[ It is no easy matter to unite firmness and constancy with meekness and love. We are in danger on the one hand of yielding to intimidation, or on the other hand, of indulging an angry, complaining, ostentatious, or vindictive spirit. It may be well therefore frequently to set before us lie examples of our blessed Lord and his Apostles d, that we may follow their steps, who returned nothing but blessing for curses, and fervent prayers for despiteful persecutions. The whole of our duty is contained in one short but comprehensive sentence (may God inscribe it on all our hearts !) " Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with goode."]
d 1 Pet. ii. 20—23. 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. e Rom xii. 21.
Acts vii. 22, 23. And Moses was learned in all the ivisdom of the Egyptians, and tvas mighty in words and in deeds. And ivhen he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.
IT was urged against Stephen, that he was an enemy to Moses, and to the laws delivered by him. He, in vindicating himself against this charge, exalts Moses to the uttermost, as the greatest friend of Israel, who, at the peril of his life, and with the loss of all things, effected their deliverance from their bondage in Egypt.
In the hope that God, of his mercy, may raise up from amongst ourselves such friends to Israel, I will endeavour to shew,
I. The use to which Moses applied his distinguished talents —
Certainly his talents were of the most distinguished kind —
[In point of rank, he was second only to Pharaoh himself, in the whole Egyptian kingdom. Whether the government itself would ever have devolved on him, we cannot say : but, next to Pharaoh, he now possessed the greatest influence, and the most enlarged authority. His acquirements were of the very first order : " he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," who were at that time the most learned people upon earth. Solomon himself, who was wiser than all the
v 2
324, ACTS, VIL 22, 23. [l75(i.
children of the east country, was commended especially by this, that "he excelled all the wisdom of Egypt*:" and, con- sequently, the character here given us of Moses, as " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," is as elevated as any that could be given to mortal man. But to this was added expe- rience, in all the most arduous affairs of state. When it is said, " he was mighty in words and in deeds," we are not to under- stand it of what he was subsequent to his mission to redeem Israel from their bondage ; but of his previous state, whilst he was yet in Pharaoh's court, where he must of necessity find many occasions which called for peculiar wisdom in delibera- tion, and energy in action. At the same time, he was now in the very prime of life ; not so young, as to act with thoughtless indiscretion ; nor yet so old, as to be suspected of acting from a weariness of life, or a superstitious hope of meriting some- what at the hands of God : he was forty years of age ; at which time his judgment was fully matured: and, if he had affected worldly pleasures, he was fully capable of enjoying them with the richest zest, and for many years.]
Yet, with all these advantages, how did he employ them ?
[Did he enjoy himself as one intent only on his own personal gratifications ? No : he felt for the miseries of his oppressed brethren ; and determined to interest himself in their behalf. He was aware that such a proceeding must be attended with great sacrifices on his part, and expose him to very imminent dangers. He must of necessity lose his place and situation in the court of Pharaoh ; and, in uniting himself to the despised and persecuted Israelites, he could not fail to bring upon himself much reproach and suffering : yet, having weighed, as in a balance, the evils which he must endm*e against the benefits which he hoped to convey, " he refused to be called any longer the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt b." The benevolent desire of delivering his people from their oppres- sion having been conceived in his mind, he instantly addressed himself to that good work: and, "seeing one of them injured by an Egyptian, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand." But finding, the next day, that this action had been discovered, and knowing assuredly that, if he should be appre- hended by Pharaoh, his life would be sacrificed, " he fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian1'." How far the precise mode of carrying his desires into effect