ACTS 3


2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

The Beautiful Gate and the Lame Man

What an astonishing contrast between the symbology to be seen in this building, and the beggarly creature who sat at its entrance. The gate was enormous, strongly built, and beautiful to behold. The work of skilful men, it was an object of awe and admiration-

an apt symbol for the "temple made without hands;" a temple made up of men and women in whom the Word of God dwells richly, who are being transformed mentally and morally, to be glorified in the future Age with the wonder of divine nature.

And sitting at the foot of this magnificent structure, a poverty-stricken, crippled creature, helpless in his deformity. He was an appropriate symbol to represent the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel; but more than that: he typified the state of the entire human race. The tragic future of such a man was:

• Doomed in his helplessness;

• Incurable, by any means that man could provide;

• His condition worsening with every passing year;

• Unable to help himself or others.

To this pathetic bundle of humanity, as though speaking to all Israel, and all of humanity, Peter and John said:

Look on us! - for they were custodians of the Word of life, able to open the eyes of all willing to look upon the saving light which was to be seen in the Son of the Living God.

Bro John Ullman



"which is called Beautiful" - Gr. horaian, "seasonable" (at its loveliest; fruitfulness).

The word signifies the Nicanor, or Great Gate, located on the east of the temple, and so-called because of its size (50 cubits high; 40 wide) and beauty, being richly decorated. The gate was flanked by two magnificent Corinthian brasen pillars.

So massive were the gates that it took twenty men to shut them and drive their iron bars and bolts into the foundation rock. At the sides of the gates were the treasuries where thirteen receptacles, shaped like inverted trumpets were built into the wall for the reception of money.

In the courts of the Gentiles sat butchers, poulterers and money changers. These sold their cattle and sheep to the wealthy; their doves and pigeons to the poorer worshippers, and exchanged Gentile coinage for Jewish in order to preserve the treasury from "pollution" by Gentile tokens.

It was at that place of worship, which had become a monument to Jewish hypocritical pride, that an outstanding miracle occurred, and the preaching of the Truth was to be presented.

The Christadelphian Expositor - Acts



20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.


That the delivering of the law was the beginning of the AION, or Hebrew world, is obvious from the words of Peter...

In the Authorised Version it is rendered "since the world began." If this be preferred, it is evident that the world referred to was coeval in its beginning with Moses, for he is cited as the first of the holy prophets by whose mouth God spoke of the reconstitution of the Hebrew commonwealth at the appearing of Christ from heaven.

Paul refers to the same epoch, saying, "the fellowship of the mystery hath been hid in God APO TON AIONON from the ages;" in the common version, "from the beginning of the world" (Eph. 3:9). From the beginning of the age, or of the ages, is the correct rendering of the Greek in these texts. They both refer to the beginning of the commonwealth of Israel in the giving of the law from Sinai.

To speak in the vernacular, God promised eternal life to man before the world began. Such a statement as this would be incomprehensible to a mere English reader; yet such is the import of the saying "God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life before the world began (PRO CHRONON AIONION); but in due times (KAIROIS IDIOIS) hath manifested His word by preaching" (Tit. 1:2, 3).

To whom did He promise it? Certainly not to any one before the formation of man. The world referred to cannot therefore be that founded in the six days, but a constitution of things long subsequent to it. A literal translation removes all difficulty. The phrase PRO CHRONON AIONION is before the aionian times; that is, before the times of the Hebrew commonwealth were arranged, God promised eternal life, and in KAIROIS IDIOIS definite times, such times, namely, as are particularised in Daniel (Dan. 9:24-26), He made His word, which had before been a hidden mystery, manifest (Rom. 16:26) through the apostolic preaching.

Elpis Israel 2.1.



24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

Christ and the prophets were not only not separate and incompatible, but that Christ was the very kernel - the inspiring principle - of the scheme of things that had been communicated through the prophets. When we come to compare the testimony of the apostles to Christ, and the foreshadowings of him in the Prophets, we find that this is the case.

There was to be a son of David manifested in the course of Israel's future (2 Sam. 7:10-16; Psa. 89:35-37; Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:5). He was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2): he was to be despised by the nation and rejected (Isa. 53:3); but to have a momentary triumph while he should ride into Jerusalem on an ass (Zech. 9:9), then to be smitten and insulted (Micah 5:1; Isa. 53:7), his clothes divided and he himself crucified in the company of vile men (Psa. 22:16-18; Isa. 53:9).

All these things were realised in Christ, who was a descendant of David (Matt. 1:1; Rom. 1:3) born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1); rejected by his own nation (John 1:11), but was the subject of a transient ovation (Matt. 21:6-9), was arrested, insulted, divested of his clothes on which the soldiers cast lots, and was then crucified (Matt. 26:57; 27:28,31,35).

The prophecy did not stop there. It spoke of his being raised from the dead (Psa. 71:20; 16:10), and the fact of his resurrection is the chief feature of the apostolic testimony (Acts 4:33). It spoke also of his ascending to God's right hand, to wait for a season in the presence of the divine glory, while God's face should be hidden from Israel (Psa. 68:18; 110:1; Isa. 8:16-17), and nothing is more conspicuous in the apostolic testimony than the declaration that Jesus after his resurrection was "received up to the right hand of God," "ascending to heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us" (Mark 16:19; Heb. 9:24).

Bro Roberts - Reality of Bible History and Prophecy.


25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Abraham and Christ are inseparably associated as co-heirs of the covenant of promise. Hence, they, are joint-legatees of the country mentioned in the will. But, out of this rises a question of considerable interest, namely, when they jointly possess the land of Canaan, what will be their relation to the world at large?

The answer to this is, that at that time their name will be great in the earth; Abram's decendants will be a great nation; and he and Christ will be a blessing, by all the families of the earth being in them. This was stated in general terms when the gospel was preached to Abraham at Haran. In searching out these matters the phrases "in thee" and "in Him," and "in thy Seed," should be particularly attended to. They are little words but full of meaning.

The reader knows what it is to be in a house, and he is aware that he must pass into it before he can be in it. This is literal. Now, suppose we call the house a man; and in answer to the question, where is he? we say he is in the man, this would be to speak figuratively; but still Scripturally and intelligibly.

Before, however, a person, or a nation, or a multitude of nations, could be said to be in the man Abraham, and in the Man Christ Jesus, it is equally clear that they must pass into Abraham and into Christ. Now although many nations may literally come out of one man, a multitude of nations cannot literally be packed into one man. When, therefore, nations and individuals are said to be in Abraham and in Christ, it is manifest, it must be in a figurative sense.

Hence, "in thee," "in Him," and "in Christ." are figurative expressions, or terms of constitution. They are things of stubborn import. They do not express a feeling, but a relationship which is predicated on belief and obedience.

These are literal and actual things; for there is no Scriptural faith without belief of the letter, or written, or spoken, word; nor any obedience without conformity to prescribed action. To pass, or to be introduced into a man, is to sustain a relationship towards him of faith, affection, and allegiance, as prescribed.

Elpis Israel 2.2.




'...it is perfectly true that "God's salvation," by Christ's rejection, "has received a wider circle (than Israel,) viz., the whole earth;" Yet this was no accident; it was part of the plan fore-ordained and made known to the prophets, that Christ should become the salvation of Yahweh to the ends of the earth. In fact this was the principal feature of the promise to Abraham, that in his seed all families of the earth should be blessed.

But are we to say that because Christ's operations are to bear upon the whole earth, therefore they are not to have their centre in the Holy Land? that because he is to rule all nations, therefore he won't be king of the Jews? that because the Gentiles are admitted to the privilege of Israel's commonwealth, therefore Israel's commonwealth is abolished? 

By no means. No one truth destroys another. We must find a place for every feature'.

Ambassador of the Coming Age, Dec 1867. p317



"How do we Gentiles get under the New Covenant?"

Individually? Yes. The answer to this question is, "By taking hold of it." But what does taking hold of the covenant consist in? In believing the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ: and then being immersed into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.-Acts 8:12; Mat. 28:20.

In other words, believe the exceeding great and precious promises covenanted to the fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David; and confirmed by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ; and having this faith, put on Christ by baptism into him-for in Hebrews, Paul says,

"By the New, or Second, Will (covenant or testament) we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ once."

We are sanctified by the Abrahamic Covenant, which is made sanctifying by Jesus, the seed of Abraham, its mediatorial testator, having dedicated it by his blood. Ignorance of the promises covenanted to the fathers, excludes from this covenant-sanctification, without which there is no salvation.

"Alienated from God's life," says Paul, "through the ignorance that is in them."-Heb. 10:9, 10.

Let those who cannot get beyond the faith and trembling of the demons, who as well as they believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God, think on these things. Read James 2:19; Mark 1:24, 34.

With the hope that sufficient has been adduced to relieve our correspondent of her difficulty, we conclude, wishing her and her friends a glorious participation in the consolation, in the expectation of which she patiently endures.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Jan 1858