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factor. The blasphemy against the holy place and the law,' seems to have consisted in a prediction that the temple was to be destroyed, and the ritual law of course abolished.

When these charges were set forth, with a formality which, as before that assembly, invested them with ominous purport to the safety and even life of the prisoner, every eye was directed towards him to observe the impression produced upon him, as well as to scan the personal appearance of one, concerning whom so much had been lately said in the city. There he stood, serene, collected, and undismayed-if something more be not meant by the declaration that all that sat in the council saw his face as it had been the face of an angel;' words which have led many, not unreasonably, to conclude that it pleased God to manifest his approbation of his servant by investing his countenance with a supernatural and angelic brightness, such as that with which the face of Moses shone when he had been speaking with the Lord.

Stephen, in his defence, took a rapid and interesting survey of Jewish history from the days of Abraham to those of Solomon, refuting the erroneous notions of the Jews concerning the excellence and the permanency of the Mosaic dispensation, and proving to them, from the records of their own Scriptures, that Abraham and the patriarchs had been chosen of God, and had served Him long before the law was given by Moses, and the tabernacle and temple were built; that Moses himself, commissioned as he was by God to be 'a ruler and deliverer' of the people by whom he had been previously 'refused,' and to be the giver of the law to them, had nevertheless foretold the giving of a new law, inasmuch as he had announced, 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; Him shall ye hear.' The law of Moses was therefore avowedly of a temporary nature, and had on many occasions proved insufficient to keep the people to their obedience; and the temple, like the tabernacle before it, which had been made by divine command, and after a divine pattern, was but of temporary duration, and was of no essential value in the sight of God. He then burst forth into

a strain of severe reprehension, condemning the wilfulness of their fathers in resisting the Holy Ghost, and their own hereditary stubbornness of heart, charging their fathers with having slain the prophets who had foretold the coming of the Messiah, and themselves with having betrayed and murdered the Messiah himself, thus rebelling against the law of which they professed themselves such zealous maintainers-a law which had indeed been delivered to them by the ministry of angels, and which the Messiah came to fulfil and perfect.

Longer than this the audience could not endure to hear him. They would not suffer him to proceed with the application of his arguments. They broke in upon his defence with all the signs of malice, rage, and fury. They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.' But he, regardless of their rage, and being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw' the splendour of the divine presence, and Jesus himself-the crucified Jesus-arrayed in glory, and in a posture of readiness to succour and receive him. As he saw, he spoke : ' Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.' Jesus is usually represented as sitting on the right hand of God; the difference here is therefore noticeable, as if the glorified Redeemer had risen from his seat in sign of his readiness to aid his servant.

If these words do not mean to assert the divinity of Christ, they have no meaning; and that the Jews understood them in this sense is clear, for, hearing in them a confirmation and aggravation of the 'blasphemy' which he had been before accused of speaking against God,' they raised a tremendous outcry, and rushing upon him with one accord, cast him out of the city, and stoned him; thus inflicting upon him the death which the law awarded to blasphemers, but not awaiting, in their tumultuous impatience for blood, all the tedious formalities of judicial procedure. The last breath of the holy man was spent in a prayer to Jesus, first for himself, and then for his murderers. The words employed are more remarkable than they may seem. 'They stoned Stephen, calling upon God,

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and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' The word God is not in the original, but is supplied, and so is printed in italic letters. Omitting this supplemented word, the passage may read, They stoned Stephen, invocating and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' While the stones rained their cruel blows upon his frame, he prayed 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,' and then he sank to the ground in death; and such was the composure with which he yielded up his soul, under circumstances so tumultuous and so terrifying, that, as if he had died quietly upon his bed, the sacred historian says, with beautiful simplicity, 'And when he had said this, he fell asleep.'

The biography of Stephen is very brief; but it is long enough to make him stand prominently forth as one of the great New Testament worthies. In faith, and zeal, and courage, and eloquence, he was the natural forerunner of Paul. In his clear view

at once of the connection and distinction between the law and the gospel, Stephen likewise resembled the Apostle of the Gentiles. The charges brought against him, though false in the form in which they were preferred, indicated the character of his preaching. He taught that the rites and ceremonies of the law were all typical, and therefore temporary; while the doctrines of the gospel were the great antitypes, and therefore eternal. The spirituality of God, and consequently the necessity for the worship ascribed to Him to be spiritual in order to be real and acceptable, constituted an important part of Stephen's teaching. He set forth the glorious truth, that the whole creation is God's; He is present in every part of it; and wherever the aspirations of the longing, loving soul go forth to Him-whether in the temple or the desert, in the quiet closet or noisy street-there his gracious blessing is poured out. Stephen seems to have had a fuller and clearer apprehension of gospel truth than even any of the apostles enjoyed at that period. This remarkable fact is explained by the statement in chap. vi. 5, that he was ‘full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.' Thus inspired and enlightened, he rose at once high above Jewish prejudice, above all feelings of nation and blood, and embraced, in the widespread arms of his charity, the whole of mankind. Stephen was the type of a true, enthusiastic, and successful evangelist. Overflowing with heavenly love and fire, he feared no danger, he dreaded

no obstacle; but, confident of success, he set forth the glorious gospel of the blessed God. His wisdom and power were irresistible, for his miracles showed them to be of divine origin. His very death was a blessing to the whole church; for from the fruitful seed of his martyr-blood sprang the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

Forty-first Week-Seventh Day.

STONING.-ACTS VII. 58.

STONING to death was the ordinary capital punishment among the Jews, just as much as hanging is with us, decapitation in France and Germany, and strangulation in Spain. In the law it is assigned to such offenders as blasphemers, false prophets, and the like; but it was not confined to them, and stoning is to be understood, wherever the punishment of death is indicated without any particular form being specified. It is true we read of persons being hanged; but that was the hanging up of the body (in particular cases only) after death had been inflicted. We also find persons' slain by the sword;' but this was the punishment for military or political offenders, sentenced by the sovereign, as with us such persons are shot or beheaded, while the ordinary death-punishment is hanging. It is noticeable that we first hear of death by stoning 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. It seems a very shocking form of death-punishment, but was less so than it may seem. Originally, it is likely, the people merely pelted the bound criminal with the stones lying about till he died. But even in this crude form of its infliction, the first stone that struck the bared head would frequently close the painful scene. Latterly the punishment assumed a more orderly shape, and was subjected to arrangements, the object of which was to bring the criminal to his end as expeditiously as possible, and to divest the punishment of a tumultuary aspect. The particulars which the Jewish writers have left us,

describe a form of stoning materially different from the idea which is usually entertained of that punishment, and which, as existing in the time of Stephen, deserves our attention. From these sources we learn that the manner of execution was this: A crier marched before the man who was to die, proclaiming his offence, and the names of the witnesses on whose testimony he had been convicted. This was for the humane purpose of enabling any one, possessing knowledge of the parties and the circumstances, to come forward and arrest the execution until his further evidence had been heard and considered. Hence, usually, the tribunal which had sentenced the prisoner, remained sitting to hear such evidence as might thus be produced, and did not rise until certified that the execution had taken place. The place of execution was always outside the town- -as was, until about seventy years ago, the case in London, the condemned being conveyed from Newgate1 to Tyburn, a distance of nearly three miles, for execution. At this day in Jerusalem, there is a gate which bears the name of Stephen, under the belief, locally entertained, that through the

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1 Through Holborn and Oxford Street, to a spot fronting Hyde Park, not far from the Marble Arch, and now a fashionable quarter of the metropolis. Cunningham, in his Hand-Book of London, says, 'It [the gallows] stood, as I believe, on the site of Connaught Place, though No. 49, Con

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