The Acts of the Apostles (1911) — PDF Scan 106

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100 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest! Hath not My hand made all these things 1 ' ' When Stephen reached this point, there was a tumult among the people. When he connected Christ with the prophecies, and spoke as he did of the temple, the priest, pretending to be horror-stricken, rent his robe. To Stephen, this act was a signal that his voice would soon be silenced forever. He saw the resistance that met his words, and knew that he was giving his last testimony. Although in the midst of his sermon, he abruptly concluded it. Suddenly breaking away from the train of history that he was following, and turning upon his infuriated judges, he cried: ''Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted! and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." At this, priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger. Acting more like beasts of prey than human beings, they rushed upon Stephen, gnashing their teeth. In the cruel faces about him, the prisoner read his fate; but he did not waver. For him tlie fear of death was gone. For him the enraged priests and the excited mob had no terror. The scene before him faded from his vision. To him, the gates of heaven were ajar, and looking in, he saw