Acts 1:6-8 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?… I. THE QUESTION OF THE DISCIPLES disclosed — 1. Their ignorance. 2. Their belief that there was a kingdom of God. They could not forget the Theocracy, nor lose the conviction that it would be restored. Why, then, not now, and by the King? 3. Their benevolence and patriotism. 4. Their inquisitiveness and impatience. II. THE ANSWER OF THE MASTER suggests — 1. That He can bear the inevitable ignorance of the good. 2. That His followers should cheek vain curiosity. 3. That there are times and seasons, eras and epochs, in the development of the affairs of the kingdom of God. The meaning of this is plain now, to a degree impossible then. Pentecost, the death of Stephen, the conversion of Saul, were "times." The apostolic age, with its wonderful diffusion of the gospel, was a "season." This age with its revivals, scientific spirit, and scepticism is also a "season." Other times and seasons have yet to follow. How wonderful the wisdom which could plan them, and the authority which can put and hold them under full control. 4. That the pre-vision of these times and seasons is withheld from man. The wonders of Pentecost had to be waited for and felt and seen before their nature could be known. So with other epochs. (W. Hudson.) Parallel Verses KJV: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? |
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