or earthly. The matter is of such importance that no

apology is needed for thoroughness of investigation.

Let us proceed at once to the end of the Acts to discover whether a hope is there expressed, and if so what hope it

is. Undoubtedly, in Acts 28:1-10 we have in full force the signs of Mark 16:17,18. Among these are the taking up

of serpents with immunity from danger, and the laying on of hands for the recovery of the sick. As we have said,

these signs are found in operation in Acts 28:1-10, where a viper, called a `venomous beast', fastened on the

apostle's hand. The experience of the islanders who watched is a plain testimony to the miraculous nature of Paul's

`They looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great

while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god' (Acts 28:6).

Subsequently the same apostle healed a man of a `fever and dysentery', and other sufferers in the island of

diseases not specified.

The fact that Mark 16 penetrates so far, reveals an unbroken connection of the Acts with the Gospels. Presently

we find the apostle at Rome, and, standing before the chief of the Jews, he said:

`For the HOPE OF ISRAEL I am bound with this chain' (Acts 28:20).

This statement was followed by an all-day exposition, to the chief of the Jews, of Moses and the Prophets

concerning the kingdom of God and `Jesus'. It is impossible in the face of such testimony to think that up to that

date, the hope of Israel had been set aside, cancelled, or changed. Should any be found who would spiritualize this

reference to the hope of Israel, it will be sufficient to turn to Acts 26:6,7 to prove its literality:

`And now I stand and am judged (I am bound with this chain) for the HOPE OF THE PROMISE made of God unto

our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come'.

During the course of our exposition we shall show many other references to the hope of Israel, but if we find

one, unchanged, hope in chapter 1, chapter 26, and chapter 28, it is difficult to deny that the same hope obtains in

chapters 2 to 25.

Let us now come to the epistles of the period. It matters not whether we agree as to the exact order in which they

were written, so long as we distinguish between those epistles of Paul written before his Roman imprisonment,

recorded in Acts 28, and those written during that imprisonment. During the Acts the apostle wrote seven epistles,

six to the churches, and one to the Hebrews. They are associated together thus: Galatians, Hebrews, and Romans are

single epistles, and Thessalonians and Corinthians are in pairs.

The truth we here seek to set forth is that the hope of the church during the Acts was millennial in character, and

that a millennial hope is the hope of Israel. To teach that the hope of the Acts was one thing and the hope of the

churches during the selfsame period was different, cannot be justified either by sound argument or from the epistles

themselves. There is but one hope running through both the Acts and the epistles of the period.

Every reader will agree, that of all the epistles written by Paul during this period, the most fundamental is the

last, viz. that to the Romans. Again, if any change is to be sought in the teaching of the epistles, we would expect to

find it in the last of the series rather than in the first or the second. Most certain it is that the hope of the church to

which the epistle to the Romans is addressed would not be more Jewish than the hope entertained by the church

addressed in the epistles to the Thessalonians. On all counts then, whatever we find in Romans is conclusive

evidence as to the whole period. Turning therefore to Romans 15:12,13, we read:

`And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in Him

shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in

hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost'.

There are a number of things that we must note in examining the testimony of this passage.