reached, there remains no doubt as to which road a religious man must
take.

The limits of civil obedience are clearly drawn. It is a duty,
because 'the powers that be are ordained of God,' and obedience to
them is obedience to Him. But if they, transcending their sphere,
claim obedience which can only be rendered by disobedience to Him who
has appointed them, then they are no longer His ministers, and the
duty of allegiance falls away. But there must be a plain conflict of
commands, and we must take care lest we substitute whims and fancies
of our own for the injunctions of God. Peter was not guided by his
own conceptions of duty, but by the distinct precept of his Master,
which had bid him speak. It is not true that it is the cause which
makes the martyr, but it is true that many good men have made
themselves martyrs needlessly. This principle is too sharp a weapon
to be causelessly drawn and brandished. Only an unmistakable
opposition of commandments warrants its use; and then, he has little
right to be called Christ's soldier who keeps the sword in the
scabbard.

The articulate refusal in verse 20 bases itself on the ground of
irrepressible necessity: 'We cannot but speak.' The immediate
application was to the facts of Christ's life, death, and glory. The
Apostles could not help speaking of these, both because to do so was
their commission, and because the knowledge of them and of their
importance forbade silence. The truth implied is of wide reach.
Whoever has a real, personal experience of Christ's saving power, and
has heard and seen Him, will be irresistibly impelled to impart what
he has received. Speech is a relief to a full heart. The word,
concealed in the prophet's heart, burned there 'like fire in his