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Thus we have solved one great problem and so doing have solved another. There are
some who think that the disciples were wrong to expect the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ in their lifetime. These think that the apostle misunderstood but the Lord Himself
taught them! Those who hold such a view must be wrong and they are because they fail
to believe that when Peter said:
"Repent . . . . . and He shall send Jesus Christ",
he meant:
"Repent . . . . . and He shall send Jesus Christ."
This is recorded in Acts 3: 19-21 and Peter, whilst delivering that speech, was full of
the Holy Spirit. He, Peter, could not have been wrong. This whole section of
Acts.iii.19-26 is the foundation of the Acts period and to fail to grasp it will cause many
problems in other passages of Scripture. For example:
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Rom. 13: 12).
"The time is short" (I Cor. 7: 29).
"for yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10: 37).
"the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (James 5: 8).
"the end of all things is at hand" (I Pet. 4: 7).
"It is the last time" (I John 2: 18).
And there are others. These all point to the fact that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ
was possible then and there. All that was required was for Israel to repent but that was
not forthcoming. The nations was laid aside by God at Acts 28: 25-28 and the
epistles written after that time (Eph., Phil., Col., Philemon, Titus, I & II Tim.) makes
no mention of His parousia, His coming. The hope of the people of Israel was, and still
is, His parousia--His coming to the Mount of Olives--but the church, which is the Body
of Christ, looks for His manifestation, His appearing in glory (Col. 3: 4; Titus 2: 13).
Thus the Acts period epistles state that "The day is at hand", "It is the last time",
"the end of all is at hand".
This may be why Peter changed:
"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh . . ."
(Joel 2: 28),
to:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon
all flesh . . . . ." (Acts 2: 17).
This indicates another difference between Joel's prophecy and Peter's use of it on the
day of Pentecost and shows again that he did not view the events of that time as the
fulfillment of Joel 2: 28,29. For Peter, and for those alive during the Acts period, these
could so easily have been the last days--if only that nation had accepted Christ, they