Luke records with precision: "he leaping up stood." The healed man did not merely walk—he leaped, testing the strength of muscles that had never carried him.

Acts 3:8Universalrestoration of spiritual facultiesactive gratitude through witness

Historical

Praising God While Gaining Favor with All People

Exell's Victorian commentary identifies three dynamics at work.

Acts 1:47Universaldivine sovereignty and human agencybalance between favor and persecution

Historical

Stephen's Vision and Saul's Witness at the Martyr's Death

Stephen presents the portrait of a dying saint: he was filled with the Holy Ghost, lifted above earthly consciousness of his enemies' gnashing teeth, granted a full vision of heavenly glory and his glorified Redeemer, and embodied the spirit of...

Acts 7:58Universaldivine sovereigntypersecution and faith

Historical

Stephen's Final Prayer: The Victory of Dying Grace

His death reveals four dimensions of Christian triumph: First, Stephen displayed boldness in confession—his enemies could not resist the power radiating from his unwavering testimony before the council.

Acts 7:60Universalmartyrdomgrace in death

Historical

True Courage: The Faith That Steadies the Soul

Brute courage, born of insensitivity to danger, fails the thinking man.

Acts 3:13Universalcourage rooted in faith rather than circumstanceduty as spiritual anchor

Historical

The Aggressive Power of Christianity in Scattered Witness

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). The aggressive power of Christianity demonstrates that the Church prospers pre-eminently through...

Acts 8:4Universalmissionary actionactive faith

Historical

Ought: The Word That Binds Us to Eternity

What we ought to do, we owe to do; what we ought to be, we owe to be.

Acts 3:29Universaldivine authority vs. human authorityconscience and duty

Historical

The Ethiopian Eunuch: Treasure Seekers in Desert Places

One managed the vast treasures of an Ethiopian queen; the other carried the gospel commission into the Gaza desert.

Acts 8:20Universaldivine guidancespiritual hunger

Historical

The Devout Men Who Buried Stephen: Constancy, Heroism, and Love

First, constancy: they required no sound of his voice or echo of his steps to remember their duties toward him.

Acts 8:2UniversalChristian friendship amid persecutionfaithful witness through suffering

Historical

Unity Among Believers: Strength Through Dissimilar Members

Melancthon mourned in his day the divisions among Protestants, and sought to bring them together by the parable of wolves and dogs.

Acts 3:32Universalspiritual strength through diversityovercoming internal division

Historical

Peter's Rebuke: The Impotence of Money Against Spiritual Power

Peter's response cuts to the heart of a peculiar modern delusion: "Thy money perish with thee." Simon believed, as many in our commercial age believe, that wealth can purchase anything—even the gifts of Elohim.

Acts 8:17Universalthe limits of worldly wealthspiritual power cannot be purchased

Historical

The Sun Turned to Darkness: Christianity's Threatened Light

Yet Exell extends the image to Christianity itself as the *helios* (sun) of our moral age.

Acts 1:20Universaldivine protectionspiritual warfare

Historical

The Reciprocal Gaze: Peter's Look of Faith and Power

Peter's gaze was no casual glance—it was a reciprocal examination.

Acts 3:4Universaldivine authority transmitted through human presencethe power of merciful attention

Historical

The Persecutor Persecuted: Saul's Reaping and Sowing

Consider the remarkable arc of this one man's life: the persecutor became persecuted.

Acts 8:3Universaldivine retribution and mercytransformation through trial