Just so is it with the kingdom of God; for just as the wicked husbandmen did with the servants and with the son of householder, so did the stiff-necked children of Israel with the prophets, and with the Son of God. {302} Therefore was the kingdom taken from them, as we have already learned, and given to the Gentiles. And therefore will the Great Householder miserably destroy the wicked who persecute His servants, kill His prophets, and reject His Only Begotten Son. But the righteous will He bless, and all those who serve Him; and even though we should fall into error, yet need we not despair. For if we repent, God will forgive our sins, so only we do not as did the wicked husbandmen of the vineyard. "My little children," wrote the Beloved John in a letter to the saints, "these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." [Sidenote: The exaltation of Jesus.] It is, indeed, a joyful thought that, even though Jesus was slain by the husbandmen. He was not and Mark assures us that when He ascended into heaven, Jesus assumed the place of honor at the right hand of the Father. "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them. He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God." There Stephen was privileged to see Him in vision some time later. Stephen is described as a man full of faith and power, who did great wonders and miracles among the people. Stephen preached fearlessly to the Jews the fact that Christ had risen. The Jews became enraged, and stoned him; but before his death, Stephen, "being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, {303} and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." To Jesus had come the deserved glory for which He had wrought. In His exaltation was fulfilled literally the sayings He had taught to His disciples, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." "Whosoever would be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." [Sidenote: Our advocate with the Father.]