BRO. T. H. STARBUCK, of Oregon, writes: “I am told that Acts 3:19 should be rendered thus: ‘Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.’ Will the Greek sustain such a rendering?” Ans. That rendering is more strictly in accordance with the original. But critics are not agreed as to the sense in which the Greek words ὅπως ἂν should be taken; that is, whether they bear the sense of “when,” as in our version, or “in order that.” So far as the use we make of the passage is concerned, it matters not which meaning we may give them. The best expositors are generally agreed that the following words, “And he shall send Jesus Christ,” refer to Christ’s second advent; and all we wish to prove is that there is a special time of blotting out of sins in connection with a refreshing, or outpouring of the Spirit, and the second coming of Christ, as is so clearly shown by the subject of the sanctuary. And this appears equally in either case. If we say, “when the times of refreshing shall come,” it shows that such a time is coming at some definite point in the future, though we may not know the time, and that sins are to be blotted out when that time shall come. If we say, “in order that the times of refreshing may come,” &c., it shows no less that there is a time of blotting out of sin, in connection with a time of refreshing, only that the coming of that time is dependent upon the progress of this work of repentance and conversion among men. And we see no objection to this idea. Peter seems to speak as though the coming of the day of the Lord is affected somewhat by the course the church may take: 2 Pet. 3:12; “Looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” The margin reads, “Hasting the coming.” If it has been ordained that a certain work must be done on earth, for instance, that a certain number must be converted and made righteous, before the Lord can come, the sooner that work is accomplished, the sooner the Lord will come. And if this is a work in which the church is to be largely instrumental, the faster they work and the more they accomplish, the sooner the Lord will come. But some one may perhaps say, There are certain events to take place, or prophecies to be fulfilled, with which the action of the church has nothing to do. But might we not suppose in reply, that Providence would keep pace with the church in the accomplishment of its work, and cause contemporaneous events to be fulfilled with a slow or accelerated movement, as circumstances might demand. With this view the exhortation of Acts 3:19 would be regarded as an exhortation given to all the world, to repent and be converted, fill up the ranks of the righteous, complete the destined number to be redeemed, that your sins may be blotted out, that the times of refreshing may come, and that Jesus Christ may be sent. That is, Complete the work of the gospel, that the plan of salvation may the sooner be worked out, and the time of reward and deliverance come. This blotting out of sin and the coming of the times of refreshment, we cannot apply to individual cases as fast as they repent, unless we have the coming of Christ and the restitution of all things take place there also; for these are all inseparably connected together. The work of repentance and conversion among all men is first accomplished, then comes the blotting out of sin, and the times of refreshing, and the coming of Christ, and the restitution of all things. This is the order of events given in Acts 3:19–21; and it beautifully harmonizes with the subject of the sanctuary and with the testimony of other scriptures.