`And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise

our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come' (Acts 26:6,7).

This was none other than the promise which formed the burden of the apostles' question in Acts 1:

`When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again

the kingdom to Israel?' (Acts 1:6).

It was to this Peter referred when he said that the times of restitution of all things, which God by the mouth of all

his holy prophets had spoken, would commence upon the repentance of Israel (Acts 3:19-26). Moreover, the apostle

could have shown these Jews his own written statement in the letter he had sent to the church at Rome touching their

hope, that it was the hope of Israel.

`There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust

(hope elpizo). Now the God of (that) hope (elpis) fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may

abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost' (Rom. 15:12,13).

Once we admit that these are the words of truth and soberness, we must also admit that the hope of the church,

up till the writing of the epistle to the Romans, was the hope of the Kingdom, for what other meaning can attach to

the words `reign over the Gentiles'? It is, moreover, the hope of Israel, for if not, why introduce the title the `root of

Jesse'? and why say `reign over' the Gentiles? If any one should object to this translation of archo (`reign over') let

him turn to Mark 10:42. Moreover, this hope was associated with the power of the Holy Ghost.

It is therefore impossible to dissociate the hope of the early church from the hope of Israel without impugning

the veracity of the apostle Paul, and denying the inspiration of Romans 15.

From the first chapter of the Acts right on to the moment when Israel were set aside, one hope is before the

church, as it was then constituted. But then, for the very sufficient reason that a new calling had been revealed, it

became necessary to pray that the church might perceive afresh `what is the hope of His calling'.

When Paul met the Jews by appointment in his lodging, `he expounded and testified the kingdom of God,

persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening'

(Acts 28:23). After their rejection, and the quotation of Isaiah 6:9,10, we read:

`And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the

kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man

forbidding him' (Acts 28:30,31).

Let us now return to Acts 28:23 and give our closest attention to the record of this interesting and critical day.

The Chief of the Jews appointed a day, and the apostle occupied the time `from morning till evening',

`expounding and testifying the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses

and out of the prophets', and we can well believe that that all-day exposition would have made the heart of any

believer to `burn within' him, even as in the case of the two disciples when they listened to the Lord on the way to

Emmaus. It may not be given to us to expound the Scriptures as did the apostle, but we can and do point out that

which the Lord has shown us, and pray that it may find a lodging in the heart of many a true `Berean'.

Paul `expounded' and `testified'. What do these words mean and what do they teach us? The word translated

`expound' is ektithemi, literally, `to put out'. The first occurrence of the word is in Acts 7:21, where it speaks of

Moses when he was `cast out'. In English, `to expound' is rarely used in this primitive sense, although Butler in

1678 wrote, `First he expounded both his pockets'; then, too, an alternative name for an Exhibition is an Exposition,

e.g., the Exposition of 1868. While what we usually intend by `expound', or `exposition', is the art of setting forth

an argument, a commentary, or a detailed explanation, we should remember that in both the Greek and English

words, the primitive meaning is never quite lost sight of.

This was one part of the apostle's method of teaching, but there was another, which supplemented it and made

the exposition live. He `testified' (diamarturomai). This is the ordinary word `to bear witness', marturomai, with