Christ's Appearance to the Eleven.
14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and
upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said
unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe;
In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Here is, I. The conviction which Christ gave his apostles of the truth
of his resurrection (v. 14); He appeared to them himself, when they were
all together, as they sat at meat, which gave him an opportunity to eat
and drink with them, for their full satisfaction; see Acts x. 41. And still,
when he appeared to them, he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness
of heart, for even at the general meeting in Galilee, some doubted, as
we find Matt. xxviii. 17. Note, The evidences of the truth of the gospel
are so full, that those who receive it not, may justly be upbraided with
their unbelief; and it is owing not to any weakness or deficiency in the
proofs, but to the hardness of their heart, its senselessness and stupidity.
Though they had not till now seen him themselves, they are justly blamed
because they believed not them who had seen him after he was risen; and
perhaps it was owing in part to the pride of their hearts, that they did
not; for they thought, "If indeed he be risen, to whom should he delight
to do the honour of showing himself but to us?" And if he pass them by,
and show himself to others first, they cannot believe it is he. Thus many
disbelieve the doctrine of Christ, because they think it below them to
give credit to such as he had chosen to be the witnesses and publishers
of it. Observe, It will not suffice for an excuse of our infidelity in
the great day, to say, "We did not see him after he was risen," for we
ought to have believed the testimony of those who did see him.
II. The commission which he gave them to set up his kingdom among men
by the preaching of his gospel, the glad tidings of reconciliation to God
through a Mediator. Now observe,
1. To whom they were to preach the gospel. Hitherto they had been sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and were forbidden to go
into the way of the Gentiles, or into any city of the Samaritans; but now
their commission is enlarged, and they are authorized to go into all the
world, into all parts of the world, the habitable world, and to preach
the gospel of Christ to every creature, to the Gentiles as well as to the
Jews; to every human creature that is capable of receiving it. "Inform
them concerning Christ, the history of his life, and death, and resurrection;
instruct them in the meaning and intention of these, and of the advantages
which the children of men have, or may have, hereby; and invite them, without
exception, to come and share in them. This is gospel. Let this be preached
in all places, to all persons." These eleven men could not themselves preach
it to all the world, much less to every creature in it; but they and the
other disciples, seventy in number, with those who should afterward to
be added to them, must disperse themselves several ways, and, wherever
they went, carry the gospel along with them. They must send others to those
places whither they could not go themselves, and, in short, make it the
business of their lives to send those glad tidings up and down the world
with all possible fidelity and care, not as an amusement or entertainment,
but as a solemn message from God to men, and an appointed means of making
men happy. "Tell as many as you can, and bid them tell others; it is a
message of universal concern, and therefore, ought to have a universal
welcome, because it gives a universal welcome."
2. What is the summary of the gospel they are to preach (v. 16); "Set
before the world life and death, good and evil. Tell the children of men
that they are all in a state of misery and danger, condemned by their prince,
and conquered and enslaved by their enemies." This is supposed in their
being saved, which they would not need to be if they were not lost. "Now
go and tell them," (1.) "That if they believe the gospel, and give up themselves
to be Christ's disciples; if they renounce the devil, the world, and the
flesh, and be devoted to Christ as their prophet, priest, and king, and
to God in Christ a their God in covenant, and evidence by their constant
adherence to this covenant their sincerity herein, they shall be saved
from the guilt and power of sin, it shall not rule them, it shall not ruin
them. He that is a true Christian, shall be saved through Christ." Baptism
was appointed to be the inaugurating rite, by which those that embraced
Christ owned him; but it is here put rather for the thing signified than
for the sign, for Simon Magus believed and was baptized, yet was not saved,
Acts viii. 13. Believing with the heart, and confessing with the mouth
the Lord Jesus (Rom. x. 9), seems to be much the same with this here. Or
thus, We must assent to gospel-truths, and consent to gospel-terms. (2.)
"If they believe not, if they receive not the record God gives concerning
his Son, they cannot expect any other way of salvation, but must inevitably
perish; they shall be damned, by the sentence of a despised gospel, added
to that of a broken law." And even this is gospel, it is good news, that
nothing else but unbelief shall damn men, which is a sin against the remedy.
Dr. Whitby here observes, that they who hence infer "that the infant seed
of believers are not capable of baptism, because they cannot believe, must
hence also infer that they cannot be saved; faith being here more expressly
required to salvation than to baptism. And that in the latter clause baptism
is omitted, because it is not simply the want of baptism, but the contemptuous
neglect of it, which makes men guilty of damnation, otherwise infants might
be damned for the mistakes or profaneness of their parents."
3. What power they should be endowed with, for the confirmation of the
doctrine they were to preach (v. 17); These signs shall follow them that
believe. Not that all who believe, shall be able to produce these signs,
but some, even as many as were employed in propagating the faith, and bringing
others to it; for signs are intended for them that believe not; see 1 Cor.
xiv. 22. It added much to the glory and evidence of the gospel, that the
preachers not only wrought miracles themselves, but conferred upon others
a power to work miracles, which power followed some of them that believed,
wherever they went to preach. They shall do wonders in Christ's name, the
same name into which they were baptized, in the virtue of power derived
from him, and fetched in by prayer. Some particular signs are mentioned;
(1.) They shall cast out devils; this power was more common among Christians
than any other, and lasted longer, as appears by the testimonies of Justin
Martyr, Origen, Irenæus, Tertullian Minutius Felix, and others, cited
by Grotius on this place. (2.) They shall speak with new tongues, which
they had never learned, or been acquainted with; and this was both a miracle
(a miracle upon the mind), for the confirming of the truth of the gospel,
and a means of spreading the gospel among those nations that had not heard
it. It saved the preachers a vast labour in learning the languages; and,
no doubt, they who by miracle were made masters of languages, were complete
masters of them and of all their native elegancies, which were proper both
to instruct and affect, which would very much recommend them and their
preaching. (3.) They shall take up serpents. This was fulfilled in Paul,
who was not hurt by the viper that fastened on his hand, which was acknowledged
a great miracle by the barbarous people, Acts xxviii. 5, 6. They shall
be kept unhurt by that generation of vipers among whom they live, and by
the malice of the old serpent. (4.) If they be compelled by their persecutors
to drink any deadly poisonous thing, it shall not hurt them: of which very
thing some instances are found in ecclesiastical history. (5.) They shall
not only be preserved from hurt themselves, but they shall be enabled to
do good to others; They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,
as multitudes had done by their master's healing touch. Many of the elders
of the church had this power, as appears by Jam. v. 14, where, as an instituted
sign of this miraculous healing, they are said to anoint the sick with
oil in the name of the Lord. With what assurance of success might they
go about executing their commission, when they had such credentials as
these to produce!
The Ascension.
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up
into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth,
and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the
word with signs following. Amen.
Here is, 1. Christ welcomed into the upper world (v. 19): After the
Lord had spoken what he had to say to his disciples, he went up into heaven,
in a cloud; which we have a particular account of (Acts i. 9), and he had
not only an admission, but an abundant entrance, into his kingdom there;
he was received up, received in state, with loud acclamations of the heavenly
hosts; and he sat on the right hand of God: sitting in a posture of rest,
for now he had finished his work, and a posture of rule, for now he took
possession of his kingdom; he sat at the right hand of God, which denotes
the sovereign dignity he is advanced to, and the universal agency he is
entrusted with. Whatever God does concerning us, gives to us, or accepts
from us, it is by his Son. Now he is glorified with the glory he had before
the world.
2. Christ welcomed in this lower world; his being believed on in the
world, and received up into glory, are put together, 1 Tim. iii. 16. (1.)
We have here the apostles working diligently for him; they went forth,
and preached every where far and near. Though the doctrine they preached,
was spiritual and heavenly, and directly contrary to the spirit and genius
of the world, though it met with abundance of opposition, and was utterly
destitute of all secular supports and advantages, yet the preachers of
it were neither afraid nor ashamed; they were so industrious in spreading
the gospel, that within a few years the sound of it went forth into the
ends of the earth, Rom. x. 18. (2.) We have here God working effectually
with them, to make their labours successful, by confirming the word with
signs following, partly by the miracles that were wrought upon the bodies
of the people, which were divine seals to the Christian doctrine, and partly
by the influence it had upon the minds of the people, through the operation
of the Spirit of God, see Heb. ii. 4. These were properly signs following
the word--the reformation of the world, the destruction of idolatry, the
conversion of sinners, the comfort of saints; and these signs still follow
it, and that they may do so more and more, for the honour of Christ and
the good of mankind, the evangelist prays, and teaches us to say Amen.
Father in heaven, thus let thy name be hallowed, and let thy kingdom come.
