III. BAUL REOEivmo IMPRESSIONS AS AN ON-LOOKER. Endeavour to estimate his conflict of feeling. Wbile actually watching, rage and batred may have prevailed, but his mind was receiving its picture of tbe calm and heroic sufferer· and presently Saul lost sight of judges, witnesses, and crowds, and tbe vision on his s~ul alone was before him. He saw the saintly man fall asleep; he heard again those dying cries; he seemed to look through and see wh~~ Stephen saw, the Son of man glorified; and, strive how he would to blot out the VISlon, it was there; rush desperately into persecutin"' way8 how he might, still tbe vision was there. Stephen, we may fairly say awakene°d Saul to anxiety, and prepared the way for tbat vision of Christ which bo~ed down Saul's pride and won him to penitence, to faith, and to service. Better than the fable of the phcenix is the truth of Saul. Out of Stephen's death he sprang to a nobler, lon"'er life of witness for the living Christ than Stephen could have lived. Death is often" found the way, and the only way, to life. "Dying, and behold we live."-R. T. Vers. 59, 60.-Noble dying cries. Some account may be given of the mode of securing death by stoning. The practice is first heard of in the deserts of stony Arabia, this mode having been suggested probably by the abundance of stones, and the fatal effect with which they were often employed in broils among the people. Originally the people merely pelted their victim, but something like form and rule were subse- quently introduced. A crier marched before the man appointed to die, proclaiming his offence. He was ta.ken outside the town. The witnesses against him were required to cast the first stones. But the victim was usually placed on an elevation, and thrown down from this, before he was crushed with the stones flung upon him. For full details, see Kitto's 'Bihl. Illus.,' viii. 63. It was the mode of execution usual for the crimes of blasphemy and idolatry (see Deut. xiii. 9, 10; xvii. 5-7). Stephen'~ dying cries should be compared with those of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that the measures in which Stephen caught the Christly spirit may be realized. L THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST TO HIS BPIBJT MADE STEPHEN DEAD TO THE PRESENCE OF ms FOES. In this we learn the secret of our elevation above the world, care, suffering, or trouble. It lies in our being so full of" Christ ancl things Divine" as to have no room for them. Our bearts may be so full of God's presence, and so restful in the assurance of his acceptance and smile, that we may say, "None of these things move me." "If God be for us, who can be against:us?" One of the greatest practical endeavours of life should be to bring and to keep Christ closely near to heart and thought. If outward circumst.ances reach to such an extremity as in the case of Stephen, we shall th.en say with him," Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." II. To HIM WHO WAS BO NEAR, STEPHEN PRAYED FOB HIMSELF. Observe that: l. His prayer indicates submissive acceptance of the fact that he must die. He does not ask for any bodily deliverance, any miracle-working for his personal release. Compare in this our Lord's submission when his life came to its close. 2. His prayer indicates superiority to bodily suffering. There is no petition for relief from pain or even for speedy release. Exactly wbat was God's will for him he would bear right through. Compare our Lord's triumph in Gethsemane, and his going forth to bodily sufferings calm and trustful. Stephen fulfilled his Lord's words, that his disciples should drink of the "cup" that he drank of. 3. And his prayer indicates supreme concern, but absolute confidence concerning his soul and his future. 'l'here is no tone of question- ing; with full faith in the Lord Jesus, he commends his spirit to him-a last and unquestioning testimony to his faith in the living, spiritual Christ. III. 'l.'o HIM m WHOM HE HAD BUCH CONFIDENCE HE PRAYED FOR HIS FOES. Compare our Lord's words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.n In the older days of political execution by the axe, the headsman used to kneel and ask the forgiveness of the victim, before proceeding to place his head upon the block. Stephen knew how blinded by prejudice aqd false notion~ ?f religi?n ~is persecutor~ were, and he gives a beautiful illustration of heavenly, D1vme chanty m thus pleadmg for hid very murderers. One point should not be lost sight of. Eve~, in this last wo:d ?f _the noble man he asserted his characteristic truth once more. lhe Lord Jesus is hvmg, and the exalted Saviour, for he controls the charging and the punishing of sin. •• Lord, lay not this sin to their charge "-an unmeaning prayer if he had not fully believed that Jesus had power on earth to deal with, to punish, and to forgive sin. 260 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [on.vm.1~.
Close by showing the wondrous calmness and the exquisite tenderness of the words of the narrative, "He fell asleep." We hear the howlings of the ~ople, the whirr and smash of the stones, but amid it all and "in the arms of Jesus,' the saint aud hero and msrtyr softly " falls asleep "-asleep to earth, waking to he:\ven and peace and the eternal smile of the living Christ, for whose BBke he died.-R, T,