His answer was: "It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;

And said: "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the heavens? This very Jesus, who has been taken from you into the heavens, will come in the very way in which you have seen him go into the heavens."

To take the place in this apostolic work, which Judas has abandoned, to go to his proper place."

Either Jews by birth or converts, and some are Cretans and Arabians--yet we all alike hear them speaking in our own tongues of the great things that God has done."

And now that he has been exalted to the right hand of God, and has received from the Father the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, he has begun to pour out that gift, as you yourselves now see and hear.

So let the whole nation of Israel know beyond all doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ--this very Jesus whom you crucified."

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his Servant Jesus--him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.

And it is by faith in the Name of Jesus, that this man, whom you all see and know, has--by his Name--been made strong. Yes, it is the faith inspired by Jesus that has made this complete cure of the man, before the eyes of you all.

But Heaven must be his home, until the days of the Universal Restoration, of which God has spoken by the lips of his holy Prophets from the very first.

Since we are on our trial to-day for a kind act done to a helpless man, and are asked in what way the man here before you has been cured,

Jesus is 'the stone which, scorned by you the builders, has yet become the corner stone.'

"What are we to do to these men?" they asked one another. "That a remarkable sign has been given through them is obvious to every one living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

All who heard their story, moved by a common impulse, raised their voices to God in prayer: "O Sovereign Lord, it is you who has 'made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,'

There have indeed gathered together in this city against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you has consecrated the Christ, not Herod and Pontius Pilate only, but the nations and the people of Israel besides--

"Ananias," Peter exclaimed, "how is it that Satan has so taken possession of your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit, and kept back a part of the money paid for the land?

It is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a Guide and a Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

While they said to Aaron--'Make us Gods who will lead the way for us, since, as for this Moses who has brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

And he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, so that he may recover his sight."

"Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I have heard from many people about this man--how much harm he has done at Jerusalem to your People there.

I will myself show him all that he has to suffer for my Name."

He is lodging with a tanner named Simon, who has a house near the sea."

Again he was aware of a voice which said-- "What God has pronounced 'clean', do not regard as 'defiled'."

The men replied: "Our captain, Cornelius, a pious man who reverences God and is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house, and to listen to what you have to say."

"You are doubtless aware that it is forbidden for a Jew to be intimate with a foreigner, or even to enter his house; and yet God has shown me that I ought not to call any man 'defiled' or 'unclean.'

'Cornelius,' he said, 'your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been accepted, by God.

God has sent his Message to the Israelites and told them, through Jesus Christ, the Good News of peace--and Jesus is Lord of all!

Further, God charged us to proclaim to the people, and solemnly affirm, that it is Jesus who has been appointed by God Judge of the living and the dead.

'No, Lord, I cannot,' I answered, 'for nothing 'defiled' or 'unclean' has ever passed my lips.'

Then a second time there came a voice from the heavens. "What God has pronounced 'clean'," it said, "you must not call 'defiled'."

On hearing this statement, they said no more, but broke out into praise of God. "So even to the Gentiles," they exclaimed, "God has granted the repentance which leads to Life!"

Then Peter came to himself and said: "Now I know beyond all doubt that the Lord has sent his angel, and has rescued me from Herod's hands and from all that the Jewish people have been expecting."

Yet he has not failed to give you, in the good he does, some revelation of himself--sending you from heaven rain and fruitful seasons, and gladdening your hearts with plenty and good cheer."

Simon has described the manner in which God first visited the Gentiles, in order to take from among them a people to bear his Name.

'"After this I will return; and I will rebuild the House of David which has fallen--its very ruins I will rebuild, and will set it up once more;

That so the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord--even all the Gentiles on whom my Name has been bestowed."

But we should write to them to abstain from food that has been polluted by being sacrificed to idols, from impurity, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from blood.

Therefore, as the offspring of God, we must not think that the Deity has any resemblance to anything made of gold, or silver, or stone--a work of human art and imagination.

Because he has fixed a day on which he intends to 'judge the world with justice,' by a man whom he has appointed--and of this he has given all men a pledge by raising this man from the dead."

And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but in almost the whole of Roman Asia, this Paul has convinced and won over great numbers of people, by his assertion that those Gods which are made by hands are not Gods at all.

Be watchful over yourselves, and over the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has placed you in charge, to shepherd the Church of God, which he won for himself at the cost of his life.

And now I commend you to the Lord and to the Message of his Love--a Message which has the power to build up your characters, and to give you your place among all those who have become Christ's People.

"Men of Israel! help! This is the man who teaches every one everywhere against our People, our Law, and this Place; and, what is more, he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled this sacred place."

Then he said 'The God of our ancestors has appointed you to learn his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his lips;

The Captain went with the lad to the Commanding Officer, and said: "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this lad to you, as he has something to tell you."

If, however, I am breaking the law and have committed any offence deserving death, I do not ask to escape the penalty; but, if there is nothing in the accusations of these people, no one has the power to give me up to them. I appeal to the Emperor."

Indeed, the King knows about these matters, so I speak before him without constraint. I am sure that there is nothing whatever of what I have been telling him that has escaped his attention; for all this has not been done in a corner.

'Have no fear, Paul; you must appear before the Emperor, and God himself has given you the lives of all your fellow-voyagers.'

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another: "Evidently this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."

For the mind of this nation has grown dense, and their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes also have they closed; lest some day they should see with their eyes, and with their ears they should hear, and in their mind they should understand, and should turn--and I should heal them.'