The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 235

God works through the evil p:issions of men as well as through the good; nnd all powers in rivalry with love must sooner or later be brought submissively to follow in the wake of her eternal progress of blessing. In humiliation and in exaltation Joseph presents a lively type of Jesus. And the Sanhedrim must have felt this as they listened to the old familiar st-0ry of the origin of the nation. They are face to face with the fact of a new origin. Will they learn the lesson of the p&St for the present ? Do we learn the lessons of the past for our present ?-J. Vere. 17-29.-Ismel in Egypt: tM rise of Moses, We may view these events as typi«il of the Christian time or as expressive of an inner meaning, a Divine loaio of history. We may learn, then, from this passage- " l. 'I'H.A.T DIVINE BEGTh"'l>'INGS IN HISTORY A.RE NEVER WITHOUT STRUGGLES, The people grew and increased, but a sudden check was given to their prosperity by the accession of a new king. Israel might have settled in Egypt and have achieved no great thing for the world, had not persecution compelled her to struggle for existence and for liberty. Times of national danger throw the nation back upon its true conscious- ness. They vivify and purify that consciousness. It was England's struggle against a tyrant two centuries and a half ago which made England. So the War of Inde- pendence made .A.meric:i into a nation. The truth applies to the individual also. We may depend upon it that permanent good must sooner or later be struggled for- either that it may be gained, or, if gained, that it may be kept. !I. TBA T THE EX:TREME HOUR OF Hm.lAN NEED IS THE HOUR FOB DIVINE INTER• POSITION; or, man's e:i;tremity is God's opportunity. "When the tale of bricks is full" says the proverb, "then comes Moses." Great stirrings among the people, movements towards liberty and purity of religion, seem to produce at the right moment the patriotic leader and the reformer. When the hour comes the man is not wanting. It may be argued that until the leader appears the movement is not ripe. God reveals his will for change in the words and work of great men. IIL Tm: SIG1IIFICANT PERSONALITY OF GREAT MEN. The child was divinely fair. He was wonderfully preserved from death ; rescued by the very daughter of the perse- cutor, and cradled in the very house of his foes. His education among one of the most richly civilized of ancient peoples was complete; and the influence of bis person was most commanding. God does not bestow such graces for nothing. Whenever we see such a one marked out by beauty, knowledge, intellectual power above his fellows, we are entitled to ask-What is his significance for the world ? What does God mean to do with him for the good of mankind? Again, the life-ideas in such great men are often of slow ripening. Not till he was forty years of age did his thoughts turn to the condition of his nation, and the delivering purpose come to fruit in his heart. Some men conceive much earlier the ambition and the call of their life, and move toward the goal with extraordinary velocity and energy. Others appear to be long dormant, like the oak that tarries to put forth its leaf in the woodland. Great careers have been run, great works achieved, by the age of thirty-seven : Alexander, Raphael, Byron, are well-known examples. Cromwell. on the other hand, was about the age of Moses when God called him from the fens of Huntingdon to save our nation. The age matters little ; men in this respect resemble plants-" Ripeness is all." IV. GREAT TBAINB OF EVENTS SPRING FROM SLIGHT VISIBLE CAUSES. A single spark is sufficient t-0 fire the train of powder which is to explode the mine. When the mind is full of an idea, a trifling circumstance may stimulate all its energies to action. A forming purpose waits only for the decisive action to fix and crystallize it. Thus the act of Moses in delivering the individual Israelite from bis oppressor fixed him in his national desiun. In everything let us follow the lead of God. Let us remember that we are here Jkst to be acted upon by him, that we may then act from him upon others. If we are really in earnest, the opportunity will never be wanting. God makes his ser- vants ready for great enterprires by first inspiring them for lesser duties. The large and distant project may hold the mere visionary's view; but the practical and really useful man be"ins with his neighbour next door. The man who actually helps his friend in need is the"man who may be trusted to help a community or a nation. But how ma1.Jy dreamers are there whose projects of amelioration begin and end with eloquent 11peeches or articles in newspapers I 'l'be old lesson comes back from Moses' life to all CB, VD, 1-60.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLE~ Ill