11 Words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it cometh to pass, in the month of Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I have been in Shushan the palace, 2 and come in doth Hanani, one of my brethren, he and men of Judah, and I ask them concerning the Jews, the escaped part that have been left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem; 3 and they say to me, 'Those left, who have been left of the captivity there in the province, 'are' in great evil, and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burnt with fire.' 4 And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn 'for' days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
5 And I say, 'I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands, 6 let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned; 7 we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant. 8 'Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye—ye trespass—I scatter you among peoples; 9 and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them—if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there. 10 And they 'are' Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand. 11 'I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.
21 And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine 'is' before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him; 2 and the king saith to me, 'Wherefore 'is' thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much, 3 and say to the king, 'Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, 'is' a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?' 4 And the king saith to me, 'For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens, 5 and say to the king, 'If to the king 'it be' good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built it.' 6 And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), 'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time. 7 And I say to the king, 'If to the king 'it be' good, letters let be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over till that I come in unto Judah: 8 and a letter unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams 'for' the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen; 10 and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them—a great evil—that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.
11 And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days, 12 and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding. 13 And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire. 14 And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over, 15 and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back. 16 And the prefects have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the freemen, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared 'it'; 17 and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem 'is' waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.' 18 And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good. 19 And Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, 'What 'is' this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?' 20 And I return them word, and say to them, 'The God of the heavens—He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'
31 And Eliashib the high priest riseth, and his brethren the priests, and they build the sheep-gate; they have sanctified it, and set up its doors, even unto the tower of Meah they have sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel; 2 and by his hand have men of Jericho built; and by their hand hath Zaccur son of Imri built; 3 and the fish-gate have sons of Hassenaah built, they have walled it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars. 4 And by their hand hath Merimoth son of Urijah, son of Koz, strengthened; and by his hand hath Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabeel, strengthened; and by his hand hath Zadok son of Baana strengthened; 5 and by his hand have the Tekoites strengthened, and their honourable ones have not brought in their neck to the service of their Lord. 6 And the old gate have Jehoiada son of Paseah, and Meshullam son of Besodeiah, strengthened; they have walled it, and set up its doors, and its locks, and its bars. 7 And by their hand hath Melatiah the Gibeonite strengthened, and Jadon the Meronothite, men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor beyond the River. 8 By his hand hath Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the refiners strengthened; and by his hand hath Hananiah son of 'one of' the compounders strengthened; and they leave Jerusalem unto the broad wall. 9 And by their hand hath Rephaiah son of Hur, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened. 10 And by their hand hath Jedaiah son of Harumaph strengthened, and over-against his own house; and by his hand hath Hattush son of Hashabniah strengthened. 11 A second measure hath Malchijah son of Harim strengthened, and Hashub son of Pahath-Moab, even the tower of the furnaces. 12 And by his hand hath Shallum son of Halohesh, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened, he and his daughters. 13 The gate of the valley hath Hanun strengthened, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they have built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the dung-gate. 14 And the dung-gate hath Malchijah son of Rechab, head of the district of Beth-Haccerem, strengthened; he doth built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars. 15 And the gate of the fountain hath Shallum son of Col-Hozeh, head of the district of Mizpah, strengthened: he doth build it, and cover it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Siloah, to the garden of the king, and unto the steps that are going down from the city of David. 16 After him hath Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of the half of the district of Beth-Zur, strengthened, unto over-against the graves of David, and unto the pool that is made, and unto the house of the mighty ones. 17 After him have the Levites strengthened, 'and' Rehum son of Bani: by his hand hath Hashabiah, head of the half of the district of Keilah, strengthened, for his district. 18 After him have their brethren strengthened, 'and' Bavvai son of Henadad, head of the half of the district of Keilah. 19 And Ezer son of Jeshua, head of Mizpah, doth strengthen, by his hand, a second measure, from over-against the ascent of the armoury at the angle. 20 After him hath Baruch son of Zabbai hastened to strengthen a second measure from the angle unto the opening of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him hath Meremoth son of Urijah, son of Koz, strengthened, a second measure, from the opening of the house of Eliashib even unto the completion of the house of Eliashib. 22 And after him have the priests, men of the circuit, strengthened. 23 After them hath Benjamin strengthened, and Hashub, over-against their house; after him hath Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, strengthened, near his house. 24 After him hath Binnui son of Henadad strengthened, a second measure, from the house of Azariah unto the angle, and unto the corner. 25 Palal son of Uzai, from over-against the angle, and the tower that is going out from the upper house of the king that 'is' at the court of the prison; after him Pedaiah son of Parosh. 26 And the Nethinim have been dwelling in Ophel, unto over-against the water-gate at the east, and the tower that goeth out. 27 After him have the Tekoites strengthened, a second measure, from over-against the great tower that goeth out, and unto the wall of Ophel. 28 From above the horse-gate have the priests strengthened, each over-against his house. 29 After them hath Zadok son of Immer strengthened, over against his house; and after him hath Shemaiah son of Shechaniah, keeper of the east gate, strengthened. 30 After him hath Hananiah son of Shelemiah strengthened, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, a second measure; after him hath Meshullam son of Berechiah strengthened, over-against his chamber. 31 After him hath Malchijah son of the refiner strengthened, unto the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over-against the gate of the Miphkad, and unto the ascent of the corner. 32 And between the ascent of the corner and the sheep-gate, have the refiners and the merchants strengthened.
21 And in the day of the Pentecost being fulfilled, they were all with one accord at the same place, 2 and there came suddenly out of the heaven a sound as of a bearing violent breath, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, 3 and there appeared to them divided tongues, as it were of fire; it sat also upon each one of them, 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, according as the Spirit was giving them to declare.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation of those under the heaven, 6 and the rumour of this having come, the multitude came together, and was confounded, because they were each one hearing them speaking in his proper dialect, 7 and they were all amazed, and did wonder, saying one unto another, 'Lo, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 and how do we hear, each in our proper dialect, in which we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those dwelling in Mesopotamia, in Judea also, and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia also, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya, that 'are' along Cyrene, and the strangers of Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we did hear them speaking in our tongues the great things of God.' 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one unto another, 'What would this wish to be?' 13 and others mocking said,—'They are full of sweet wine;'
14 and Peter having stood up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and declared to them, 'Men, Jews! and all those dwelling in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and harken to my sayings, 15 for these are not drunken, as ye take it up, for it is the third hour of the day. 16 'But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 and also upon My men-servants, and upon My maid-servants, in those days, I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy; 19 and I will give wonders in the heaven above, and signs upon the earth beneath—blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke, 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the day of the Lord—the great and illustrious; 21 and it shall be, every one—whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved.
(Read Acts 2:1-4)
We cannot forget how often, while their Master was with them there were strifes among the disciples which should be the greatest; but now all these strifes were at an end. They had prayed more together of late. Would we have the Spirit poured out upon us from on high, let us be all of one accord. And notwithstanding differences of sentiments and interests, as there were among those disciples, let us agree to love one another; for where brethren dwell together in unity, there the Lord commands his blessing. A rushing mighty wind came with great force. This was to signify the powerful influences and working of the Spirit of God upon the minds of men, and thereby upon the world. Thus the convictions of the Spirit make way for his comforts; and the rough blasts of that blessed wind, prepare the soul for its soft and gentle gales. There was an appearance of something like flaming fire, lighting on every one of them, according to John Baptist's saying concerning Christ; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. The Spirit, like fire, melts the heart, burns up the dross, and kindles pious and devout affections in the soul; in which, as in the fire on the altar, the spiritual sacrifices are offered up. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, more than before. They were filled with the graces of the Spirit, and more than ever under his sanctifying influences; more weaned from this world, and better acquainted with the other. They were more filled with the comforts of the Spirit, rejoiced more than ever in the love of Christ and the hope of heaven: in it all their griefs and fears were swallowed up. They were filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost; they had miraculous powers for the furtherance of the gospel. They spake, not from previous though or meditation, but as the Spirit gave them utterance.
(Read Acts 2:5-13)
The difference in languages which arose at Babel, has much hindered the spread of knowledge and religion. The instruments whom the Lord first employed in spreading the Christian religion, could have made no progress without this gift, which proved that their authority was from God.
(Read Acts 2:14-21)
Peter's sermon shows that he was thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the Divine favour; for he who had denied Christ, now boldly confessed him. His account of the miraculous pouring forth of the Spirit, was designed to awaken the hearers to embrace the faith of Christ, and to join themselves to his church. It was the fulfilling the Scripture, and the fruit of Christ's resurrection and ascension, and proof of both. Though Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake with tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance, yet he did not think to set aside the Scriptures. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bible; and the Spirit is given, not to do away the Scriptures, but to enable us to understand, approve, and obey them. Assuredly none will escape the condemnation of the great day, except those who call upon the name of the Lord, in and through his Son Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of sinners, and the Judge of all mankind.
(Read Acts 2:22-36)
From this gift of the Holy Ghost, Peter preaches unto them Jesus: and here is the history of Christ. Here is an account of his death and sufferings, which they witnessed but a few weeks before. His death is considered as God's act; and of wonderful grace and wisdom. Thus Divine justice must be satisfied, God and man brought together again, and Christ himself glorified, according to an eternal counsel, which could not be altered. And as the people's act; in them it was an act of awful sin and folly. Christ's resurrection did away the reproach of his death; Peter speaks largely upon this. Christ was God's Holy One, sanctified and set apart to his service in the work of redemption. His death and sufferings should be, not to him only, but to all his, the entrance to a blessed life for evermore. This event had taken place as foretold, and the apostles were witnesses. Nor did the resurrection rest upon this alone; Christ had poured upon his disciples the miraculous gifts and Divine influences, of which they witnessed the effects. Through the Saviour, the ways of life are made known; and we are encouraged to expect God's presence, and his favour for evermore. All this springs from assured belief that Jesus is the Lord, and the anointed Saviour.
(Read Acts 2:37-41)
From the first delivery of that Divine message, it appeared that there was Divine power going with it; and thousands were brought to the obedience of faith. But neither Peter's words, nor the miracle they witnessed, could have produced such effects, had not the Holy Spirit been given. Sinners, when their eyes are opened, cannot but be pricked to the heart for sin, cannot but feel an inward uneasiness. The apostle exhorted them to repent of their sins, and openly to avow their belief in Jesus as the Messiah, by being baptized in his name. Thus professing their faith in Him, they would receive remission of their sins, and partake of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. To separate from wicked people, is the only way to save ourselves from them. Those who repent of their sins, and give up themselves to Jesus Christ, must prove their sincerity by breaking off from the wicked. We must save ourselves from them; which denotes avoiding them with dread and holy fear. By God's grace three thousand persons accepted the gospel invitation. There can be no doubt that the gift of the Holy Ghost, which they all received, and from which no true believer has ever been shut out, was that Spirit of adoption, that converting, guiding, sanctifying grace, which is bestowed upon all the members of the family of our heavenly Father. Repentance and remission of sins are still preached to the chief of sinners, in the Redeemer's name; still the Holy Spirit seals the blessing on the believer's heart; still the encouraging promises are to us and our children; and still the blessings are offered to all that are afar off.
(Read Acts 2:42-47)
In these verses we have the history of the truly primitive church, of the first days of it; its state of infancy indeed, but, like that, the state of its greatest innocence. They kept close to holy ordinances, and abounded in piety and devotion; for Christianity, when admitted in the power of it, will dispose the soul to communion with God in all those ways wherein he has appointed us to meet him, and has promised to meet us. The greatness of the event raised them above the world, and the Holy Ghost filled them with such love, as made every one to be to another as to himself, and so made all things common, not by destroying property, but doing away selfishness, and causing charity. And God who moved them to it, knew that they were quickly to be driven from their possessions in Judea. The Lord, from day to day, inclined the hearts of more to embrace the gospel; not merely professors, but such as were actually brought into a state of acceptance with God, being made partakers of regenerating grace. Those whom God has designed for eternal salvation, shall be effectually brought to Christ, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of his glory.
