The number being thus filled up, the Holy Spirit is given according to promise; and Peter again takes the lead, and preaches the risen Jesus to the Jews. The enmity of the Jews, however, sets in, and proceeds through these chapters, increasing gradually, just as it had done before against the Lord. The Apostles, however, like their Lord, go on with their testimony undismayed; great grace is upon all—holy discipline keeps them pure—and with great power the Apostles give the testimony to the resurrection. But as the enmity had worked against the Lord till they crucified Him, so now does it work against the Apostles, till they run upon Stephen and stone him. And as the heavens had received the crucified One, so do the heavens open to His fellow-sufferer and witness. And in Him the Church receives a living pledge that the heavenly glory was for her as well as for her Lord, for the world had now rejected both.