It was usual in the court of the Sanhedrim to allow an accused person to plead guilty or not guilty, and to speak in his own defense. As this address of Stephen's is his defense, we must know of what he was accused. Generally it may be said that he was a blasphemer of God and the Law; but, to understand how such a charge could possibly be made, we must appreciate the intense and superstitious feeling concerning Mosaism which characterized the rulers of that day. The more manifestly that the spiritual life faded out of the older system, the more intensely the people clung to its mere forms and traditions; jealousy of it as a national system had taken the place of faithfulness to it as a revelation of God and a means of grace. Stephen was "the first man who dared to think that the gospel of Jesus was a Divine step forward, a new economy of God, which the existing Hebraic institutions might indeed refuse to accept, but which, in that case, would not only dispense with, but in the end overturn, the Hebraic institutions." So far as a charge was brought against Stephen, it closely resembled that brought against our Lord. The false witnesses declared that they had heard him say "that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [i.e. the temple], and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us." But while this was the definite charge, we find that the real offence must have been his bold and unqualified assertion of the Messiahship and divinity of Christ. Stephen's crime, in the eyes of bigoted Jewish rulers, was his discernment of the spirituality of Christ's mission; but this Stephen saw on its antagonistic side, and therefore we cannot wonder that he should excite such prejudice against himself. Olshausen well says, "The Jews, with a disposition of mind that looked to outward things, did not rightly comprehend the thoughts of Stephen, but took a distorted view of them. What he had represented as a consequence of the operation of the Spirit of Christ, whose design it was to consecrate the world as a great temple of God, and to guide religion from externals to the heart, that the Jews conceived as a purpose to be accomplished by violence, and thus they ascribed to him the destruction of the temple and the abolition of Jewish usages - things which he had never attempted." We may dwell on -

I. THE FORM OF THE SPEECH AS ADAPTED TO THE JEWISH AUDIENCE. It is a historical resume. With such a Jewish audience is always pleased, and for such marked attention and interest can now be secured. It is remarkable:

1. For the knowledge of Scripture which it reveals - a knowledge not concerned only with facts and persons, but with principles and their permanent applications.

2. For the skill with which he selected his Scripture points; so that not until "he had patiently traversed the whole period from Abraham to Solomon, selecting such facts as made for his own case, and setting them in skilful array, did he suffer one word to escape him at which even his most adverse hearer could take open exception." Stephen illustrates for us the power that lies in

(1) command of Scripture;

(2) self-command;

(3) skill in the art of rhetoric and of argument;

(4) spiritual insight of the deeper meanings of Divine revelation.

II. THE RELATION OF THE SPEECH TO THE SPECIFIC CHARGES. He was accused of teaching what would materially change the old Jewish customs. He replies in effect

(1) that God had given a new revelation, and that he was only asking them to hear God's message and receive God's Messenger; and

(2) that, in rejecting a new message from God, they were only acting as their fathers had done in all the previous generations. This Stephen, in a very subtle way, hinted at by his historical references; but he reserved the full unfolding of it until the close of his speech. Then he presses two points home upon the heart and conscience of his audience.

(1) In reference to the charge that he proposed the destruction of the temple and its ritual, he urged that God's direct spiritual dealings with men were and always had been strictly independent of forms, or ritual, or temple. And

(2) in reference to the Jewish rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, he urged that the Jews, under every succeeding form of Divine revelation, had resisted the Spirit. Dr. Dykes says, "As often as it had pleased God, through chosen messengers of his will, to lead Israel forward through a new moment of change into a fresh spiritual epoch of blessing, so often had God's thoughts been misunderstood, his purposes hindered, and his messenger rejected by the bulk of Israel. This had been their national failing - to cling to the present and material, whenever God was calling them to higher spiritual good. This they had done so often that their doing it now, by rejecting a spiritual Christ and idolizing a material temple, was only of a piece with their entire history." We must suppose that the excitement of the Sanhedrim, who detected his point, and the clamor of the crowd, who followed the cue given by the council, reached at last such a height that Stephen could only close his speech suddenly with the few intense words given us in vers. 51-53. It was a noble boldness and a sublime testimony, but we cannot wonder that it fed the flame of excitement and made a violent death for the heroic champion almost a certainty. There are times in life when what colder natures call imprudence is the immediate duty to which men are called. Stephen's burning words have carried their conviction to human consciences through the long Christian ages. Literature has no intenser warning against losing the spiritual by doggedly clinging to the bare and formal and literal. - R.T.

Terah died at Haran at the age of two hundred and five (Genesis 11:32.). From Genesis 11:26 it has been inferred that Terah was not more than seventy at the birth of Abraham; and as Abraham left Haran at seventy-five (Genesis 12:4) it would follow that Terah outlived his departure sixty years. But it is nowhere stated that Abraham was Terah's eldest son, and the Rabbins reckoned him the youngest. Abraham's prominence in history as the father of the faithful and the friend of God accounts for his name being placed before that of Haran in Genesis 11:26. In like manner the name of Shem, the youngest, stands first among the sons of Noah (Genesis 9:18; Genesis 10:21); Isaac's name takes precedence of Ishmael's (1 Chronicles 1:28); Judah is placed at the head of the list of the sons of Jacob (1 Chronicles 4:1; 1 Chronicles 5:1-2), and Moses is mentioned before his elder brother Aaron.

(Bp. Jacobsen.)

Of this we have three illustrations in the verses before us, which are all the more impressive because of their unlikelihood. We have God's fidelity —

I. To His PROMISES (ver. 5). Abraham, without a foot of land, and, being childless and nomadic, not likely to trouble himself about any, was promised that his seed should possess the entire country. We know that this came to pass, and through what a wonderful series of unlikely events it came to pass. This, therefore, is a good sample of all God's promises — e.g.,

1. Of temporal good. Who that has trusted God's word in this particular ever knew it to fail? There is no promise of affluence, but there are abundant promises of sufficiency. Some of the richest pages in Christian biography are records of the extraordinary way in which God works the deliverance of His people in poverty, affliction, danger, etc.

2. Of salvation "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Who ever knew that to fail? It has been proved over and over again in the most hopeless cases. The infidel, men and women to whom abnormal vice has become a second nature, criminals on the verge of execution, have found it true, and in a manner in which the most sanguine could never have expected.

3. Of grace. The Christian is sometimes placed in circumstances of extraordinary trial. Extreme adversity and extreme prosperity, circumstances which have been gradually accumulating until they reach a climax, and circumstances which seem to gather like a thunderous cloud in a moment, expose the Christian to extreme peril. Satan seems to occupy an unshakeable vantage ground, and the good man seems to be helplessly entangled in his toils. Not so. Strangely is there opened "a way of escape," which would all along have been seen to be open but for temporary blindness of faith.

4. Of glory — the best illustration perhaps of the promise before us. Then there will be given to us what we most seem to want here, but which we have least ground to expect. The poor will have riches, the weary rest, the afflicted blessedness, and, most wonderful of all, the humble Christian worker the glad "well done" and the crown of life.

II. To His PROPHECIES (ver. 6). That this prophecy would be fulfilled was most improbable, a general characteristic of most of the Divine predictions. Men make shrewd guesses based upon wide experience and a careful induction of facts, and men marvel when what, to the clear sighted, seemed almost inevitable takes place. Much more should they marvel when God's Word — based upon what to the most sagacious human reason would pronounce to be no ground at all — comes true; only the wonder should be mixed with adoration. Here, e.g., is the prediction that a childless old man without a foot of territory should have a seed large enough to occupy the land; that a race that did not exist should pass through vicissitudes which are Sufficiently specified for a given number of years. Of alike character are the prophecies concerning Christ and His Church. This being the case with regard to fulfilled prophecies, surely there is good room for faith in those which have not yet come to pass. Having regard to the past who can cease to have hope for the Church or for the world. The Church has not yet come fully into its inheritance — but it is better off than Abraham, who had not a foot of his.

III. To His THREATENINGS (ver. 7). The power here threatened was now, and at the time of the fulfilment of the threatening, the mightiest in the world. Yet Egypt was judged. The great world powers afterwards threatened — Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, were in their turn colossal in their strength, yet where are they to-day? And why? Let modern potentates heed the lesson — because they opposed the cause of God; a course as likely to succeed as the effort to keep back the sea with a broom. Conclusion:

1. A sacramental guarantee was given for all this. God entered into solemn covenant with Abraham that promise, prediction, threatening — for all hung together — should be fulfilled, and sealed the covenant by the ordinance of circumcision. And what is a Christian's baptism but a seal of a covenant of promise involving everything else for this life and the life to come; and what is the Lord's supper but a memorial to all generations of the present support and ultimate triumph of the Church of Christ?

2. Lessons:(1) God takes time for the evolution of His purposes. Four hundred years was not too long for the working out of His purposes concerning Israel; four thousand years are not too long for Him to whom one thousand years is as one day.(2) Man must therefore wait. Patience is the grace supremely needed in this relation. Let us not, like faithless Israel, forget or despair.

(J. W. Burn.)

I. The SOJOURNERS — Abraham's seed the spiritual progenitors of believers. "They that are of faith are the seed of Abraham." The Jews were —

1. A chosen people; so Christians are a chosen generation.

2. A separated people. In whatever circumstances we find them they will not mix. They would not in Egypt; they will not to-day. So a distinguishing mark of Christians is separation from the world — "What concord hath Christ with Belial."

3. A people owned of God — "I will be their God; they shall be My people." His own inheritance, portion, "special treasure." Observe also, that this people owned their God. In their feasts, sacrifices, offerings, first-born. God was to be owned as their God in all. They were not to take a journey nor engage in battle without first asking God. Another and a double mark of Christian character.

4. A blessed people. "Blessed art thou in Israel," etc., and all who are of the faith are recipients of "the blessing of Abraham." The covenant treasures laid up in Christ Jesus, the righteousness which is by faith.

II. THE SOJOURNING. We should never consider the world through which we are passing as any other than a strange land. Do not think of building your nests as if you were to be always at home here. Leave the worldling to his toys, and let us contemplate the fact that we are only strangers and sojourners as all our fathers were.

1. Abraham's seed are considered strange beings in this world — so strange, that they are held "an abomination," and positively offensive (Genesis 43:32). The case is not altered in the present day. "The world knoweth us not, because it knows Him not." "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," etc. He who is "born after the flesh" is still as bent upon persecuting him who is "born after the Spirit" as in Paul's days. Nor can the servants of Satan, the soldiers of Sihon and Og, allow the Israel of God to pass through their territories unmolested. And yet I am anxious that all the seed of Abraham should be able so to live, that their very enemies may come to the same conclusion that the enemies of Daniel did (Daniel 6:5).

2. They are annoyed with strange things as they pass through this strange land with its —

(1)Principles.

(2)Practices.

(3)Persons.

3. Though grievously annoyed, yet they advance continually in the face of every obstacle and foe. Nothing stops them; on they must go. But how was it that no powers could arrest, no floods or plains intimidate, or armies vanquish Abraham's seed? Just because God went before them as their guide, a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. And is it not the same now? The Lord is a wall of fire round about them that fear Him. The real advancement of the seed of Abraham will always include these two things; an advancement in the knowledge of ourselves that shall lay us low; and in the knowledge of Jesus that shall elevate and cheer us.

III. THE KINGDOM BEYOND. It was Jehovah's good pleasure to give His people Canaan, and they got it not with sword or bow. They did not deserve it, for they were a stiff-necked and perverse generation, but it was Jehovah's good pleasure to give it to them, just as "it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom." Many things might be said about this kingdom; but note these: We shall then be so situated as to be above all annoyances, in a kingdom where there is not an unwholesome law; where there is not a dissenting voice from the will of the Monarch; where there is no infirmity, and nothing but joy, and peace, and righteousness.

(J. Irons.)

Vers. 6 and 7 are quoted, not with verbal exactness, from Genesis 15:13, 14 according to the LXX. A parenthesis marked after "land" and "evil" would make it clear that the four hundred years are the length of the entire time during which Abraham and his descendants were to be sojourners, i.e., to have no country of their own. The Egyptian servitude did not begin till after the death of Joseph, and did not exceed two hundred and fifteen years. If the calculation is made from the weaning of Isaac, the interval is exactly four hundred years. In speaking, the round number was used instead of the precise total of four hundred and thirty years; which is given in the historical statement (Exodus 12:40), quoted Galatians 3:17, which the received chronology makes to be the interval between Abraham's going down into Egypt and the Exodus. The same variation is found in Josephus, who states in his history that the Israelites quitted Egypt in the four hundred and thirtieth year; but in a report of a speech of his own in the "Wars" he gives the duration four hundred years.

(Bp. Jacobson.)

Aaron, David, Egyptians, Emmor, Hamor, Haran, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Molech, Pharaoh, Saul, Solomon, Stephen, SychemBabylon, Canaan, Egypt, Haran, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Midian, Mount Sinai, Red Sea, ShechemCaused, Chaldaea, Chaldaeans, Chaldeans, Chalde'ans, Charran, Dead, Death, Departed, Died, Dwell, Dwelt, Forth, Guided, Haran, Move, Moved, Remove, Removed, Settled, Thence, Thereupon, Till, Wherein1. Stephen, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy,
2. shows that Abraham worshipped God rightly, and how God chose the fathers,
20. before Moses was born, and before the tabernacle and temple were built;
37. that Moses himself witnessed of Christ;
44. and that all outward ceremonies were ordained to last but for a time;
51. reprehending their rebellion, and murdering of Christ, whom the prophets foretold.
54. Whereupon they stone Stephen to death,
59. who commends his soul to Jesus, and humbly prays for them.

Acts 7:4

     8453   obedience

Acts 7:2-5

     5078   Abraham, significance

Acts 7:2-8

     5076   Abraham, life of

Acts 7:3-5

     5704   inheritance, material

Acts 7:3-7

     7259   promised land, later history

Stephen's vision
'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God'--ACTS vii. 56. I. The vision of the Son of Man, or the abiding manhood of Jesus. Stephen's Greek name, and his belonging to the Hellenistic part of the Church, make it probable that he had never seen Jesus during His earthly life. If so, how beautiful that he should thus see and recognise Him! How significant, in any case, is it he should instinctively have taken on his lips that name, 'the Son of Man,' to designate …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Young Saul and the Aged Paul [Footnote: to the Young. ]
'...the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.'--ACTS vii. 58. '...Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.' --PHILEMON 9. A far greater difference than that which was measured by years separated the young Saul from the aged Paul. By years, indeed, the difference was, perhaps, not so great as the words might suggest, for Jewish usage extended the term of youth farther than we do, and began age sooner. No doubt, too, Paul's life had aged him fast, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Death of the Master and the Death of the Servant
'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And, when he had said this, he fell asleep.'--ACTS vii. 59, 60. This is the only narrative in the New Testament of a Christian martyrdom or death. As a rule, Scripture is supremely indifferent to what becomes of the people with whom it is for a time concerned. As long as the man is the organ of the divine Spirit he is …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Prayer of Stephen.
(Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 1832.) TEXT: ACTS vii. 60. "And Stephen kneeled down and cried with, a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." FREE and unrestricted as we are in our church as to our choice of subjects for meditation from the treasuries of the divine Word, many of you may still perhaps wonder why I have selected this passage. For you are aware that I have often lately taken occasion to express the opinion that the state of things …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

Our Lord Appears after his Ascension.
^F I. Cor. XV. 8. ^f 8 and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also. [Since Paul reckons this among the bodily appearances of our Lord, we have included it in our work; but it borders upon those spiritual appearances which belong rather to apostolic history and may be classed with the vision of Stephen (Acts vii. 55) and John (Rev. i. 9-17), to which it was near kin. Accounts of the appearance will be found in the ninth, twenty-second and twenty-sixth chapters of Acts. For …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Letter iv. You Reply to the Conclusion of My Letter: "What have we to do with Routiniers?...
My dear friend, You reply to the conclusion of my Letter: "What have we to do with routiniers? Quid mihi cum homunculis putata putide reputantibus? Let nothings count for nothing, and the dead bury the dead! Who but such ever understood the tenet in this sense?" In what sense then, I rejoin, do others understand it? If, with exception of the passages already excepted, namely, the recorded words of God--concerning which no Christian can have doubt or scruple,--the tenet in this sense be inapplicable …
Samuel Taylor Coleridge—Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit etc

St. Stephen's Day and Stephen, Full of Faith and Power, did Great Wonders and Miracles among the People. . . . Then they Stirred up the People. . . . And Caught Him, and Set up False Witnesses against Him.
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. . . . Then they stirred up the people. . . . and caught him, and set up false witnesses against him. Verzage nicht du Haüflein klein [52]Altenburg Gustavus Adolphus' Battle-song. 1631. trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855 Fear not, O little flock, the foe Who madly seeks your overthrow, Dread not his rage and power: What though your courage sometimes faints, His seeming triumph o'er God's saints Lasts but …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

The Death of Stephen. Acts 7:54-60
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether in Christ There was the Gift of Prophecy?
Objection 1: It would seem that in Christ there was not the gift of prophecy. For prophecy implies a certain obscure and imperfect knowledge, according to Num. 12:6: "If there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream." But Christ had full and unveiled knowledge, much more than Moses, of whom it is subjoined that "plainly and not by riddles and figures doth he see God" (Num. 6:8). Therefore we ought not to admit prophecy in Christ. Objection …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether those who are not Practiced in Keeping the Commandments Should Enter Religion?
Objection 1: It would seem that none should enter religion but those who are practiced in the observance of the commandments. For our Lord gave the counsel of perfection to the young man who said that he had kept the commandments "from his youth." Now all religious orders originate from Christ. Therefore it would seem that none should be allowed to enter religion but those who are practiced in the observance of the commandments. Objection 2: Further, Gregory says (Hom. xv in Ezech., and Moral. xxii): …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Old Law was Given through the Angels?
Objection 1: It seems that the Old Law was not given through the angels, but immediately by God. For an angel means a "messenger"; so that the word "angel" denotes ministry, not lordship, according to Ps. 102:20,21: "Bless the Lord, all ye His Angels . . . you ministers of His." But the Old Law is related to have been given by the Lord: for it is written (Ex. 20:1): "And the Lord spoke . . . these words," and further on: "I am the Lord Thy God." Moreover the same expression is often repeated in Exodus, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Christ's Birth Should have Been Manifested by Means of the Angels and the Star?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's birth should not have been manifested by means of the angels. For angels are spiritual substances, according to Ps. 103:4: "Who maketh His [Vulg.: 'makest Thy'] angels, spirits." But Christ's birth was in the flesh, and not in His spiritual substance. Therefore it should not have been manifested by means of angels. Objection 2: Further, the righteous are more akin to the angels than to any other, according to Ps. 33:8: "The angel of the Lord shall encamp round …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether it is Fitting that Christ Should Sit at the Right Hand of God the Father?
Objection 1: It would seem unfitting that Christ should sit at the right hand of God the Father. For right and left are differences of bodily position. But nothing corporeal can be applied to God, since "God is a spirit," as we read in Jn. 4:24. Therefore it seems that Christ does not sit at the right hand of the Father. Objection 2: Further, if anyone sits at another's right hand, then the latter is seated on his left. Consequently, if Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, it follows that …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Judgment is Rendered Perverse by Being Usurped?
Objection 1: It would seem that judgment is not rendered perverse by being usurped. For justice is rectitude in matters of action. Now truth is not impaired, no matter who tells it, but it may suffer from the person who ought to accept it. Therefore again justice loses nothing, no matter who declares what is just, and this is what is meant by judgment. Objection 2: Further, it belongs to judgment to punish sins. Now it is related to the praise of some that they punished sins without having authority …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

In Process of Tithe, that is to Say, in the Tenth Generation after the Flood...
In process of tithe, that is to say, in the tenth generation after the Flood, Abraham appeared, [120] seeking for the God who by the blessing of his ancestor was due and proper to him. [121] And when, urged by the eagerness of his spirit, he went all about the world, searching where God is, and failed to find out; God took pity on him who alone was silently seeking Him; and He appeared unto Abraham, making Himself known by the Word, as by a beam of light. For He spake with him from heaven, and said …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

And Jacob, when He Went into Mesopotamia, Saw Him in a Dream...
And Jacob, when he went into Mesopotamia, saw Him in a dream, standing upon the ladder , that is the tree which was set up from earth to heaven; [172] for thereby they that believe on Him go up to the heavens. For His sufferings are our ascension on high. And all such visions point to the Son of God, speaking with men and being in their midst. For it was not the Father of all, who is not seen by the world, the Maker of all who has said: Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

The Law Given, not to Retain a People for Itself, but to Keep Alive the Hope of Salvation in Christ Until his Advent.
1. The whole system of religion delivered by the hand of Moses, in many ways pointed to Christ. This exemplified in the case of sacrifices, ablutions, and an endless series of ceremonies. This proved, 1. By the declared purpose of God; 2. By the nature of the ceremonies themselves; 3. From the nature of God; 4. From the grace offered to the Jews; 5. From the consecration of the priests. 2. Proof continued. 6. From a consideration of the kingdom erected in the family of David. 7. From the end of the …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

As God in his Word Enjoins Common Prayer, So Public Temples are the Places Destined...
As God in his word enjoins common prayer, so public temples are the places destined for the performance of them, and hence those who refuse to join with the people of God in this observance have no ground for the pretext, that they enter their chamber in order that they may obey the command of the Lord. For he who promises to grant whatsoever two or three assembled in his name shall ask (Matth. 18:20), declares, that he by no means despises the prayers which are publicly offered up, provided there …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

A Glorious vision.
THE Epistle to the Hebrews, this profound and blessed portion of the Holy Scriptures, unfolds a most wonderful vision of the Person, the Glory and the great Redemption work of our adorable Lord. The portion of the Epistle which is the richest in this respect is the Second Chapter. Here is a vista for the eyes of faith which is sublime. Our Lord in His Person, in His humiliation and exaltation, in His suffering and glory, stands out in a way which makes the believing heart rejoice with joy unspeakable …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

It Follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost. ...
13. It follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost." This Trinity, one God, one nature, one substance, one power; highest equality, no division, no diversity, perpetual dearness of love. [1795] Would ye know the Holy Ghost, that He is God? Be baptized, and ye will be His temple. The Apostle says, "Know ye not that your bodies are the temple within you of the Holy Ghost, Whom ye have of God?" [1796] A temple is for God: thus also Solomon, king and prophet, was bidden to build a temple for God. If …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

From Egypt to Sinai.
Ex. Chs. 1-19 Israel in Egypt. The length of time the Hebrews remained In Egypt is a perplexing question. Exodus 6:16-20 makes Moses the fourth generation from Levi (See Gen. 15:16; Num. 26:57-59). This would make it about 150 years. Gen. 15:13 predicts 400 years. Ex. 12:40 says they were there 430 years and Paul (Gal. 3:17) says 430 years from Abraham to Sinai. These apparently conflicting dates may be explained because of different methods of counting generations, probably based on long lives of …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Son of Man
"The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." MARK 2:10 (R.V.) WHEN asserting His power to forgive sins, Jesus, for the first time in our Gospel, called Himself the Son of man. It is a remarkable phrase. The profound reverence which He from the first inspired, restrained all other lips from using it, save only when the first martyr felt such a rush of sympathy from above poured into his soul, that the thought of Christ's humanity was more moving than that of His deity. So too it is then alone …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

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