Acts 6:10, 11 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.… Attention is drawn to the fact, which has received frequent illustration through the martyr-ages, that men only resort to persecuting tactics when they become conscious of their moral helplessness and theological inefficiency. The persecutor is like the swearer; No man ever needs to curse if his word is known to he truthful. No man ever needs to persecute if he has the right on his side, and faith in those moral forces which ever uphold the right. As the line of thought is directly based on the incident as narrated in the verses, a brief outline will suffice. We find these advocates of strict Judaism - I. DEFEATED IN ARGUMENT. (Ver. 10.) Observe that, in Stephen, there was not merely controversial skill, adequate knowledge, and a good theme; there was a spiritual power which made him irresistible. Perhaps nothing rouses anger more readily than defeat in discussion. Few men can retain self-control at such times. And the permanent value of religious public disputations may be very seriously questioned. Happily the tone of religious controversy in our times is greatly improved. II. APPEALING TO PHYSICAL FORCE. Always a sign of weakness. Sadly illustrated in Calvin and Servetus, and similar cases of condescending to use the power of the magistrate in purely intellectual and moral disputes. Properly, the public magistrate has only to do with the breaking of the social order, but it has always been found easy to fashion charges cognizable by the magistrate when the real purpose has been to silence a triumphant intellectual or religious foe. Truth-lovers never need ask aid from the world's coarse government weapons. Magna est veritas, et prevalebit. III. MAKING ALLIANCE WITH LIARS. Suborning bad men and prompting false witnesses. So did the prejudiced Sanhedrim in dealing with our Lord. Honorable men descending to the lowest depths to carry out their malicious schemes. Their spirit and conduct are fully shown up by the company they keep. Loyalty to the right and to God cannot endure fellowship with false witnesses. IV. TRUSTING TO POPULAR EXCITEMENT. "They stirred up the people." The fickleness of the populace is proverbial. Their susceptibility to excitement makes them the easy tool of the demagogue. And Jewish crowds were remarkable for their sudden impulses. Theudas and Judas and Barchocheha played their purposes on this tightly strung string. When Stephen's enemies had no fair charge to urge against him before the courts, their only hope of accomplishment for their malicious purposes lay in the violence of a popular uprising. Their utter weakness and their shameful badness are revealed in their schemes. Seeming to succeed, they really failed more utterly than with their arguments. They could kill the body, but what more could they do? They could not fly after the winged words which, like seeds, had found their lodgment in the minds and hearts of Barnabas and Saul, and would surely spring up and bear blossom and fruitage to the dismay of all Stephen's enemies. Let the persecutor do his weak and foolish work, for "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.WEB: They weren't able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. |
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