Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 8:1

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Act 8:1. And Saul was consenting unto his death ] i.e. approving of all that was done. We have the same word, Luk 11:48, “Ye allow (i.e. praise and approve of) the deeds of your fathers.” St Paul says of himself (Act 22:20), “When the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed I also was standing by and consenting unto his death.”

Act 8:1-4. Persecution after Stephen’s Death

1. And at that time there was a great persecution ] Better, And there arose on that day, &c. The persecution was in immediate succession to the death of Stephen. Having once proceeded to such a length, the rage of the people turned upon the whole Christian body.

against the church which was at Jerusalem ] i.e. the congregation which had grown up since the day of Pentecost.

and they were all scattered abroad ] Thus the rage of their enemies brought about the dispersion which Christ had foretold (Act 1:8). By the word all we need not understand every member of the Christian body, but only those who had been most active and so were in special danger from the persecution. We find ( Act 8:3) that there were many left, both men and women, in the city, whom Saul seized upon as “disciples of the Lord” and carried to prison. Perhaps Ananias who visited Paul at Damascus (Act 9:19; Act 9:25) may have been among those now scattered abroad, but see Act 9:2 note.

throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria ] According to the order of extension indicated by Jesus. The teaching of the Apostles must have been with great power to break through the long-standing prejudices of their Jewish converts against the Samaritans.

except the apostles ] Jerusalem would of necessity be looked upon as the headquarters of the Christian band. Thither all the wanderers would refer for guidance and help. The twelve therefore must remain at their post, in spite of all the persecution.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And Saul was consenting … – Was pleased with his being put to death and approved it. Compare Act 22:20. This part of the verse should have been connected with the previous chapter.

And at that time. – That is, immediately following the death of Stephen. The persecution arose on account of Stephen, Act 11:19. The tumult did not subside when Stephen was killed. The anger of his persecutors continued to be excited against all Christians. They had become so embittered by the zeal and success of the apostles, and by their frequent charges of murder in putting the Son of God to death, that they resolved at once to put a period to their progress and success. This was the first persecution against Christians; the first in a series that terminated only when the religion which they wished to destroy was fully established on the ruins of both Judaism and paganism.

The church – The collection of Christians which were now organized into a church. The church at Jerusalem was the first that was collected.

All scattered – That is, the great mass of Christians.

The regions of Judea … – See the notes on Mat 2:22.

Except the apostles – Probably the other Christians fled from fear. Why the apostles, who were particularly in danger, did not flee also, is not stated by the historian. Having been, however, more fully instructed than the others, and having been taught their duty by the example and teaching of the Saviour, they resolved, it seems, to remain and brave the fury of the persecutors. For them to have fled then would have exposed them, as leaders and founders of the new religion, to the charge of timidity and weakness. They therefore resolved to remain in the midst of their persecutors; and a merciful Providence watched over them, and defended them from harm. The dispersion extended not only to Judea and Samaria, but those who fled carried the gospel also to Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch, Act 11:19. There was a reason why this was permitted. The early converts were Jews. They had strong feelings of attachment to the city of Jerusalem, to the temple, and to the land of their fathers. Yet it was the design of the Lord Jesus that the gospel should be preached everywhere. To accomplish this, he suffered a persecution to rage; and they were scattered abroad, and bore his gospel to other cities and lands. Good thus came out of evil; and the first persecution resulted, as all others have done, in advancing the cause which was intended to be destroyed.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Act 8:1-8

And Saul was consenting to his death.

Three great figures in the Church

I. The persecuting Saul. In this part of the narrative the name of Saul occurs three times (Act 7:58; Act 8:1; Act 8:3). How quick the development and how sure! First of all, he watched the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen; then he expressed in every feature of his face satisfaction at the martyrs death; and then he took up the matter earnestly himself with both hands. He struck the Church as it had never been struck before. The taste for blood is an acquired taste, but it grows by what it feeds on. This man Saul began as he ended. There was nothing ambiguous about him. A tremendous foe, a glorious friend! We see from this part of the narrative–

1. The power of the Christian religion to excite the worst passions of men. It is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Christianity either kills or saves. We have become so familiar with it externally as to cast a doubt upon this. It has become possible for nominal Christian believers to care nothing about their faith. The age has been seized with what is known as a horror of dogmatism. But Christianity has no reason for its existence if it be not positive. Poetry may hold parley with prose fiction, because they belong to the same category. But arithmetic does not say, If you will allow me, I may venture to suggest that the multiplication of such and such numbers may possibly result in such and such a total. Now, in proportion as any religion is true, can it not stoop to the holding of conversation with anybody. It is not a suggestion–it is a revelation. It is not a puzzle, to which a hundred answers may be given by wits keen at guessing; it is an oracle. Can you wonder, then, that a religion which claimed to be the very voice and glory of God, should have encountered unpitying and most malignant hostility? If it could have come crouchingly, or apologetically, and have said, I think, I suggest, I hope, it might have been heard at the worlds convenience. But being with angels songs true, it raised the world into antagonism and deadly conflict. So will every true life. We have no enemies because we have no gospel. We pass along pretty easily, because we annoy no mans prejudices or naughtinesses. We dash no mans gods to the ground; we stamp on no mans idolatries; and so we have no martyrs. In olden times Christianity attacked the most formidable citadels of thought, prejudice, and error, and brought upon itself the fist of angry retaliation.

2. That the success of the enemy was turned into his deadliest failure. They that were scattered (Act 8:4), did not go everywhere with shame burning on their cheek, nor whining and moaning that they were doomed to a useless life. They were made evangelists by suffering. That is the true way of treating every kind of assault. When the pulpit is assailed as being behind the age, let the pulpit preach better than ever and more than ever, and let that be its triumphant reply. When Christianity is assailed, publish it the more. Evangelisation is the best reply to every form of assault.

3. Christianity followed by its proper result. And there was great joy in that city. Joy was a word that was early associated with Christianity. Said the angel, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Where now is that singing, holy joy? We have lost the music, we have retained the tears. The revelling is now in the other house.

II. The dead Stephen. Already there are two graves in the early Church. In the one lie Ananias and Sapphira, in the grave opened to-day there lies Stephen. In one or other of these graves we must be buried! Over the first there was no lamentation. Sad grave! The liars retreat, the hypocrites nameless hiding-place! Will you be buried there? Then there is the good mans grave, which is not a grave at all, it is so full of peace and promise, will you be buried there? The road to it is rough, but the rest is deep and sweet, and the waking immortality! Will you so live that you will be much missed for good-doing?

III. The evangelistic Philip (Act 8:5). Stephen dead, Philip taking his place–that is the military rule! The next man, Forward! Who will be baptized for the dead? When Stephen was killed the remainder of the seven did not take fright and run away in cowardly terror, but Philip, the next man, took up the vacant place, and preached Christ in Samaria. Who will take up the places of the great men and the good men? Is the Church to be a broken line, or a solid and invincible square? These three great figures are still in the Church. Our Stephens are not dead. We see them no more in the flesh, but they are mightier than ever since they have ascended to heaven, having left behind them the inspiration of a noble example. John Bunyan is more alive to-day than he was when he wrote the Pilgrims Progress. John Wesley is more alive to-day than he was when he began to preach the Word in England. Your child is not dead when its memory leads you to do some kindness to some other child. Our fathers, heroic and noble, are not dead, when we are able at their graves to relight torches and go on with our sacred work. We cannot peruse a narrative of this kind without feeling that we are in a great succession, and that we ought to be in proportion great successors. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Stephen and Saul

One of the greatest demands that the Church makes on us is when she summons us to pass abruptly from Christmas Day to the feast of St. Stephen; from the peaceful joy of the holy family and angel songs to the violence of the mob; from the King of angels to the first who bore witness to his faith and patience. At a scene like that of St. Stephens martyrdom it is a relief to place ourselves in the position of a bystander. There stands Saul, the very antithesis of Stephen, young and enthusiastic as he, but passionately attached to Pharisaism as Stephen was to the gospel. As we know Paul in his Epistles, his great characteristic gift was sympathy. How then could he have consented to this tragedy?

I. The reasons for his consent.

1. He was following the stream of opinion. All Jerusalem agreed that Stephen deserved his fate; and Paul had as yet no reason for resisting the will of the majority.

2. He was following the instincts of religious loyalty as he understood them. To him Stephen was a rebel against authority.

3. He was following the instincts of piety. The charge against him was that he calumniated God, Moses,the temple, and the law. The first was clearly an inference from the rest, and about the rest there was this much truth, that he no doubt preached to the Christians against attending temple worship. This he thought was at variance with the world-wide mission of Christ. Accordingly he proved before the Sanhedrin that there was nothing to show that Gods presence was confined to the Promised Land, much less to a particular spot in it. All this to Paul was a blasphemous novelty.

II. His reflections on the tragedy. When all was over the memories of what had passed came back, and as he saw Stephens death in retrospect he felt the force of three forms of power–suffering, sanctity, truth.

1. Suffering is power–

(1) When it is voluntary. This stirs in us a fellow feeling even when undergone for an object we condemn.

(2) This power is great in proportion to the sacrifice it involves. The deaths of the very old or young touch us less than that of a young man just reaching and conscious of the maturity of his faculties. He gives the best human nature has to give. So it was with ,Stephen, and Saul as he remembered this young manly life crushed out felt the power of suffering.

2. Sanctity is power, greatest when associated with suffering. Stephen was not merely good, keeping clear of what is evil; he was holy. He had a spirit that reflects a higher world–full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. This sanctity illuminated his bodily frame, and was made perfectly plain in his dying prayer. This was not lost on Saul.

3. Truth is power. When Saul heard of Stephens declaration his whole soul rose against it; yet the ideas of Stephens speech haunted the young Pharisee, and became the great characteristic positions of his after ministry.

4. These three characteristics of the martyr find their perfect ,embodiment only in Christ.

III. Closing considerations.

1. The view a Christian should take of an opponent of Christian truth–that of a possible convert and ally.

2. What persecutors can and cannot do. They can put clown a given belief by extermination as Christianity was crushed out in Northern Africa and Protestantism in Spain. But if persecution does not exterminate it only fans the flame, as did the persecuting emperors and Queen Mary. The persecution begun by the death of Stephen only contributed to the spread of the gospel.

3. The criminal folly of persecution by Christians since it is an attempt to achieve by outward and mechanical violence results which to be worth anything before God must be the product of His converting grace.

4. The signal service which martyrs have rendered to the world–enriching his country, church, age, with new and invigorating ideas of truth, and therefore while other sufferers die and are forgotten, the martyr rightly has his place in the calendar of the Church and in the hearts of her faithful children. (Canon Liddon.)

After Stephen, Paul

It is said of John Huss that, on a countryman throwing a faggot at his head, he exclaimed, Oh, holy simplicity! God send thee better light! You roast the goose now, but a swan shall come after me, and he shall escape your fire. Oddly enough, Huss is the Bohemian for goose, while the meaning of Luther is a swan.

Strong contrasts of moral character

(texts, and Act 9:5; Act 9:11):–Here is moral character–

I. Quiescently consenting to the wrong (verse 1). From Stephens death Saul would no doubt catch the inspiration of his future life. His Jewish education has fitted him for this crisis. He was quite prepared to guard the clothes of those who would slay a Christian. Here, then, he stands at his post calmly and unmoved, the subject of two extreme influences, the surging, passionate mob, and the earnest prayer of the martyr. This event was educational to Saul. The manly conduct, earnest speech, and saintly death of Stephen, would appeal to his diviner sentiments; while the tumult and murderous intentions of the crowd would influence his baser side. To which will he yield? All the force of his past life inclines to the latter. But cannot that pale face and devout appeal to heaven overcome his prejudice? No! he leaves the scene with a cold determination to make it typical of his future. But, as a thought may lurk in the mind, concealed and unrecognised, so the impulses awakened in the heart of Saul by this event only awaited the further touch of the Divine Spirit to make them the master powers of his soul. Who can tell the formative power which one event may exercise upon our lives? But let us not think that we can stand to look at sin without sharing its guilt.

II. In determined hostility to the right (verse 3). This hostility was–

1. Daring. The Church, He might strive to pluck the stars from the Divine grasp, but to touch the object of Gods peculiar care was beyond description bold. We wonder that men dare to attack the Church, or to plot injury against it. Such conduct is a proof of their hardihood, or they would be awed by her holy presence and Divine Protector.

2. Extensive. Made havoc. It often appears strange that God should permit men to pursue, sometimes unchecked, a course of determined harm to His Church. This fact almost staggers reason, and only faith can repose in its rectitude and wisdom. But men need not take the sword; the tale of the tattler, the formality of the hypocrite is sufficient.

3. Impudent. Entering into every house. What right had Saul in another mans house, and especially for such a purpose? A mans house is sacred, consecrated to family union and love. No stranger unbidden, no foe should enter. But religious bigotry thinks not of social usage, much less of Christian courtesy.

4. Inhuman. Haling men and women. When bigotry once gets possession of a man, it yields to no argument, not even to that of tender womanhood. See what quiescent sin comes to. Men that commence by keeping the clothes of persecutors, soon become persecutors themselves. The path of sin is ever downward.

III. Aroused and inquiring (Act 9:5). The transitions of moral character are often–

1. Sudden. Saul little expected in a few months to be praying to the very Being whose followers he was murdering; he was on an errand of rage, and he never thought that it would turn out a mission of mercy to himself

2. Overwhelming. Saul is almost stunned. His moral being is altogether confused. The change now working within his soul is too great to be made calmly. The only relief of his half-unconscious soul is the cry, What wilt Thou have me to do?

3. Astonishing to others. What would the Jewish council say to the change that had come over Saul? The disciples of Christ received him half with suspicion. What an impression would his conversion make upon the general public!

4. Productive of great results to mankind. How many have received truth and benefit through the toils of the Apostle Paul during his life; and how many minds has he instructed, how many souls has he aided in lifes struggles by his writings! Thus we see that the sudden changes that come over moral character are often productive of great results to the individual himself, and to mankind at large.

IV. In communion with God (Act 9:11).

1. Prayer is an index to character. The praying man is not Saul the persecutor, but Saul the penitent sinner. Persecutors do not pray to Jesus Christ. Whenever you see a man in earnest prayer to Christ, you may have some idea of his moral character.

2. Prayer is a reason for help. Ananias was to go to Saul and instruct him, for behold he prayeth. No matter what our circumstances, if we will but pray, God will send His aid and comfort. It is not the rule of heaven to help a prayerless soul. Do you know of a penitent soul, it is your duty to take to it a message of peace and hope.

3. A life commenced by prayer is likely to be useful. Has not Paul been useful to the Church and the world? And why? Was it not because God could say of him, Behold, he prayeth.

4. God notices the first prayer of contrition and calls attention to it. Behold. It is an interesting sight even to heaven.

5. God sends succour to contrite souls. Has He not frequently sent an Ananias to you, fellow sinner? What have been the moral contrasts of your life? Is there a Damascus journey amongst them? Conclusion: Learn not to entirely estimate the character of men from a past remembrance of them. Suppose an associate of Sauls who had known him in the earlier part of his life, but who had not seen him for some time, had spoken of him as a persecutor and Jewish bigot, how mistaken would have been his opinion, and how unjust to the converted apostle! We should not be hasty to pass an opinion on our friends from a past remembrance of them. They may have since undergone a moral change for the better. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The wonderful ways of the Lord in the propagation of His kingdom

1. The martyr Stephen waters the Church with his blood.

2. The raging Saul serves, even as a persecutor, unconsciously to the extension of the kingdom of Christ.

3. The fugitive Christians are the first messengers of the gospel to a distance. (K. Gerok.)

And at that town there was a great persecution.—

The persecution after Stephen

Here we have–

I. A man who became the greatest apostle of Christianity acting as its most milignant foe.

1. Saul was an accomplice in the martyrdom of Stephen, and rejoiced in it (Act 7:58; Act 22:20).

2. He was an infuriated leader in the general persecution. The word made havoc is commonly applied to wild beasts (Act 21:10; Gal 1:6). Now the fact that this man became the greatest apostle Demonstrates–

(1) The greatness of his conversion.

(2) The power of the gospel.

(3) The infinitude of Divine mercy.

II. Men rising above the most powerfully hostile circumstances.

1. The apostles stood calmly in the scene where their lives were in the most imminent danger, and when most of their fellow disciples had fled.

2. Devout men discharged a duty most exciting to the rage of their enemies. Away, then, with the dogma that man is the creature of circumstances. He is only so as he loses his manhood.

III. The most intolerant persecution furthering the cause of truth Persecution–

1. Throws the persecuted more and more on their God.

2. It enables them to furnish in their lives a nobler manifestation of Christianity to the world; more earnest, united, devout.

3. It awakens general sympathy among men on their behalf, and thus disposes them to attend to their teachings. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The effect of persecution

The sacred fire, which might have burnt low on the hearth of the upper chamber of Jerusalem, was kindled into fresh heat and splendour when its brands were scattered over all Judaea and Samaria, and circumcised Gentiles were admitted by baptism into the fold of Christ. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

They were all scattered abroad.—

The dispersion

Jerusalem was naturally the chief scene of the persecution, and the neighbouring towns, Hebron, and Gaza, and Lydda, and Joppa, became places of refuge. It was probably to this influx of believers in Christ that we may trace the existence of Christian communities in the two latter cities. The choice of Samaria was, perhaps, suggested by the hatred of that people to the Jews. Those who were fleeing from a persecution set on foot by the priests and rulers of Jerusalem were almost ipso facto sure of a welcome in Neapolis and other cities. But the choice of this as a place of refuge indicated that the barriers of the old antipathy were already in part broken down. What seemed the pressure of circumstances was leading directly to the fulfilment of our Lords commands, that the disciples should be witnesses in Samaria as well as in Judaea (Act 1:8). (Dean Plumptre.)

The extension of the Church

I. God intended that His Church should be scattered all over the world.

1. There was a tendency in our humanity at first to remain together; hence the first grey fathers endeavoured to build a central tower around which the race should rally. But God confounded their language, and scattered them that they might people the world. Jerusalem was first the central point of Christianity, and the tendency doubtless was to keep the centre strong. I have often heard the argument, Do not have too many out-stations, keep up a strong central force. But Gods plan was that the holy force should be distributed; the holy seed must be sown–to do this the Lord used the rough hand of persecution. One went this way, and one the other; and the faithful were scattered.

2. Every Church endowed with the Spirit will be spread abroad. God never means the Church to be shut up in a shell or, like ointment, enclosed in a box. The precious perfume of the gospel must be poured forth to sweeten the air. Now that persecution has ceased godly men are scattered through the necessity of earning a livelihood. Sometimes we regret that young men should have to go to a distance, that families should have to migrate. But does not the Lord by this means sow the good seed widely? It is very pleasant to be comfortably settled under an edifying ministry, but the Lord has need of some of His servants in places where there is no light; and they ought of themselves to scatter voluntarily. Every Christian should say, Where can I do most good? And if we will not go afield willingly, God may use providential necessity as the forcible means of our dispersion.

II. Gods design is not the scattering in itself, but scattering of a purpose–to preach the Word. The word proclaim is not quite so subject to the modern sense which has spoiled the word preach. The latter has come to be a sort of official term for delivering a set discourse; whereas gospel preaching is telling the gospel out in any way. Note–

1. The universality of the work of evangelising. All the scattered went everywhere; there does not seem to have been any exception. You thought it would read the apostles, but they were just the people who did not go at all. Generals may have to stand still in the centre of the battle to direct the forces; but this was soldiers battles, and of this sort all the battles of the Cross ought to be.

2. There were no personal distinctions. It is not said that ministers preached the Word, scarcely anything has been more injurious to the kingdom of Christ than the distinction between clergy and laity. No such distinction appears in the Bible. Ye are Gods Kle?ros: all Gods saints are Gods inheritance. Ye are a royal priesthood. Though God gives to His Church apostles, teachers, pastors, etc., yet not by way of setting up a professional caste who are to do all the work while others sit still. Every converted man is to teach what he knows. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The scattered Church; or good out of evil

History is God teaching by example. The worst things in history are not necessarily without some elements which may be Divinely used for good. The reins never fall out of the guiding hand. The heathen rage. But the Lord sits as King in Zion. The contrasted lights and shadows of this narrative deserve, and will repay, closest attention.

I. Human sympathy and kindness manifest themselves amid exultant cruelty. The phrase in relation to Saul means to approve, take pleasure and delight in what others have done. He was exceedingly mad against the believers in Jesus. Amid such manifestations of cruel depravity there were devout men who carried the mangled remains of the martyred deacon to a reverent burial. The phrase refers to the better elements of Jewish society–the moderate men who hated persecution. Violence always overreaches itself. Sympathy is awakened when wrong is boasting its victories. Stephen dies; but those who fear God, although they have not adopted his faith, are emboldened to breast the currents of unjust opinion and to go in the face of the mob who applaud an infamous deed. It was the same in the case of Jesus, who was buried by Joseph and Nicodemus in Josephs garden. History is full of such contrasts. Humanity has its recoil from injustice and violence. Successful villainy is always ruinous. Passions, ecclesiastical or political, satiated with blood, involve blunder as well as crime. Religious animosities are met by this immense force in human nature, and there is no withstanding the influence of that pity which unjust violence evokes. The tears shed over a martyred corpse are more potent than the mightiest engines of persecution.

II. Adversity and persecution are overruled by the ascended Lord for the extension of the Church. The signal, by Stephens death, was given for a general outbreak to exterminate the Christians. When wild beasts taste blood their fury becomes madness. As for Saul. The word used means violent outrage and physical maltreatment. He made a ruin of the Church by brutal and bloody assaults on the persons of its members. Oriental religious fanaticism has always been tigerish in its cruelty. Beneath the Crescent have been wrought deeds of blood which have cursed and doomed Mahomedan fanaticism. The Lord reigneth. Christians are fugitives; but they carry Christianity wherever they go. New centres of Christian life and organisation spring up everywhere. When Rome drove out our own reformers they found leisure on the Continent to perfect translations of Holy Scripture in the mother tongue. Gods hand was in it when the power of Rome was established in our land. Caesar meant not so, neither did his heart think so. Beneath his eagles was borne the cross. Britain was conquered by the Romans that it might be conquered by Christ.

III. A principle and an encouragement respecting Church extension. Fugitive believers are the first messengers of the gospel to distant regions. Philip was not an apostle, nor a pastor. His was a secular Office. But when those duties ceased through the scattering, he was still ready for service. Changing his place, he did not change his disposition. He found, new work for himself. While within the Church, for teaching and ruling, men receive a special call and ordination of the Lord, there is a service of Christ for which official appointment is not indispensable. Men who are Christians can and ought to make Christ known to those who are not. Order is seemly; but it is not to displace energy and zeal. (W. H. Davison.)

Except the apostles.—

The apostles stayed bravely in Jerusalem

They might be east into prison, or even put to death, but they would not go. They must be there to help and comfort the poor people in their danger. I have often read of shipwrecks, and have generally found that when the terrible waves were dashing over the ship, and the sailors were letting down the boats that the passengers might escape, the captain and the officers remained on deck to the very last. The apostles were like those brave officers. Will the ship sink? No; but if it should they will sink with her. But many others left the city. It was as right for them to go as for the apostles to stay. Several of them may have had little children dependent on them, for whose sake they must try to live and work. Then while they lived they could speak for Christ, and so do good to others. (S. G. Green, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER VIII.

A general persecution is raised against the Church, 1.

Stephen’s burial, 2.

Saul greatly oppresses the followers of Christ, 3, 4.

Philip the deacon goes to Samaria, preaches, works many

miracles, converts many persons, and baptizes Simon the

sorcerer, 5-13.

Peter and John are sent by the apostles to Samaria; they

confirm the disciples, and by prayer and imposition of hands

they confer the Holy Spirit, 14-17.

Simon the sorcerer, seeing this, offers them money, to enable

him to confer the Holy Spirit, 18, 19.

He is sharply reproved by Peter, and exhorted to repent, 20-23.

He appears to be convinced of his sin, and implores an interest

in the apostle’s prayers, 24.

Peter and John, having preached the Gospel in the villages of

Samaria, return to Jerusalem, 25.

An angel of the Lord commands Philip to go towards Gaza, to meet

an Ethiopian eunuch, 26.

He goes, meets, and converses with the eunuch, preaches the

Gospel to him, and baptizes him, 27-38.

The Spirit of God carries Philip to Azotus, passing through

which, he preaches in all the cities till he comes to Caesarea,

39, 40.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII.

Verse 1. Saul was consenting unto his death.] So inveterate was the hatred that this man bore to Christ and his followers that he delighted in their destruction. So blind was his heart with superstitious zeal that he thought he did God service by offering him the blood of a fellow creature, whose creed he supposed to be erroneous. The word signifies gladly consenting, being pleased with his murderous work! How dangerous is a party spirit; and how destructive may zeal even for the true worship of God prove, if not inspired and regulated by the spirit of Christ!

It has already been remarked that this clause belongs to the conclusion of the preceding chapter; so it stands in the Vulgate, and so it should stand in every version.

There was a great persecution] The Jews could not bear the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection; for this point being proved demonstrated his innocence and their enormous guilt in his crucifixion; as therefore the apostles continued to insist strongly on the resurrection of Christ, the persecution against them became hot and general.

They were all scattered abroad – except the apostles.] Their Lord had commanded them, when persecuted in one city, to flee to another: this they did, but, wherever they went, they proclaimed the same doctrines, though at the risk and hazard of their lives. It is evident, therefore, that they did not flee from persecution, or the death it threatened; but merely in obedience to their Lord’s command. Had they fled through the fear of death, they would have taken care not to provoke persecution to follow them, by continuing to proclaim the same truths that provoked it in the first instance.

That the apostles were not also exiled is a very remarkable fact: they continued in Jerusalem, to found and organize the infant Church; and it is marvellous that the hand of persecution was not permitted to touch them. Why this should be we cannot tell; but so it pleased the great Head of the Church. Bp. Pearce justly suspects those accounts, in Eusebius and others, that state that the apostles went very shortly after Christ’s ascension into different countries, preaching and founding Churches. He thinks this is inconsistent with the various intimations we have of the continuance of the apostles in Jerusalem; and refers particularly to the following texts: Ac 8:1, Ac 8:14, Ac 8:25; Ac 9:26, Ac 9:27; Ac 11:1, Ac 11:2; Ac 12:1-4; Ac 15:2, Ac 15:4, Ac 15:6, Ac 15:22, Ac 15:23; Ac 21:17, Ac 21:18; Ga 1:17-19; Ga 2:1, Ga 2:9. The Church at Jerusalem was the first CHRISTIAN Church; and consequently, the boast of the Church of Rome is vain and unfounded. From this time a new aera of the Church arose. Hitherto the apostles and disciples confined their labours among their countrymen in Jerusalem. Now persecution drove the latter into different parts of Judea, and through Samaria; and those who had received the doctrine of Christ at the pentecost, who had come up to Jerusalem from different countries to be present at the feast, would naturally return, especially at the commencement of the persecution, to their respective countries, and proclaim to their countrymen the Gospel of the grace of God. To effect this grand purpose, the Spirit was poured out at the day of pentecost; that the multitudes from different quarters, partaking of the word of life, might carry it back to the different nations among whom they had their residence. One of the fathers has well observed, that “these holy fugitives were like so many lamps, lighted by the fire of the Holy Spirit, spreading every where the sacred flame by which they themselves had been illuminated.”

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Consenting unto his death; well pleased with it, (as the word implies), and did approve it in thought, word, and deed, Act 22:4,20; which is here noted in the beginning of the narrative concerning this great apostle, that we might consider , what a great change the grace of God did make; which was by him, and is by us the more to be acknowledged and magnified.

A great persecution against the church; not, as heretofore, against the apostles only; but now it was against the whole church.

All scattered abroad; the multitude of believers, at least as many as could flee; which was allowed, or rather commanded, Mat 10:23, when they were persecuted in one city, to flee unto another; especially such as were teachers amongst them (besides the apostles) were forced to remove from Jerusalem, and by this means did publish the gospel in all places whither they came; so that what was intended for the hinderance, God did overrule towards the furtherance, of the gospel; as he did afterwards, Phi 1:12, and still does, and ever will do.

Except the apostles; who were commanded to stay at Jerusalem, Act 1:4; there they were to make their beginning, Luk 24:47, and from thence to proceed unto other parts, Isa 2:3; and whilst God had any work for them to do at Jerusalem, they knew that God could and would defend and maintain them in the midst of their enemies, as he had done the bush in the fire, Exo 3:3.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Saul was consenting unto hisdeathThe word expresses hearty approval.

they were all scatteredabroadall the leading Christians, particularly the preachers,agreeably to their Lord’s injunctions (Mt10:23), though many doubtless remained, and others (as appears byAc 9:26-30) soonreturned.

except the apostleswhoremained, not certainly as being less exposed to danger, but, atwhatever risk, to watch over the infant cause where it was mostneedful to cherish it.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Saul was consenting unto his death,…. This clause, in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions, stands at the close of the preceding chapter, and which seems to be its proper place; and so it does in the Alexandrian copy: that Saul consented to the death of Stephen, and approved of that barbarous action, is evident from his taking care of the clothes of the witnesses that stoned him; but the word here used signifies not a bare consent only, but a consent with pleasure and delight; he was well pleased with it, it rejoiced his very heart; he joined with others in it, with the utmost pleasure and satisfaction; this, and what is before said concerning his having the clothes of the witnesses laid at his feet, as well as what follows, about his persecuting the saints, are, the rather mentioned, because this violent persecutor was afterwards converted, and became an eminent preacher of the Gospel; and these accounts serve to set off and illustrate the grace of God, which was abundant towards him.

And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem: it began “on that day”, as the words may be rendered, on which Stephen was stoned. As soon as they had put him to death, these bloodthirsty wretches were the more greedy after the blood of others; and being now in great numbers, and filled with rage and fury, fell upon the members of the church wherever they met them, and killed them; for that more, besides Stephen, were put to death, seems plain from Ac 26:10 and, according to some accounts, though they cannot be depended on, two thousand persons suffered at this time: and if this was the case, it might be called a great persecution:

and they were all scattered abroad; not all the members of the church, nor perhaps any of the private ones; for we afterwards read of devout then that carried Stephen to his grave; and of the church being made havoc of by Saul; and of men and women being haled out of their houses, and committed to prison by him; but all the preachers of the word, except the apostles; for they that were scattered, went about preaching the word, Ac 8:4 They seem to be the seventy disciples, and other ministers of the word, on whom the Holy Ghost fell at the day of Pentecost, or was since bestowed; among who were Philip, who went to Samaria; and Ananias, who was at Damascus; and others that went as far as Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch: and particularly they are said to be dispersed

throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria; where their ministry was so greatly blessed, to the conversion of souls, that there were quickly many churches planted and formed in these parts, as appears from Ac 9:31 so that this persecution was for the furtherance and spread of the Gospel: that upon this dispersion any of them came into France and England, or into any other parts of Europe, is not probable; since the particular places they went to are mentioned; and since they preached to Jew only: and this scattering by reason of the persecution, was of all the preachers,

except the apostles; the twelve apostles, who stayed at Jerusalem to take care of the church; to encourage the members of it to suffer cheerfully for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; and to animate them to abide by him: and this was not only an instance of courage and constancy in them, and of the divine protection and preservation of them, in the midst of their enemies; but also of the timidity of their adversaries, who might be afraid to meddle with them; remembering what miraculous works were performed by them, and how they had been delivered out of prison, and especially the case of Ananias and Sapphira, who were struck dead by Peter. Beza’s ancient copy adds, “who remained in Jerusalem”.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Persecution of the Church.

      1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Juda and Samaria, except the apostles.   2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.   3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

      In these verses we have,

      I. Something more concerning Stephen and his death; how people stood affected to it–variously, as generally in such cases, according to men’s different sentiments of things. Christ had said to his disciples, when he was parting with them (John xvi. 20), You shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. Accordingly here is, 1. Stephen’s death rejoiced in by one–by many, no doubt, but by one in particular, and that was Saul, who was afterwards called Paul; he was consenting to his death, syneudokon—he consented to it with delight (so the word signifies); he was pleased with it. He fed his eyes with this bloody spectacle, in hopes it would put a stop to the growth of Christianity. We have reason to think that Paul ordered Luke to insert this, for shame to himself, and glory to free grace. Thus he owns himself guilty of the blood of Stephen, and aggravates it with this, that he did not do it with regret and reluctancy, but with delight and a full satisfaction, like those who not only do such things, but have pleasure in those that do them. 2. Stephen’s death bewailed by others (v. 2)– devout men, which some understand of those that were properly so called, proselytes, one of whom Stephen himself probably was. Or, it may be taken more largely; some of the church that were more devout and zealous than the rest went and gathered up the poor crushed and broken remains, to which they gave a decent interment, probably in the field of blood, which was bought some time ago to bury strangers in. They buried him solemnly, and made great lamentation over him. Though his death was of great advantage to himself, and great service to the church, yet they bewailed it as a general loss, so well qualified was he for the service, and so likely to be useful both as a deacon and as a disputant. It is a bad symptom if, when such men are taken away, it is not laid to heart. Those devout men paid these their last respects to Stephen, (1.) To show that they were not ashamed of the cause for which he suffered, nor afraid of the wrath of those that were enemies to it; for, though they now triumph, the cause is a righteous cause, and will be at last a victorious one. (2.) To show the great value and esteem they had for this faithful servant of Jesus Christ, this first martyr for the gospel, whose memory shall always be precious to them, notwithstanding the ignominy of his death. They study to do honour to him upon whom God put honour. (3.) To testify their belief and hope of the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

      II. An account of this persecution of the church, which begins upon the martyrdom of Stephen. When the fury of the Jews ran with such violence, and to such a height, against Stephen, it could not quickly either stop itself or spend itself. The bloody are often in scripture called blood-thirsty; for when they have tasted blood they thirst for more. One would have thought Stephen’s dying prayers and dying comforts should have overcome them, and melted them into a better opinion of Christians and Christianity; but it seems they did not: the persecution goes on; for they were more exasperated when they saw they could prevail nothing, and, as if they hoped to be too hard for God himself, they resolve to follow their blow; and perhaps, because they were none of them struck dead upon the place for stoning Stephen, their hearts were the more fully set in them to do evil. Perhaps the disciples were also the more emboldened to dispute against them as Stephen did, seeing how triumphantly he finished his course, which would provoke them so much the more. Observe,

      1. Against whom this persecution was raised: It was against the church in Jerusalem, which is no sooner planted than it is persecuted, as Christ often intimated that tribulation and persecution would arise because of the word. And Christ had particularly foretold that Jerusalem would soon be made too hot for his followers, for that city had been famous for killing the prophets and stoning those that were sent to it, Matt. xxiii. 37. It should seem that in this persecution many were put to death, for Paul owns that at this time he persecuted this way unto the death (ch. xxi. 4), and (ch. xxvi. 10) that when they were put to death he gave his voice against them.

      2. Who was an active man in it; none so zealous, so busy, as Saul, a young Pharisee, v. 3. As for Saul (who had been twice mentioned before, and now again for a notorious persecutor) he made havoc of the church; he did all he could to lay it waste and ruin it; he cared not what mischief he did to the disciples of Christ, nor knew when to stop. He aimed at no less than the cutting off of the gospel Israel, that the name of it should be no more in remembrance, Ps. lxxxiii. 4. He was the fittest tool the chief priests could find out to serve their purposes; he was informer-general against the disciples, a messenger of the great council to be employed in searching for meetings, and seizing all that were suspected to favour that way. Saul was bred a scholar, a gentleman, and yet did not think it below him to be employed in the vilest work of that kind. (1.) He entered into every house, making no difficulty of breaking open doors, night or day, and having a force attending him for that purpose. He entered into every house where they used to hold their meetings, or every house that had any Christians in it, or was thought to have. No man could be secure in his own house, though it was his castle. (2.) He haled, with the utmost contempt and cruelty, both men and women, dragged them along the streets, without any regard to the tenderness of the weaker sex; he stooped so low as to take cognizance of the meanest that were leavened with the gospel, so extremely bigoted was he. (3.) He committed them to prison, in order to their being tried and put to death, unless they would renounce Christ; and some, we find, were compelled by him to blaspheme, ch. xxvi. 11.

      3. What was the effect of this persecution: They were all scattered abroad (v. 1), not all the believers, but all the preachers, who were principally struck at, and against whom warrants were issued out to take them up. They, remembering our Master’s rule (when they persecute you in one city, flee to another), dispersed themselves by agreement throughout the regions of Judea and of Samaria; not so much for fear of sufferings (for Judea and Samaria were not so far off from Jerusalem but that, if they made a public appearance there, as they determined to do, their persecutors’ power would soon reach them there), but because they looked upon this as an intimation of Providence to them to scatter. Their work was pretty well done in Jerusalem, and now it was time to think of the necessities of other places; for their Master had told them that they must be his witnesses in Jerusalem first, and then in all Judea and in Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth (ch. i. 8), and this method they observe. Through persecution may not drive us off from our work, yet it may send us, as a hint of Providence, to work elsewhere. The preachers were all scattered except the apostles, who, probably, were directed by the Spirit to continue at Jerusalem yet for some time, they being, by the special providence of God, screened from the storm, and by the special grace of God enabled to face the storm. They tarried at Jerusalem, that they might be ready to go where their assistance was most needed by the other preachers that were sent to break the ice; as Christ ordered his disciples to go to those places where he himself designed to go, Luke x. 1. The apostles continued longer together at Jerusalem than one would have thought, considering the command and commission given them, to go into all the world, and to disciple all nations. See Act 15:6; Gal 1:17. But what was done by the evangelists whom they sent forth was reckoned as done by them.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Was consenting ( ). Periphrastic imperfect of , a late double compound (, , ) that well describes Saul’s pleasure in the death (, taking off, only here in the N.T., though old word) of Stephen. For the verb see on Lu 23:32. Paul himself will later confess that he felt so (Ac 22:20), coolly applauding the murder of Stephen, a heinous sin (Ro 1:32). It is a gruesome picture. Chapter 7 should have ended here.

On that day ( ). On that definite day, that same day as in 2:41.

A great persecution ( ). It was at first persecution from the Sadducees, but this attack on Stephen was from the Pharisees so that both parties are now united in a general persecution that deserves the adjective “great.” See on Mt 13:21 for the old word from , to chase, hunt, pursue, persecute.

Were all scattered abroad ( ). Second aorist passive indicative of , to scatter like grain, to disperse, old word, in the N.T. only in Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Acts 11:19.

Except the apostles ( ). Preposition (adverb from , more) with the ablative often in Luke. It remains a bit of a puzzle why the Pharisees spared the apostles. Was it due to the advice of Gamaliel in Ac 5:34-40? Or was it the courage of the apostles? Or was it a combination of both with the popularity of the apostles in addition?

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Death [] . Lit., taking off. See on Luk 23:32.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

Paul, A Leader in Persecuting the Church V. 1-3

1) “And Saul was consenting.” (Saulos de en suneudokon) “And Saul was consenting, approving, agreeing,” in consort with the false witnesses who brought the charges and cast the first stones at Stephen, Act 22:20.

2) “Unto his death,” (te anairesei autou) “To the killing of him,” to the stoning death of Stephen, Act 7:58.

3) “At that time, (en ekein te hemera) “In that day when he was stoned,” Act 7:59-60. The persecuting broke out on that day, at that very time, spreading like a prairie fire.

4) “There was a great persecution against the church,” (diogmos megas epi ten ekkiesian egento de) “There came to be or exist a great persecution against the church,” to which Saul became a party, Act 8:3; 1Ti 1:13; 1Co 15:9.

5) “Which was at Jerusalem;” (ten en lerosolumois) “The one (congregation) located at Jerusalem,” or in the Jerusalem area, where the promised Holy Spirit empowering came, Luk 24:48; Act 1:8; Act 2:1-4.

6) “And they were all scattered abroad,” (pantes de diesparesan) “And all (the Jerusalem church) were scattered or dispersed from Jerusalem,” both permanent Jerusalem residents and temporary residents who had been saved at the recent Pentecost, Act 11:19.

7) “Throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria,” (kata tas choras loudaias kai Samareias) “Throughout the countries, areas, or territories of Judaea and Samaria,” and as far as Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch, Act 11:19-20.

8) “Except the apostles,” (plen ton apostolon) “Except the apostles.” This means that they did not move residence at that time, from Jerusalem.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. At that day. The persecution began at Stephen, after that, when their madness was thereby set on fire, it waxed hot against all, both one and other. For the wicked are like brute beasts, for when they have once tasted blood they are more desirous thereof, and become more cruel through committing murder. For Satan, who is the father of all cruelty, doth first take from them all feeling of humanity when they are once imbrued with innocent blood; that done, he stirreth up in them an unquenchable thirsting after blood, whence those violent assaults to commit murder come; so that when they have once begun, they will never make an end with their will. Moreover, when they have power once granted them to do hurt, their boldness increaseth in tract of time, so that they are carried headlong more immoderately, which thing Luke also noteth when he saith, The persecution was great. Undoubtedly the Church had but small rest before, neither was it free from the vexation of the wicked; but the Lord spared his for a time, that they might have some liberty, and now they began to be sorer set on.

These things must be applied unto our time also. If the furiousness of our enemies seem at any time to be as it were fallen on sleep, so that it casteth not out flames far, let us know that the Lord provideth for our weakness; yet, let us not in the mean season imagine that we shall have continual truce, but let us be in readiness to suffer sorer brunts, as often as they shall break out suddenly. Let us also remember, that if at any time the constancy of one man have whetted the cruelty of our enemies, the blame of the evil is unjustly ascribed to him. For Luke doth not defame Stephen, (494) when as he saith, that by means of him the Church was sorer vexed than before; but he rather turneth this to his praise, because he did valiantly, as the standard-bearer, encourage others with his example to fight courageously. When he calleth it the Church which was at Jerusalem, his meaning is not that there were Churches elsewhere, but he passeth over unto these things which ensued thereupon. For whereas there was but this one only body of the godly in all the world, it was rent in pieces through flight; yet there sprung up more Churches by and by of those lame members which were dispersed here and there, and so the body of Christ was spread abroad far and wide, whereas it was before shut up within the walls of Jerusalem,

They were all scattered abroad. It is certain that they were not all scattered abroad, but the Scripture useth an universal note, for that which we say, Every where or abroad. (495) The sum is this, that not only a few were in danger; because the cruelty of the enemies raged throughout the whole Church. Many do oftentimes take themselves to their feet, through faintness of heart, even when they hear any light rumor, but these are in another case. For they fled not unadvisedly, being discouraged, (496) but because they saw no other means to pacify the fury of the adversaries. And he saith, that they were scattered not only through divers places of Judea, but that they came even unto Samaria; so that the middle wall began to be pulled down, which made division between the Jews and the Gentiles, (Eph 2:14.) For the conversion of Samaria was, as it were, the first fruits of the calling of the Gentiles. For although they had circumcision, as had the people of God, yet we know that there was great dissension, and that not without great cause, forasmuch as they had in Samaria only a forged worship of God, as Christ affirmeth, because it was only an unsavory emulation. (497) Therefore God set open the gate for the gospel then, that the scepter of Christ, sent out of Jerusalem, might come unto the Gentiles. He exempteth the apostles out of this number, not that they were free from the common danger, but because it is the duty of a good pastor to set himself against the invasions of wolves for the safety of his flock.

But here may a question be asked, forasmuch as they were commanded to preach the gospel throughout the whole world, (Mar 16:16,) why they stayed at Jerusalem, even when they were expelled thence with force and hand? I answer, that seeing Christ had commanded them to begin at Jerusalem, they employed themselves there until such time as being brought into some other place by his hand, they might know, for a surety, that he was their guide. And we see how fearfully they proceeded to preach the gospel; not that they foreslowed [shunned] that function which was enjoined them, but because they were amazed at a new and unwonted thing. Therefore, seeing they see the gospel so mightily resisted at Jerusalem, they dare go to no other place until such time as they have broken that first huge heap of straits. Assuredly, they provide neither for their ease, nor yet for their own commodities either for being void of care by staying at Jerusalem; for they have a painful charge, they are continually amidst divers dangers they encounter with great troubles. Wherefore, undoubtedly, they are purposed to do their duty; and especially, whereas they stand to it when all the rest fly, that is an evident testimony of valiant constancy. If any man object that they might have divided the provinces amongst them, that they might not all have been occupied in one place, I answer, that Jerusalem alone had business enough for them all.

In sum, Luke reckoneth up this as a thing worthy of praise, that they followed not the rest into voluntary exile to avoid persecution; and yet he doth not reprehend the flight of those men whose state was more free. For the apostles did consider what particular thing their calling had; to wit, that they should keep their standing, seeing the wolves did invade the sheepfold. The rigor of Tertullian, and such like, was too great, who did deny indifferently that it is lawful to fly for fear of persecution. Augustine saith better, who giveth leave to fly in such sort that the churches, being destitute of their pastors, be not betrayed into the hands of the enemies. This is surely the best moderation, which beareth neither too much with the flesh, neither driveth those headlong to death who may lawfully save their lives. Let him that is disposed read the 180 Epistle to Honoratus.

That I may return to the apostles, if they had been scattered here and there with fear of persecution, even at the beginning, all men might have rightly called them hirelings. How hurtful and filthy had the forsaking of the place been at the present time? How greatly would it have discouraged the minds of all men? What great hurt should they have done with their example among the posterity? It shall sometimes so fall out indeed, that the pastor may also fly; that is, if they invade him alone, if the laying waste of the Church be not feared if he be absent. (498) But and if both his flock and he have to encounter with the adversary, he is a treacherous forsaker of his office if he stand not stoutly to it even until the end. Private persons have greater liberty.

(494) “ Neque enim Stephanum ignominia notat Lucas,” for Luke does not fix a stigma on Stephen.

(495) “ Vulgo,” commonly.

(496) “ Consternati,” in consternation.

(497) “ Insipida… aemulatio,” an insipid, senseless rivalship.

(498) “ Propter ejus absentiam,” on account of his absence.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

PHILIP AND HIS CONVERTS

Act 8:1-40.

THE four Gospels and the Book of The Acts constitute the New Testament Pentateuch. They are historical in character and romantic in interest. History appeals to the student in proportion as it links itself to the lives of individuals. In fact, human history is only a record of the doings of men, and the personnel of the same is ever the source and center of interest. The Gospels were a history of the Christ, and The Acts a history of His disciples or churchmen. The present study brings us the very heart of heroism as that is exhibited in this Book.

We concluded our last study with a scene of tragic interest. A noble man stood in the midst of his enemies while they hurled at him their anathemas, gnashing their teeth for very anger. His face lighted with a light from Heaven, and his eyes opened as they had never opened before, and the vision vouchsafed him was one seldom enjoyed by man; and the martyr Stephen stood ready for the stoning that sent him into the presence of God. The greatness of his soul was as surely proven in his death as it had been demonstrated in his life, and the prayer upon which he expended his last breathLay not this sin to their chargewas as gracious an evidence of his spirit, as was the sleep that followed a sign of Gods personal interest in His own. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him (Act 8:2).

When one Prophet of God is taken, the Spirit has another in preparation who will stand in his stead.

Strange to say that the Saul introduced into the fiftyeighth verse of the seventh chapter and shown in his raging enmity against Christ and the Church in the opening verse of this eighth chapter is unconsciously on his way to succeed Stephen; but God already has colaborers of the martyred saints who will carry on, and Philip is chief among them.

It will be interesting then to succeed the history of Stephen with a study of Philip, and we have elected to do this under three heads: Philips Personal Progress, Philips Prominent Proselytes, and Philips Passing Popularity.

PHILIPS PERSONAL PROGRESS

He was a faithful layman. The Book of The Acts roots in the Gospels. The overwhelming majority of the men who will appear here have already been named there, and Philip is among them. If we would know his Christian genesis, we may read the Gospel of John, Joh 1:43, and be introduced to Philip, the Galilean. He was of Bethsaida. Probably as a lad he had played with Andrew and Peter, and now in manhood joins them again in discipleship to Jesus. Joh 1:45 throws a signal light upon the spirit of this man. No sooner had he himself accepted the Lordship of Christ, than he became an active Apostle of the faith. The record is, Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (Joh 1:45).

It is a profound pity that the average man doesnt seem to think it is expected that shortly after his conversion he will attempt the winning of others to Christ. The impression seems to be wide-spread that that work is to be left to the mature Christian, the man of long membership in the church, the old guard.

The thing that commonly marks the distinguished man is his departure from stereotyped opinions, established customs. He who can break from these reveals independence of thought and action that often meets both Divine and human approval.

The Church at Jerusalem was to be congratulated in having Philip in its membership, and every Christian church on earth that receives the new-born individual and straightway sees him setting to the task of bringing others to Christ is favored in such an addition. If the mantle of Philip could descend upon the laymen of the present hour, no statistics could mark the progress of Christianity, for every passing hour would change the figure and always for the better, bigger.

But work well done leads to more work, and the man who without office proves himself capable is on the way to official station whether he know it or not, or even desire it or no.

Philip was shortly made a deacon. The record of this experience is in Act 6:5. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.

This is the original diaconate, the first Board of Deacons the world ever saw in the first Church the world ever knew. Note that Philip is the second man named in the list. There was but one who received a larger vote and that was Stephen, the courageous saint who shall become the first martyr of the church of God. We have not the least doubt that this order of Scripture is another evidence of the verbal inspiration of the Book. These men are put in the order of their valueStephen first and Philip second. What else could the Church do but elect Stephen and Philip? A church that would have failed to exalt such laymen to office would have proven itself derelict, despiritualized, dumb.

There are some men who are forever trying to get into office. They love power and crave prominence and covet honors. They are seldom fit for membership even, much less for office administration. There are other men who cannot keep out of office. Their course and conduct in life is such that their brethren demand it of them, and whether they will or not, select them and set them aside for the same.

Philip belonged to that company. In other words, when the conditions of becoming a deacon were determinedthe man of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdomPhilip measured up and the membership of the whole First Church in Jerusalem said with unanimity of speech, That is the man. Make a deacon of him. If the organization of the early church had been as complicated and as redundant as that of the present-day ecclesiasticism, they would have elected Philip to a half a dozen offices, but in the simplicity and efficiency of that body, few offices existed; in fact at that time not more than two were at all recognized, and Philip is destined to fill both of them.

The diaconate has been a power in the Church of God, but what it would have accomplished had the original condition of membership in it been retained, who can tell?

He developed into a lay evangelist. That record you will find in verse five. Then Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ unto them. It looks very much like a voluntary service. The text doesnt say that he was sent down to the city of Samaria. There was no State Convention secretary to send him; there was no bishop in existence to appoint him; there was no superintendent of religion to suggest it. At that time in the history of the Church of God, the Holy Spirit was the bishop and suggestions came through Him, and men of the Philip sort responded with willing hearts. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. The average deacon, if he goes to another city, goes to attend a convention and vote, or to sit in council and give advice. How seldom is a deacon heard of going to another city in search of souls and for the purpose of preaching the Gospel! Alas, how far we have departed from our New Testament model!

The promise of the evangelist had been with Philip from the first. A new convert who spends the day after his personal salvation appealing to other men to come to Christ is on the way to preaching the Gospel. The man who voluntarily wins one will almost invariably go on and win many. Once the taste of soul-winning is experienced, men will continue in the joy of the same and to what measure of success God may bring the personal worker, who can prophesy? On the day that Philip found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus, he little dreamed that this was an earnest of the many sheaves destined to be his. When he sat down and talked in his simple way to that nearby neighbor, it never occurred to him that he would shortly be standing in the midst of crowds, speaking with such eloquence as to bring scores to penitence. And yet this evolution is according to observation and experience. No man ever did the big thing first and few men ever do the smaller thing without being privileged the larger a little later. We have records of great meetings in which cities have been turned upside down; the sick have been healed, the demonized men have been dispossessed, and saints set to singing, but let it be understood that the original revival of that sort was led by one who began as a layman, was exalted by his brethren to the office of deacon, and directed by the Holy Spirit to the office of an evangelist.

It is with difficulty that one passes from the report of this revival without commenting upon it. We would like to call attention to the circumstance that wherever the Gospel is faithfully preached, miracles occur. We would like to affirm the historical fact that wherever the Gospel is faithfully preached, unclean spirits are cast out. We would like to remind our readers of how a revival of religion is the best basis of rejoicing ever known to the mind of man, but we pass these subjects, worthy of sermons everyone, to call your attention to

PHILIPS PROMINENT PROSELYTES

We employ the word proselyte with good reason. It means one brought over to any opinion, belief, sect, or party, and especially one who has been won over from one religious belief to another.

Philip did not face men without religion. The world has seldom been without a religion and seldom had as much as now. If religion could save the world, it would have long since been redeemed; in fact, Christ never would have come. From time immemorial, false religions have flourished and the work of the prophet of God is and has been the winning of men from these to the religion that is true and Divine. At this Philip was a success.

He swayed the populace with his words. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did (Act 8:6).

How marvelous is Gods method of making orators! Overnight he took a plain fisherman in Peter and exceeded a Demosthenes and Cicero, and here in a few short weeks, a man who had probably never spoken before sways a multitude. His homiletics had been learned in no theological seminary, and yet when did man-made elocution excel in desirable results the product of Philips preaching? We have referred many times to the modern effort to standardize the ministry. We suggest to our brethren, who are advocates of this endeavor to run all occupants of pulpits through the same mill, that there was a standardized ministry two thousand years before they were born, and that was the standard of the Spirits indwelling which will never be surpassed, and that all the universities and theological seminaries of the land cannot equal in minister making the work of the Holy Ghost. Witness Philip!

He turned the cult-leader to Christianity. In his day, as in ours, there were cults. Simon, the sorcerer, in that same city, had given out that he himself was a great one, and it is amazing how many people will follow such an announcement. Self-advertisement is successful with the superficial; and, mark you, the superficial are in every section of society, for the text says, They all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God (Act 8:10).

In a Western city, a so-called religious movement has reached great proportions, and at present the exposition of the leader has made the movement itself a laughing stock; and yet, strange to say, in it are the representatives of all classesnot the poor and the ragged and the hungry only, but the dwellers from the boulevard residences, a high city official, the judge from the courtthey have all given heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This woman is the great power of God.

Apparently it is easier to create and bring to success a cult than it is to get people to follow the Christ. The work of Simon, therefore, had been far less important and far more easy than is the work of Philip in showing Simon his error and turning him to believe. When a convert from such station is made, it is a dual triumph for Christianity: First of all, it is an accession of one who has the spirit of leadership; and second, it is commonly the end of the foolish following and the unprofitable organization that is round about him.

It is interesting to follow this case to the end. Simon will prove himself a sorcerer again when he sees the power of the Holy Ghost. He will think to purchase it. Let us not be too hard on Simon; he only illustrates a universal principle. Any long established custom is hard to break up. The man who has once been addicted to drink will find sobriety difficult even though he believe and profess; men and women who have once yielded to lust will find it hard to recover cleanness of thought and action, and the individual who has once given himself over to moneygrafting in the Name of Godwill find it hard to break from that sacrilegious habit. I say without hesitation that the greatest peril to the present-day ministry is at this point. The riches of the world tempt the Apostles of the church. Money is truly the root of all evil, but its mischievous influence is never more frightfully felt than when a preacher commercializes the Gospel as Simon sought to do. God knows, there are many of them. There are men in America by the score who have given themselves to evangelism because they saw Billy Sunday making his thousands out of the same. They go into a church and for a week they expect as big a return as the average pastor receives for twelve months service, and if it isnt forthcoming, they browbeat the pastor, criticize the officers, and leave the church in disgust, having also disgusted all behind them. There are others who are forever in promotion schemes, employing the preachers standing to seduce the gullible, who have an idea that Gods prophet can do no wrong. They sell stocks that advocate promotion enterprises, and uniformly they take a big rake-off. Such is Simony, and when once one is in the power of it, it is easier to break from liquor or lust than from godless greed.

He saw a state treasurer saved.

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

And he arose and went; and, behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the Prophet.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the Prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearers, so opened He not His mouth:

In His humiliation His judgment was taken away: and who shall declare His generation? for His life is taken from the earth.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the Prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptised?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Act 8:26-37).

Evidently there was a dual bigotry to be met here. The first existed in the fact that this man was apparently a believer in the Old Testament Scripture, either a Jew or a proselyte of the gate. He had his religion, then, fixed and satisfactory. Such men are seldom moved in the interest of another faith. Again, he held high office of state; he was the treasurer of Ethiopia, the financial counsellor of Candace. It is a natural but none the less sad fact that men of exalted station are difficult to reach with the Gospel. This is due to the circumstance that the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands humility versus pride, and repentance versus self-assertion, and obedience to another rather than self-government of ones life. These steps are not difficult for the humble, the lowly, the poor, but they are so hard for the high that Christ Himself once said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God (Mat 19:24). We should be hopeless concerning the rich had He not followed that with the statement, With God all things are possible.

God was with Philip and God was in the Word that Candaces treasurer was reading, and the angel of the Lord who said unto Philip, Arise, and go toward the south, had Himself gone the same way and set the treasurer to the study of the sacred Scripture. Whenever any man, no matter who he is, how high and haughty, how unholy and wicked, how arrogant and even atheistic, begins to study the Book, he is on the way. Work with him then becomes possible, easy, and the issue fairly certain.

I recall an experience in my own ministry of a foreman in Bloomington, Illinois, who commanded his wife to cease church attendance. When first I went to talk with him about the domestic difficulty that arose in consequence, he was insolent, insulting. When I went back the second time, he was morose and silent. When I approached his house on the third visit, he sat on the porch with the Bible in his hand. On the former occasions I had actually knelt in his presence to pray, afraid for my physical safety, for he sat bolt upright in his chair, his face clouded with a frown, but when I approached his home on this third occasion, and saw the Bible in his hand, all fear, yea, even anxiety, fled my heart at once. I knew that my man was on the way and that the Spirit of God was winning.

Practically the only hope of turning men from false faiths to true ones is in the Word. There are many sincere men who accept and advocate false faiths. There are many men who believe the Bible that have had the same falsely interpreted to them and have taken their spiritual attitude in consequence of such instruction. If, however, those same men would do as the Ethiopian treasurer did, continue to study, the Bible itself would lead them forth and reveal to them the Christ.

The Jews of the world dare not carefully, and with a prayer on their lips, read their own Scriptures. If they did, their pride would be crushed and penitence would come. Their haughtiness of spirit would give place to humility, and their rejection of the Christ would become their conviction through the study of their own Scriptures, as occurred with Candaces treasurer.

The best way in the world to reach any man is by an appeal to the Book. One sentence from sacred Scripture is worth more to the soul of the sinner than hours of scholarly argument. It is the truth that makes men free, and Gods Word is truth.

But we pass on with our studies to

PHILIPS PASSING POPULARITY

When in all the New Testament did any man ever rise more rapidly in office and honor and successful ministry than did Philip? And yet how strange that with the completion of this incident, Philip drops out of sight and is only seldom heard of again! How like life is that!

His rise, we have said, was exceedingly rapid. Not a day intervenes between his conversion and his success as a soul-winner. Only a few days intervene between his salvation and his selection to the diaconate. Not a month has passed when lo, this new convert is the outstanding preacher, Peter excepted, of the entire company of disciples. Stephens bravery and loyalty indicated the largeness of his soul, but his martyrdom cut his ministry so short that we have no experiences by which to measure what might have been his success. Somehow Philip escaped a kindred consequence.

We doubt very much if Philip was a warrior. There is a big difference between the sermon Peter preached at Pentecost and the speech that Stephen made in the seventh chapter and Philips utterances. Both of those charged Israel with the resistance of the Spirit, crucifixion of the Son, even with an affront to God. We do not find anything akin to that in Philips preaching. He emphasized the Kingdom of God and exalted the Name of Jesus, but he seems to have been careful in his speech. Such men often rise rapidly. They go easily to their zenith. They escape the certain oppositions that greater courage always excites and in consequence, they are not retarded by criticism and enmity and persecution. There are evangelists in America today who get on with seldom a jar, whose ministry is an enormous commercial asset. They preach Christ; they declare the things concerning the Kingdom; they witness a good many souls converted; they take issue with no one. Some of them have even said that they wouldnt sign a Confession of Faith that they themselves had written. That could not be because they did not believe it, for if they wrote it themselves they would certainly believe it; but it is because it would commit them in the open and require from them a defense and excite for them opposition; and it is more popular and financially profitable not to have anything in the way, but to get the track open and the rails greased and the wheels in action and make every station on time.

We would not charge Philip with any false teaching; he was not guilty of that. We do rejoice that he preached Christ. We are glad that God gave him many souls. We are happy that his rise was so rapid, but we are not surprised that this incident is the prominent one of his entire preaching experience. The way of ease is the quick way, but it is seldom the finally effective and most successful way.

His prominence was short-lived. It is always amazing to trace the history of boy-preachers and baby-evangelists. Where, in all the annals of the church, has one of them ever proven to be a man of power or a woman of permanent spiritual influence? They get the crowds, these infants! They commonly speak those platitudes of the Christian faith that produce no opposition whatever. They combine baby faces with infant messages. As a rule, they lay their emphasis upon miracles, and sometimes they witness the departure of unclean spirits, for the most stained man would dare to enter the sanctuary where a baby speaks. Almost uniformly they spread the spirit of good cheer. Meetings led by infants are soulful and songful, but in a few years their charms have failed. Maturity has spoiled the baby look and it has also rendered impotent the baby appeal. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things (1Co 13:11). This declaration of the Apostle is demanded by the public. They expect a man to be manly; they look for courage; they listen for convictions, and if they do not find them, they depart.

To be sure, there are other things that cut short ministerial prominencelaxity in morals, greed of gain, dishonesty of profession, excessive self-admiration and self-advertisementbut we can scarcely think that Philip was guilty of any of these. We believe the weakness of Philips ministry to have been that he sought the way of ease; that he was one of those sweet souls that hated a conflict and remained forever a spiritual man, but in consequence of lack of courage, an ineffective one; and Philip has had more successors than Peter, claims of the papacy to the contrary notwithstanding.

One of the pitiful features of church history is the ministerial failures to be found by the waymen who started well but did not increase. Of the greatest of all ministers, our ensample in our Saviour, Christ, it was said, Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever (Isa 9:7).

However, Philips ministry had its point of permanence. He did not end his evangelistic career in disaster, nor does it seem probable that he ceased from evangelism and turned to the sale of life insurance or oil stocks. Far over in the Book of the Acts (Act 21:8), Paul, the then peerless Apostle, with his companions came to Caesarea and entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

There is, therefore, a twofold testimony to the permanence of Philips ministry. He continued in evangelism and was now known in that office rather than as a deacon. It makes no difference to what office the church may elect one, his true office will be the one to which the Spirit exalts him, and in which Gods blessing has been upon him. With Philip this was not in handling the money of the churchthe office of a deaconbut in evangelism the office of a soul-winner. There is every evidence that he had a quiet, modest, but continuous ministry of evangelism.

We need men after this manner. It is not best that all evangelists should be impetous Peters nor polemical Pauls. There are churches that will not touch either, and there are communities that cannot be reached, though both come in succession. They will not have them; they will turn from them; but Philips ministry to such places is both pleasing and profitable. They want a quiet man, a man with no spirit of criticism in him. They dont like a fiery speaker; they want a smooth and polished one. They are willing to have souls saved if it is done in a very exact and correct way, and they call only for the kind of a man who will fit their policy. If Philips did not exist, such people might never hear the Gospel, or, if they heard it at all, might never engage in an evangelistic campaign.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, himself a model evangelist in many ways, recognized this fact. When he assembled his great company for his famed simultaneous campaign, he had in it the stormy and the scholarly; the polemic and the peacemaker; the man whose voice was adapted to the outdoors and the quiet parlor and ladies meeting kind. He also revealed much genius in appointing them, suiting the man to the section; and we are inclined to think that during our ministry of forty-five years, J. Wilbur Chapman, in a comparatively brief period of time, accomplished more for the true upbuilding of the churches of America than any other evangelist we have known.

Furthermore, Philips ministry was made permanent through its adoption by his daughters. They were four, and were prophetesses every one. This also is doubly suggestive. It seems strange to the average individual that the most highly successful minister seldom has a child make choice of his profession. Peter left no junior to carry on his work; John, no children to complete what he had commenced; James, no ministerial descendants so far as the record goes. The same remark may be made of the prominent church fathers, and even with modern ministers it is a rare thing that the prominent preacher has a prominent son. Charles Spurgeons two boys illustrate the exception. People wonder why this fact is true. The reason is not unreasonable. The explanation is not far to seek. The successful leaders in other professions are seldom ever followed by successful sons. Pitt the younger was one in ten thousand. Success on the fathers part is a serious handicap for the children. No greater calamity ever befalls youth than that it be cast into the lap of luxury, into the house of honor, into the circle of social prestige. Poverty is youths hard master, but best teacher. Want and hardship combine to conduct the worlds best college. A diploma from the university of hard knocks is often promise of unusual success. Doubtless, Philips daughters were the children of economy, adepts at daily duties. Sunday was sweet to them because it was the only holiday of the week; the church service was attractive because it was the social event of the same. There they met their friends. They were treated with favor because they were the children of the preacher himself. They occupied front seats in the assembly because all people paid respect to them, and the ministry became in their eyes an honored office.

Then again, God was evidently with Philip, and when God is in the house, the children feel it and their decisions for life are affected by it. When the day opens with family prayers, the curtains of night will very likely shut the petitioners into some quiet room where He can talk back in a still, small voice, showing them the way.

We almost envy Philip. We think that the man whose son or daughter follows him in the ministry is favored of God. In our youthful lives and fleshly ambitions, we may desire sons who shall be statesmen or great financiers, and daughters who shall be the belles of society, but the more sober thought of age and the more sure result of observation reverses all of this and convinces us that of all the possible vocations of life, the highest is that which the Son of Man Himself selected, namely, to seek and to save the lostthe ministry of the evangelist!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act. 8:1. Consenting.Compare Act. 22:20; Luk. 11:48; Rom. 1:32. Luke had probably often heard this remark from Paul. At that time.Lit., on that dayviz., of Stephens murder, which had been the signal for an outbreak of hostility against the Christians. All.Not to be taken as if none but the Twelve remained in Jerusalem.

Act. 8:2. Devout men.Pious Jews (compare Joh. 19:38-39), not Christians, who would have been designated disciples or brethren (see on Act. 2:5).

Act. 8:3. Made havoc of.Or, kept on laying waste; the imperfect denoting continuous action.

Act. 8:4. Went everywhere.Should be went abouti.e., from place to place (compare Act. 11:19).

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 8:1-4

The Fires of Persecution rekindled; or, Evil overruled for Good

I. The torch that lighted the flame.This was undoubtedly Stephens murder. Like a spark falling into a powder magazine it kindled a fierce conflagration. Like the first taste of blood to a tiger, it awoke the dormant appetite for persecution which until now had slumbered in the bosoms of the high-priest and his confederates. The words on that day indicate that Stephens executioners proceeded straight from the scene of his martyrdom and commenced their diabolical work of persecuting Stephens friends.

II. The miscreant who carried the torch.There can be little room for question that the person to whom this notoriety belonged was Saul, who at that time was consenting unto Stephens death (Act. 8:1; compare Act. 22:20), who, in fact, had been a prominent actor in carrying out the murder of the good deacon (Act. 7:58), and who, though not acting without the authority, or, at least, connivance, of the Sanhedrim, was, on his own confession afterwards made (Act. 26:9-10), the moving spirit in this anti-Christian crusade.

III. The fury with which the flame blazed.It entered into every house where a disciple or brother resided. It spared neither man nor woman who bore the hated name of Christian. It stopped not at the spoiling of their goods, when they had any, but attacked their persons, violently dragging them from their homes and consigning them to prison (Act. 8:3; Act. 26:10; compare Heb. 10:33-34; Jas. 2:6-7). How it happened that the apostles were excepted from this persecution is not explained, and this has been regarded by some expositors (Zeller, Schneckenburger, and others) as a difficulty; but it need not be assumed either that they had dropped into temporary obscurity through having been eclipsed by the brilliant deacon, or that they were not harassed like their humbler brethren, though probably the veneration in which they were still held by the populace in general prevented the Sanhedrim from resorting to extreme measures against them.

IV. The alarm which the fire created.It scattered the disciples from the city; caused, if not all at least a considerable number, perhaps the majority of those against whom the persecution was directed, to flee for safety beyond the bounds of Jerusalem and even of Juda (see Act. 11:19). This statement, however, has, like the former, been challenged as improbable (Zeller) on the ground that so long as the apostles remained in the city it is not likely that all their followers would flee. And assuredly if all fled, what is stated in Act. 8:3 about Saul would be impossible. The probability, therefore, is that all in Act. 8:1 refers principally to the leading personages in the Christian community like Philip (Act. 8:5), or to the breaking up of the Christian congregations and the dispersion of their members. That the apostles did not retire from their posts in the metropolis, though they might have done so without sin (Mat. 10:23), was only what might have been expected. They were men of a different make from what they had been when they all forsook the Master and fled (Mat. 26:56). That the Spirit directed them to remain in the city and comfort the persecuted Christians who were left (Stier) is not improbable, but cannot be proved. That our Lord before His ascension had commanded them to remain in Jerusalem twelve years, though supported by ancient tradition (Clem. Alex., Strom. VI. v. 3), is most likely imagination.

V. The unexpected good in which it resulted.It led to the extension of the Church. They that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word. Thus it paved the way for the transition of the gospel to the Gentiles. As it were the missionary activity that was carried on in the Judan provinces and in Samaria formed a bridge for the passage of the heralds of salvation to cross over into regions beyond. So the highest good is oftentimes evolved out of the greatest evil. God can make mans wrath to praise Him (Psa. 76:10) and cause all things to work together for good to them that love Him (Rom. 8:28).

Learn.

1. That one sin commonly leads to another. The murder of Stephen to the persecution of the Church. 2. That they who will live godly must suffer persecution. The servant is not greater than his Master.

3. That it is not always wrong to flee from persecution. Otherwise Christ would not have counselled His disciples, When persecuted in one city to flee into another (Mat. 10:23).

4. That more is expected of the Churchs leaders than of their followers. A higher degree of Christian virtue should be exhibited by them who are set to rule in the Church. 5. That persecution cannot kill religion. It may destroy those who are religious, but others will arise in their stead. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church (Tertullian).

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act. 8:1. The Church which was in Jerusalem.

I. Living.A dead Church a misnomer.

II. Growing.Wherever life is there must be progress.

III. Organised.It had apostles, deacons, and private members.

IV. Persecuted.This inevitable if a Church is alive and active.

V. Missionary.The Church that does not propagate the faith is dead.

Act. 8:2. The Burial of Stephen.

I. The lifeless body.That of Stephen.

1. A good man.
2. An eloquent preacher.
3. A faithful witness.
4. A noble martyr.

II. The devout pall-bearers.Pious Jews, perhaps, rather than Christians, who would probably have been called brethren or disciples, and would not have been permitted to inter their fallen leader. That devout men buried Stephen testified to:

1. Their own goodness.
2. Stephens innocence.
3. The Sanhedrims guilt.

III. The solemn interment.No doubt.

1. Hastily, without unnecessary delay; and
2. Plainly, without ostentation or display; but also
3. Reverentially, as was due to the dust of a saint; and
4. Hopefully, in anticipation of a glorious resurrection.

IV. The sorrowful lamentation.Great. Because of, either:

1. Its outward vehemence;
2. Its inward intensity; or
3. Its wide prevalence.

Act. 8:2-3. Stephen and Saul.

I. The end of Stephen.

1. In the worlds eyes sad.
2. In Gods eyes glorious.

II. The beginning of Saul.

1. In the worlds eyes glorious.
2. In Gods eyes sad.

Lesson.God seeth not as man seeth.

Act. 8:3. The Wolf and his Prey.

I. The wolf.

1. His name, Saul.

2. His race, of the tribe of Benjamin (Gen. 49:27).

3. His ferocity, Haling men and women he committed them to prison.

4. His diligence, entering into every house.

II. His prey.Christs sheep, the Church (Act. 20:28).

1. A little flock (Luk. 12:32).

2. A feeble flock (1Pe. 5:10).

3. A purchased flock (Act. 20:28).

Saul and Paul.The Saul who made havoc of the Church became the Paul who said, Feed the Church of God. Remember well the identity of the man, if you would understand fully the import of the doctrine. This change in the heart and life of Paul shows

I. The marvellous power of the grace of God.The marvellousness of this power is not always so conspicuous. Every operation of grace is beautiful, but in some cases it is startling and most sublime. Herein let us magnify the grace of God. By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ye who sometime were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The occurrence of such marvellous instances is most valuable on two grounds:

1. It inspires hope even for the worst. Pray on! Hope on! The hardest rocks have been broken.

2. It renews our sense of the sufficiency of Divine grace. Great victories gladden nations. Great conversions make the Church joyful. This change in the heart and life of Paul shows

II. The difference between sanctifying human energies and destroying them.Saul was undoubtedly characterised by peculiar energy; what will Paul be? You will find that the Christian apostle retained every natural characteristic of the anti-Christian persecutor. Who so ardent in love, who so unswerving in service, as the apostle Paul? Was he an active sinner, but an indolent saint? How did he himself bear the treatment which he had inflicted upon others? Hear his words, and feel if they do not quicken the flow of your blood: Are they ministers of Christ? I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, etc. How a mans sins come back upon him! How sure is the discipline, and how terrible is the judgment of God! Can a man step easily from the rank of persecutor to the honour of apostle? Never! Hear Paul: Even this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things, etc. We feel in reading such words how inexorable is the lawWith what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. But notice the energy of the apostle as being the same as the energy of the persecutor. Christianity does not destroy our natural temperament. We become sanctified, not deadened.

1. Christians will differ in the tone and measure of their service. He who has had much forgiven will love much. How does an escaped slave talk about liberty? So with preachers. The memory of their past lives will determine their preaching. Do not bind down all men to the same style.

2. Is our Christian energy equal to the energy with which we entered upon the service of the world? When were you kept back from gay engagements by wet, damp, or foggy nights? When did you complain that you could never go to the theatre without paying, or tell the devil that his service was costly? In the light of such inquiries let us examine our Christian temper and service. This change in the heart and life of Paul suggests

III. The possible greatness of the change which awaits even those who are now in Christ.The moral distance between Saul and Paul is immense, but what of the spiritual distance between Paul the warrior and Paul the crowned saint? It is the distance between earth and heaven.J. Parker, D.D.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE CHURCH IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA

Act. 8:1Act. 12:25

THE DISPERSION THE WORK OF PHILIP THE WORK OF PETER AND Joh. 8:1-40.

A.

THE DISPERSION. Act. 8:1-4.

Act. 8:1

And Saul was consenting unto his death.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Act. 8:2

And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.

Act. 8:3

But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.

Act. 8:4

They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word.

It might be well to say at the beginning of this section that the numbers which appear under the headings such as the one above correspond to the numbers found upon the following chart. All the events that took place in Jerusalem will be discussed under number one (1); all the events that took place in Samaria, under point two (2), etc.

a. The persecution against the church resulting in dispersion. Act. 8:1.

Act. 8:1 It has already been said that Saul was consenting to the death of Stephen. A further word needs to be added; that through the efforts of this one and others a great persecution arose against the church. Up to this time the rulers were content to oppose the church by pretending to defend their position. The opposition now turns from the defensive to the offensive. The leadership of the persecution passes from the Sadducees to the Pharisees. Saul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. The opposition swept upon the disciples with a fierceness that had never before been known. There were to be no more trials, no more defenses. The cause of Christ was condemned in a wholesale manner that permitted no hearing. Evidently the popularity of the new movement presented to the mind of the Jews a real threat to their power and prestige. It did indeed, for had the church been left to continue its march, all Jerusalem would have bowed at the feet of Jesus.

Under the general persecution it was flee or be jailed. Since the persecution was localized in Jerusalem the disciples scattered into the parts of Judea and Samaria. This dispersion was Gods use of opposition to further His own purposes. Jesus said the witness was to be given first at Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria; this was the start of it.

b. The burial of Stephen. Act. 8:2.

Act. 8:2 With great sorrow devout men tenderly lifted the broken body of Stephen from amidst the stones and buried him. Yet there must have been joy intermingled, for now they knew that there was nothing they could not face, and come forth victorious. They had faced threatenings, imprisonments, stripes and now death; still Jesus could be seen and heard, leading them above it all to still greater efforts.

c. The persecution of Saul. Act. 8:3.

Act. 8:3 Saul was the spearhead in this all out campaign. He left no stone unturned, he ferreted out every Christian. He went from house to house and upon finding a follower of Jesus gave him no chance for so much as a word, but dragged him from his home and cast him into prison.

d. The preaching of all who were scattered. Act. 8:4.

Act. 8:4 There were not twelve preachers in this early church but thousands. Every believer held it his divine responsibility to tell someone else of this Jesus. So when the disciples were forced to leave their homes and loved ones they Went everywhere preaching the word.

236.

What was the difference between the persons persecuted in the earlier persecution and the ones described in the eighth chapter?

237.

What change of party do we find in the leadership of the persecution?

238.

What threat did the Pharisees see in this new movement?

239.

How did this persecution fulfill the purpose of Christ?

240.

Tell of the sorrow and joy that must have been present at the burial of Stephen.

PART OF THE COLONNADE WHICH ONCE ENCIRCLED SAMARIA.

On the south side, near to the west end, a great number of columns are still standing.

Could it be that Philip looked upon some of these same pillars? Samaria stood upon a hill about three hundred feet high, in a wide basin formed by the valley which runs from Shechem to the coastHere, on this hill, overlooked by still higher hills beyond the valley, Omri built the new city which became the permanent capital of the kingdom of the northern tribes. The city was almost impregnable. Two sieges it sustained without yieldingone in 901 B.C. (1Ki. 20:1) and one nine years later. (2Ki. 6:24Act. 7:20).

241.

How did Saul go about his efforts of persecutionhis attitude and method?

242.

What is the meaning of the term word as used in Act. 8:4?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

VIII.

(1) And Saul was consenting unto his death.The word seems carefully chosen to convey the fact that he did not himself take part in stoning, but contented himself with guiding and directing the murder. He kept the garments of the witnesses who flung the stones (Act. 22:20). The statement came, we can scarcely doubt, from St. Pauls own lips, and in his use of the same word in the passage just referred to, and in Rom. 1:32, we may see an indication that he had learnt to see that his guilt in so doing was greater, and not less, than that of the actual murderers.

There was a great persecution against the church.It is clear that this involved much suffering, imprisonment, as in Act. 8:3, perhaps the spoiling of mens goods, the being made a gazing stock by reproaches and afflictions (Heb. 10:33-34). In St. Jamess description of the sufferings of the brethren (Jas. 2:6-7), we may see at once the measure of the violence of the persecution, and the prominence in it (though Saul, the Pharisee, was for the time the chief leader) of the priesthood and the rich Sadducean aristocracy.

Throughout the regions of Juda and Samaria.Jerusalem was naturally the chief scene of the persecution, and the neighbouring towns, Hebron, and Gaza, and Lydda, and Joppa, became places of refuge. It was probably to this influx of believers in Christ that we may trace the existence of Christian communities in the two latter cities. (See Notes on Act. 9:32; Act. 9:36.) The choice of Samaria was, perhaps, suggested by the hatred of that people to the Jews. Those who were fleeing from a persecution set on foot by the priests and rulers of Jerusalem were almost ipso facto sure of a welcome in Neapolis and other cities. But the choice of this as a place of refuge indicated that the barriers of the old antipathy were already in part broken down. What seemed the pressure of circumstances was leading indirectly to the fulfilment of our Lords commands, that the disciples should be witnesses in Samaria as well as in Juda (Act. 1:8). It seems probable, as already suggested (see Note on Act. 7:16), that there was some point of contact between the Seven, of whom Stephen was the chief, and that region.

Except the apostles.The sequel of the history suggests two reasons for their remaining. (1) The Twelve had learnt the lesson which their Master had taught them, that the hireling fleeth because he is an hireling (Joh. 10:13), and would not desert their post. A tradition is recorded by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. vi. 5, 43) and Eusebius (Hist. v. 13), that the Lord had commanded the Apostles to remain for twelve years in Jerusalem lest any should say We have not heard, and after that date to go forth into the world. (2) The persecution which was now raging seems to have been directed specially against those who taught with Stephen, that the customs on which the Pharisees laid so much stress should pass away. The Apostles had not as yet proclaimed that truth; had, perhaps, not as yet been led to it. They were conspicuous as worshippers in the Temple, kept themselves from all that was common and unclean (Act. 10:14), held aloof from fellowship with the Gentiles (Act. 10:28). They may well have been protected by the favour and reverence with which the great body of the people still looked on them, and so have been less exposed than the Seven had been to the violence of the storm. It was probable, in the nature of the case, that the Hellenistic disciples, who had been represented by Stephen, should suffer more than others. It was from them that the next great step in the expansion of the Church in due course came.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 8

THE FIRST OF THE MARTYRS ( Act 7:54-60 ; Act 8:1 )

8:1 As they listened to this their very hearts were torn with vexation and they gnashed their teeth at him. But he was full of the Holy Spirit and he gazed steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. So he said, “Look now, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand.” They shouted with a great shout and held their ears and launched themselves at him in a body. They flung him outside the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul. So they stoned Stephen as he called upon God and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Kneeling down he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, set not this sin to their charge.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul fully agreed with his death.

A speech like this could only have one end; Stephen had courted death and death came. But Stephen did not see the faces distorted with rage. His gaze had gone beyond time and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. When he said this it seemed to them only the greatest of blasphemies; and the penalty for blasphemy was stoning to death ( Deu 13:6 ff.). It is to be noted that this was no judicial trial. It was a lynching, because the Sanhedrin had no right to put anyone to death.

The method of stoning was as follows. The criminal was taken to a height and thrown down. The witnesses had to do the actual throwing down. If the fall killed the man good and well; if not, great boulders were hurled down upon him until he died.

There are in this scene certain notable things about Stephen. (i) We see the secret of his courage. Beyond all that men could do to him he saw awaiting him the welcome of his Lord. (ii) We see Stephen following his Lord’s example. As Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of his executioners ( Luk 23:34) so did Stephen. When George Wishart was to be executed, the executioner hesitated. Wishart came to him and kissed him. “Lo,” he said, “here is a token that I forgive thee.” The man who follows Christ the whole way will find strength to do things which it seems humanly impossible to do. (iii) The dreadful turmoil finished in a strange peace. To Stephen came the peace which comes to the man who has done the right thing even if the right thing kills him.

The first half of the first verse of chapter 8 goes with this section. Saul has entered on the scene. The man who was to become the apostle to the Gentiles thoroughly agreed with the execution of Stephen. But as Augustine said, “The Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.” However hard he tried Saul could never forget the way in which Stephen had died. The blood of the martyrs even thus early had begun to be the seed of the Church.

THE CHURCH REACHES OUT ( Act 8:1-4 )

Act 8:1-40 is an important chapter in the history of the Church. The Church began by being a purely Jewish institution. Act 6:1-15 shows the first murmurings of the great debate about the acceptance of the Gentiles. Stephen had had a mind far above national delimitations. Act 8:1-40 shows the Church reaching out. Persecution scattered the Church abroad and where they went they took their gospel. Into Act 8:1-40 comes Philip who, like Stephen, was one of the Seven and who is to be distinguished from the Philip who was one of the Twelve. First, Philip preached to the Samaritans. The Samaritans formed a natural bridge between Jew and Gentile for they were half Jew and half Gentile in their racial descent. Then comes the incident of the Ethiopian eunuch in which the gospel takes a step out to a still wider circle. As yet the Church had no conception of a world mission; but when we read this chapter in the light of what was soon to happen, we see her unconsciously but irresistibly being moved towards her destiny.

HAVOC OF THE CHURCH ( Act 8:1-4 continued)

8:1-4 At that time a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. They were all scattered abroad throughout the districts of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. Pious men carried Stephen away to bury him, and they mourned greatly over him. As for Saul, he ravaged the church. He went into house after house and dragged out both men and women and put them under arrest.

The death of Stephen was the signal for an outbreak of persecution which compelled the Christians to scatter and to seek safety in the remoter districts of the country. There are two specially interesting points in this short section.

(i) The apostles stood fast. Others might flee but they braved whatever perils might come; and this for two reasons. (a) They were men of courage. Conrad tells that, when he was a young sailor learning to steer a sailing-ship, a gale blew up. The older man who was teaching him gave him but one piece of advice. “Keep her facing it,” he said. “Always keep her facing it.” The apostles were determined to face whatever dangers threatened. (b) They were good men. Christians they might be, but there was something about them that won the respect of all. It is told that once a slanderous accusation was leveled against Plato. His answer was, “I will live in such a way that all men will know that it is a lie.” The beauty and the power of the lies of the apostles were so impressive that even in a day of persecution men hesitated to lay their hands upon them.

(ii) Saul, as the King James Version says, “made havoc” of the church. The word used in the Greek denotes a brutal cruelty. It is used of a wild boar ravaging a vineyard and of a wild animal savaging a body. The contrast between the man who was savaging the church in this chapter and the man who surrendered to Christ in the next is intensely dramatic.

IN SAMARIA ( Act 8:5-13 )

8:5-13 Those who were scattered abroad went throughout the country telling the message of the good news. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. The crowds listened attentively to what Philip had to say, as they heard his story and saw the signs which he performed. Many of them had unclean spirits, and the spirits, shouting loudly, came out of them; and many who were paralysed and lame were cured; and there was much rejoicing in that city.

A man called Simon was in the habit of practising magic in the city and of bewildering the people of Samaria. He alleged that he was someone great. Everyone, small and great alike, was greatly impressed by him, for they said, “This man is the power of God called Great.” They were impressed by him because they had been bewildered by his magical deeds for some considerable time. Both men and women were baptized when they believed Philip, as he told them the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ. Even Simon himself believed, and, after he had been baptized, he was constantly in Philip’s company; and he was amazed when he saw the signs and great deeds of power which were happening.

When the Christians were scattered abroad, Philip, who had emerged into prominence as one of the Seven, arrived in Samaria; and there he preached. This incident of the work in Samaria is an astonishing thing because it was proverbial that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans ( Joh 4:9).

The quarrel between the Jews and the Samaritans was centuries old. Back in the eighth century B.C. the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom whose capital was Samaria. As conquerors did in those days, they transported the greater part of the population and settled strangers in the land. In the sixth century the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom with its capital at Jerusalem and its inhabitants were carried away to Babylon; but they completely refused to lose their identity and remained stubbornly Jews. In the fifth century B.C. they were allowed to return and to rebuild their shattered city under Ezra and Nehemiah. In the meantime, those of the Northern Kingdom who had been left in Palestine had intermarried with the stranger races who had been brought in. When the people of the Southern Kingdom returned and set to build their city, these people round Samaria offered their help. It was contemptuously refused because they were no longer pure Jews. From that day onwards there was an unhealed breach and a bitter hatred between Jews and Samaritans.

The fact that Philip preached there and that the message of Jesus was given to these people shows the Church all unconsciously taking one of the most important steps in history and discovering that Christ is for all the world. We know very little about Philip but he was one of the architects of the Christian Church.

We must note what Christianity brought to these people. (i) It brought the story of Jesus, the message of the love of God in Jesus Christ. (ii) It brought healing. Christianity has never been a thing of words only. (iii) It brought, as a natural consequence, a joy that the Samaritans had never known before. It is a counterfeit Christianity which brings an atmosphere of gloom; the real thing radiates joy.

THINGS WHICH CANNOT BE BOUGHT AND SOLD ( Act 8:14-25 )

8:14-25 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they despatched Peter and John to them. They came down and prayed for them, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet the Holy Spirit had fallen on no one. It was in the name of the Lord Jesus that they had been baptized. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he brought money to them and said, “Give me too this power so that he on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you because you thought to obtain the gift of God for money; you have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray God if it may be that the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of wickedness.” Simon answered, “Do you pray to the Lord for me, so that none of the things you spoke of may come upon me.”

So after they had borne their witness and spoken the word of God, they returned to Jerusalem, telling the good news to many villages of the Samaritans on the way.

Simon was by no means an unusual type in the ancient world. There were many astrologers and soothsayers and magicians, and in a credulous age they had a great influence and made a comfortable living. There is little to be surprised at in that when even the twentieth century has not risen above fortune-telling and astrology, as almost any popular newspaper or magazine can witness. It is not to be thought that Simon and his fellow-practitioners were all conscious frauds. Many of them had deluded themselves before they deluded others and believed in their own powers.

To understand what Simon was getting at we have to understand something of the atmosphere and practice of the early Church. The coming of the Spirit upon a man was connected with certain visible phenomena, in particular with the gift of speaking with tongues (compare Act 10:44-46). He experienced an ecstasy which manifested itself in this strange phenomenon of uttering meaningless sounds. In Jewish practice the laying on of hands was very common. With it there was held to be a transference of certain qualities from one person to another. It is not to be thought that this represents an entirely materialistic view of the transference of the Spirit, the dominating factor was the character of the man who laid on the hands. The apostles were men held in such respect and even veneration that simply to feel the touch of their hands was a deeply spiritual experience. If a personal reminiscence may be allowed, I myself remember being taken to see a man who had been one of the Church’s great scholars and saints. I was very young and he was very old. I was left with him for a moment or two and in that time he laid his hands upon my head and blessed me. And to this day, more than fifty years afterwards, I can still feel the thrill of that moment. In the early Church the laying on of hands was like that.

Simon was impressed with the visible effects of the laying on of hands and he tried to buy the ability to do what the apostles could do. Simon has left his name on the language for simony still means the unworthy buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices. Simon had two faults.

(i) He was not interested in bringing the Holy Spirit to others so much as in the power and prestige it would bring to himself. This exaltation of self is ever the danger of the preacher and the teacher. It is true that they must kindle at the sight of men; but it is also true as Denney said–that we cannot at one and the same time show that we are clever and that Christ is wonderful.

(ii) Simon forgot that certain gifts are dependent on character; money cannot buy them. Again, the preacher and the teacher must take warning. “Preaching is truth through personality.” To bring the Spirit to others a man must be not a man of wealth but one who himself possesses the Spirit.

CHRIST COMES TO AN ETHIOPIAN ( Act 8:26-40 )

8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and said, “Rise and go to the south by the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza; that is Gaza in the desert.” So he arose and went. Now, look you, an Ethiopian eunuch, an influential official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury and who had gone to worship in Jerusalem, was on his way home. As he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join yourself to this chariot.” So Philip ran up and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He said, “How could I do that unless someone were to guide me?” He invited Philip to get up and to sit with him. The passage of scripture which he was reading was this–He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he received no justice. Who will recount his lineage because his life is taken from the earth? The eunuch said to Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it about himself? Or about someone else?” Philip opened his mouth, and, taking his start from this passage of scripture, told him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road they came to some water, “Look,” said the eunuch, “here is water. What is to stop me being baptized?” And he ordered the chariot to stand still. So both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch no longer saw him, but he travelled along his road rejoicing. Philip was found at Azotus. He went through all the cities and preached the good news to them until he came to Caesarea.

There was a road from Jerusalem which led via Bethlehem and Hebron and joined the main road to Egypt just south of Gaza. There were two Gazas. Gaza had been destroyed in war in 93 B.C. and a new Gaza had been built to the south in 57 B.C. The first was called Old or Desert Gaza to distinguish it from the other. This road which led by Gaza would be one where the traffic of half the world went by. Along in his chariot came the Ethiopian eunuch. He was the chancellor of the exchequer of Candace. Candace is not so much a proper name as a title, the title which all the queens of Ethiopia bore. This eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship. In those days the world was full of people who were weary of the many gods and the loose morals of the nations. They came to Judaism and there found the one God and the austere moral standards which gave life meaning. If they accepted Judaism and were circumcised they were called proselytes; if they did not go that length but continued to attend the Jewish synagogues and to read the Jewish scriptures they were called God-fearers. This Ethiopian must have been one of these searchers who came to rest in Judaism either as a proselyte or a God-fearer. He was reading Isa 53:1-12; and beginning from it Philip showed him who Jesus was.

When he became a believer he was baptized. It was by baptism and circumcision that the Gentile entered the Jewish faith. In New Testament times baptism was largely adult baptism. It was not that there was anything against infant baptism, but in those early days men and women were coming in from other faiths and the Christian family had not had time to develop. To the early Christians baptism was, whenever possible, by immersion and in running water. It symbolized three things. (i) It symbolized cleansing. As a man’s body was cleansed by the water, so his soul was bathed in the grace of Christ. (ii) It marked a clean break. We are told how one missionary when he baptized his converts made them enter the river by one bank and sent them out on the other, as if at the moment of baptism a line was drawn in their lives which sent them out to a new world. (iii) Baptism was a real union with Christ. As the waters closed over a man’s head he seemed to die with Christ and as he emerged he rose with Christ (compare Rom 6:1-4).

Tradition has it that this eunuch went home and evangelized Ethiopia. We can at least be sure that he who went on his way rejoicing would not be able to keep his newfound joy to himself.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

‘And Saul was consenting to his death.’ What a chill this brings on our hearts. He stood there silent and seemingly impassive, but his heart was filled with hate and anger. And as he watched he nodded his approval. This was not passive acknowledgement. It was wholehearted acquiescence. We can even read his thoughts. ‘May such be the end of all these heretics, and I will make it my responsibility to ensure that it is.’

Some may question how this could happen under Roman rule. We do not actually know the circumstances under which the laws of blasphemy could be cited in order to defend the death penalty. Certainly instant death could be demanded on any who encroached on the Temple beyond the allowable limit. It seems very possible therefore that blasphemy was the one crime for which the Sanhedrin could pass the death penalty. But whether it was so or not, Pilate was at this stage in a precarious position and he was in no case to dispute the activities of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. He was too busy watching his own back. And they were experienced politicians. They knew how far they could go.

Note.

Perhaps at this stage we may seek to establish what Stephen was not saying. He was not rejecting the Law. Indeed he had continually cited the Law (Genesis/Exodus). All the way through he was upholding the Law against those who had broken it (Act 7:8; Act 7:38; Act 7:53). Nor was he rejecting Israel’s worship as such, for he had upheld the Tabernacle in which that worship was originally conducted. Nor was he rejecting the Temple. What he was doing was rejecting the overemphasis on the Temple itself as the centre of God’s saving plan, as the focal point of men’s thinking, and as something that was indestructible, as though it had somehow come down from God.

His thought was that like all else the Temple was of human origin, and that therefore Temple worship, which was carried on in a building of man’s devising, should not focus in on itself but should turn men’s eyes upwards beyond the Temple towards that which was not made with hands, to the living God Himself, and towards His Messiah, enthroned in Heaven. Thus men around the world should not be looking towards the Temple, as they tended to do, as though God were trapped in Jerusalem, but should be looking upwards towards God and His Messiah wherever they were. Perhaps he had in mind Jesus’ words in the context of Joh 4:21-24. “The hour comes and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.”

So his thought was that now that men no longer had a God-designed Tabernacle which in a sense, at least in concept, had come down from heaven, they should look, not to the Temple, but beyond it to One Who had come down from Heaven Who was even greater than the Tabernacle. One Who had now replaced the Temple as the focal point (Joh 2:19-21) Thus they should look to a heavenly Tabernacle, to where God was on His throne. And this would involve recognition of the Righteous One Whom He had sent, for He was now on the throne as man’s Saviour. Man should now therefore look to God’s Tabernacle in Heaven. It was God Who would take this further by destroying the very Temple itself, because even Christians were still wedded to it.

End of note.

EXCURSUS 1.

Are We To See Stephen’s Words As Verbally Inspired Scriptural Truth?

These words of Stephen raise an important question that we need to deal with, and that is as to whether Stephen’s words were seen by Luke as conveying ‘verbally inspired Scriptural Truth’. To many the question will seem unimportant. They simply class the Scriptures along with other writings. But it is a question that in its general application needs to be carefully thought about for any who believe in the verbal inspiration of Scripture.

We must first of all define what we mean by ‘Scriptural truth’. Paul tells us that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, etc.’ and there is a sense in which all Scripture is ‘true’. But in saying this it is clear that we must distinguish between Scriptures where the very words are themselves teaching divine truth, and Scriptures where the words are correctly recorded and are a true record of what was said, but are not themselves to be seen as expressing divine truth.

One book which faces us up with this very question, and is fairly simple to deal with, is the Book of Job. There we have words spoken by Job and his four friends, and it is necessary for us to consider which of their words are Scriptural truth, and which are simply an accurate record of false ideas being put forward by his ‘friends’. The words accurately present what was said, but without necessarily themselves expressing Scriptural truth.

That this is so, comes out clearly at the end of the book, for there God firmly declares that Job’s friends  have not spoken of Him what is right  (Job 42:7). That tells us as specifically as anything can that we are not to see their words as conveying Scriptural truth, even though they are in the Scriptures and are to be seen as presenting a true record of what they had said. Thus if we base our doctrine on what they taught we will go sadly astray. This makes it clear that we have to be discerning when we use Scripture. We have to distinguish when the Scriptures are putting forward ‘revealed truth’, and when they are telling us what people said without necessarily indicating that it was Scriptural truth.

So next time someone quotes something to you from the Book of Job, first check on who said what. This does not mean that the book of Job itself cannot be classed as ‘inspired Scripture’. What it does mean is that as Scripture what it is claiming to do is to accurately inform us concerning the distorted teaching of these men, while also informing us that their words are not to be seen as presenting us with the truth. It is explaining the false arguments that they used against Job. We cannot therefore accept the words of these men as teaching ‘Scriptural truth’. We may even say that they are actually teaching ‘Scriptural untruths’.

To take an even more definite example, when Satan told Eve that the fruit would be good for her and Adam, his words were certainly Scripture (that is, they are recorded in Scripture as indicating what he said, and can be relied as an accurate representation of what was truly said), but they were equally certainly not conveying Scriptural truth, for they were basically a lie, and shown to be so. So always when considering Scripture we must ask, ‘Who said it?’ and ‘Under what circumstances?’

Now when we come to the Acts of the Apostles the same question arises. Take for example the words of Sapphira in Act 5:8. When she replied, “Yes, for so much.”, was that Scripture? Well, yes, for the words are included in Acts, they are included in the Scriptures. But are they presenting Scriptural truth? The answer is clearly no. She is recorded as telling a lie, and is punished for it.

At the other extreme we have the Apostles. When they stood and spoke authoritatively, speaking by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said of them that they would be led into all truth (Joh 16:13). Thus we have good grounds for saying that under such circumstances the writers who recorded their words would look on them as ‘Scriptural truth’.

Other speakers may well be seen as coming somewhere in the middle. Their words may be seen as accurately recorded, and even true, without necessarily being seen as ‘verbally inspired Scriptural truth’. In other words they are words which must be judged by normal standards. This is particularly relevant in what we are looking at here, for the question must arise, ‘Are we to see Stephen’s words as an inspired record of what Stephen said, without his words necessarily being seen by the writer as carrying the same inspiration as the Apostles? Or are we to see them as on the same level of inspiration as the Apostles, and therefore without error?’ The question is not whether he was ‘inspired’ in a sense in which great preachers of today might be inspired, or even whether the Holy Spirit was giving him words to speak as a Christian on trial was entitled to receive them, in accordance with Luk 12:12. Both of those would undoubtedly be so. The question is, was his inspiration seen as of the same level as that of the Apostles, and the great Old Testament writing prophets, making what he said completely dependable?

We should consider here, for example, 1 Corinthians 14. There the New Testament prophets were seen as on the whole being ‘inspired’ by the Spirit in the church meetings. But Paul quite clearly indicates that their words are not necessarily to be seen as ‘verbally inspired’, for their words are rather to be judged by other prophets (1Co 14:29). So he for one does not see all people who are ‘inspired’ by the Holy Spirit as being what we call ‘verbally inspired’ and therefore speaking without error. (This is important for any groups which practise spiritual gifts to appreciate). In other words he states that the words of such people cannot necessarily be accepted as absolute truth, but must be tested to discover whether they are true or not. This does not especially denigrate them. It simply makes clear the standard that must be applied to their teaching.

The same thing applies to Stephen. It is not necessarily to denigrate him, or to throw doubt on the truth of his words, to declare that his words were not necessarily ‘verbally inspired Scriptural truth’, even though we may judge them as in general Scripturally true because they accord with other Scriptures. For it is vitally important that we do distinguish between what is set up as ‘verbally inspired Scriptural truth’ (to be accepted as God’s infallible word to man) and what is able to be seen as in accordance with Scriptural truth, while not itself necessarily being technically so.

The truth is that unless we are to lose all ability to make such distinctions we must when studying the Scriptures set up various markers defining when something is ‘verbally inspired Scriptural truth’ (the verbally inspired word of truth) as opposed to seeing something as Scripturally true because it accords with Scriptural truth found elsewhere, but not as verbally inspired Scriptural truth. Jesus, for example, does seem to have intended to lay down that kind criteria in His choosing of His Apostles. He does appear to have later declared that they, and they alone, will be the final arbiters of truth (Mat 16:19; Mat 18:18; Joh 14:16-17; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26-27; Joh 16:13). Thus it seems to me that we have to say that, while in the case of Stephen, and others like him such as Ananias, what he said may be equally as true as what our best teachers say when interpreting Scripture, it must be judged on that basis, and cannot be classed as itself on the level of ‘infallible Scriptural truth’.

We may rightly be impressed by Stephen’s words. We may indeed hold them as having been spoken under a large level of inspiration and guidance by the Holy Spirit, even greater possibly than we expect from our own preachers, but we must stop short of calling it ‘infallible Scriptural truth’. If we do not take this position it seems to me that we lose all criterion by which we can judge what is ‘infallible Scriptural truth’. We accept that the words of the Apostles were, when speaking or writing under inspiration, ‘infallible Scriptural truth’, because we have as grounds for taking up such a position the authority of Jesus. We accept the Old Testament rightly interpreted as such because we have Jesus’ authority for doing so. But we have no such authority for Stephen and others in a parallel situation. If we take up any other position than the one just outlined it then becomes in the end simply a matter of one person’s opinion against another. It is we who become the arbiters of inspiration.

When the early church thought in terms of ‘inspired Scripture’ their criterion was clear. The Old Testament in its original text was so because it had been vouched for by Jesus Christ Himself (although even then we have to be discerning). The Apostolic writings in their original texts were so because they were written either by Apostles, or by men under the close supervision of Apostles (Mark and Luke). Otherwise the church on the whole rejected other writings as ‘authoritative Scriptural truth’, even when they allowed them to be read in church as ‘helpful’.

On this criteria therefore we may truly say that Stephen was inspired by the Spirit, but not that he had such inspiration that the early church (and in this case Luke) saw his words as verbally inspired Scriptural truth. That is not to cast them off. And like any Spirit inspired sermon they may warm our hearts and speak to us through the Spirit. They may still bless us, as any Scriptural sermon or writing may. But that will be because we see them as agreeing with Scriptural truth, not because they are guaranteed as such by the nature of their inspiration.

With this regard it is possibly significant that Luke does not in fact introduce his words with any suggestion that the Holy Spirit was speaking through Stephen in some special revelatory way. Verse 55 may be seen as reflecting back, but the emphasis there is rather on the amazing revelation that he saw. And Act 6:5; Act 6:8; Act 6:10 all certainly reveal him as a man through whom the Spirit was at work. But at the crucial place where Luke could have spoken he was silent. This might suggest to many that while the Holy Spirit certainly stood there with him, it was not in order to give him that special inspiration that we call ‘verbal inspiration’.

On the other hand the speech can only have been given to us in full because its central message was sonsidered important. It is intended to come home to our hearts and make us aware that God’s great Deliverer was seen as having come, that the land was no longer important, and that the Temple was being replaced. And by being included in such detail by Luke, and by being based on the word of God, it becomes part of the essential truth that Acts is seeking to convey.

End of Excursus.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Persecution of the Church Causes The Word To Go Out (8:1-4).

‘And Saul was consenting to his death.’

This verse, already commented on at the end of the last section, is a link between the two sections. It not only concludes the martyrdom of Stephen, but prepares for Act 8:4. It probably means more than just that he agreed with what happened. He was also giving his official consent and publicly putting himself forward as someone who was ready to do something about it. He was declaring that he was ready to take a positive stand against this new movement.

But who was this Saul? As he stood there disdainfully watching the deserved death of the heretic Stephen he was proud of the fact that he had been ‘circumcised on the eighth day’, that he could trace his descent to Benjamin, that both his parents were Jews, that he had influential relatives (Act 23:16-22 – his nephew moved in circles that meant that he knew of the plot, and chief captains do not listen to just anyone), that he was a dedicated Pharisee, that all held him blameless in keeping the whole Law in accordance with his Pharisaic principles (Php 3:5). He was also a man born free, a Roman citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia (Act 21:39), a city with its own school of philosophy, and was a disciple of Rabban Gamaliel, that righteous and respected teacher of the law. He had the best of educations and had everything going for him. But above all he had a zeal for God which meant that he was already planning to root out more of these vile heretics. He was now a man with a mission. And he clung to all that was the very opposite of all that Stephen stood for. Little did he realise that it was all shortly to come crashing down and that he would soon be a hunted man himself.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

‘And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad (‘sowed as seed’) throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except for the apostles.’

The consequence of Stephen’s martyrdom was a clear recognition that these followers of their Messiah had become a menace and were enemies of Judaism. What might have been tolerated elsewhere could not be tolerated in Jerusalem, especially in such numbers. The result was that action was instigated in order to arrest all who followed Stephen’s pernicious ideas, and the Christians soon recognised that if they did not seek refuge outside Jerusalem they would all be put in prison. Thus they scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria. The persecution was not organised on a large enough scale to reach out as far as that. It was limited to religious minded Jerusalem. And as they went, they went everywhere preaching the word.

‘Except for the Apostles.’ The Apostles remained in Jerusalem. It was certainly brave of them, but they had probably decided that for the sake of those in the infant church in Jerusalem who could not flee they must be there to give them support. And there were also those in prison who had to be attended to. Jesus Himself had taught them the importance of visiting those in prison (Mat 25:36; Mat 25:39-40). The flourishing church had needed them. The sorely wounded church needed them more.

However, it may well be that as recognised figures who had themselves for years caused no trouble as they went about Jerusalem, they were not in quite the same danger as the Hellenistic Christians. They had after all not drawn down on themselves the wrath of the Hellenistic Jewish synagogues. Yet unquestionably some of the backlash would fall on them, for they could hardly avoid some of the blame resulting from the behaviour of men whom they had appointed to responsible positions in the church. On the other hand the authorities would probably think twice before they actually attacked these twelve men who were so popular among the people because they continually healed and cast out evil spirits. Indeed it is significant that no attempt seems to have been made at this stage to arrest the Apostles themselves.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Expansion of The Church As A Result of Persecution (8:1-12:25).

How thrilled the Apostles must have been at this stage at the progress of the church. Through the first few years of the infant church they had suffered a few minor discomforts, but they had come through those triumphantly, and the church had continued to grow and grow. Jerusalem was ‘filled with their teaching’ and the work of caring for all the true people of God was now being successfully administered.

And then came the shock waves. It was like a spiritual earthquake. It seemed that Satan was not asleep or held fully in check after all. Suddenly there was devastation among the people of God. Many were being dragged off to prison, others recognised that they had no alternative but to flee for their lives and the lives of their families, and the carefully erected administration had collapsed. The Apostles now bravely remained in Jerusalem so as to care for the few who were left, and to visit in prison those who were being held in captivity. And as they looked around at the people that they now had to cater for, and the numbers crowded in the prisons, it must have appeared as though all their dreams were in tatters. It must have seemed as though they had to begin all over again.

But in truth the situation was the very opposite, for it was now that the expansion of the church began apace. As a result of the martyrdom of Stephen the Christians, who were now established and taught in the faith, were driven out of Jerusalem in all directions in accordance with Isa 2:3. When Jesus had originally sent out His disciples He had told them that if they were not received in one town, they had to go on to the next. For there was so much work to be done that it would never be finished before the Son of Man returned (Mat 10:23). And now, in this situation, that was precisely what God was making them do. Within a few short months the Good News, which up to this point had been almost limited to a Jerusalem which must surely have been becoming Gospel saturated, would spread to all the neighbouring countries round about, and would establish a platform for reaching out to the rest of the world. And all as a result of this heart numbing catastrophe combined with the power of the Holy Spirit and the sovereign activity of God. It was the signal that Jerusalem had had its opportunity. Now it was time for the ends of the earth to know.

The sections that follow deal with the initial spread of the word, which divides neatly up into the following pattern:

a Scattered Christians preach in all directions, including Judaea and Galilee (Act 8:4).

b Philip goes to the Samaritans, followed up by Peter and John – a distinctive outreach (Act 8:5-25).

b Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Act 8:26-39).

b Philip is found at Azotus (formerly Ashdod), where passing along the coastline he preaches the Good News to all the cities, until he comes to Caesarea (Act 8:40). These cities would include Jamnia, Joppa, and Apollonia. And when he comes to Caesarea he settles down (Act 21:8). It was of mixed Jewish and Gentile population and the seat of Roman government, and presented great opportunities for evangelism.

c Saul is converted in Damascus and proclaims the Good News there (Act 9:1-26).

c Saul returns to Jerusalem and proclaims the Good News in the Hellenist synagogues at Jerusalem (Act 9:27-30).

b Peter’s ministry is successful in Lydda where he heals the lame (Act 9:32-35).

b Peter’s ministry is successful in Joppa where he raises the dead (Act 9:36-43).

b Peter goes to the Gentiles and converts Cornelius and his household, and those in Jerusalem rejoice because God is reaching out to the Gentiles – a distinctive outreach (Act 10:1 to Act 11:18).

a Scattered Christians preach successfully in Phoenicia and Cyprus to Jews only, but then in Syrian Antioch, first to Jews and then to Gentiles. The work in Antioch is confirmed by Barnabas who calls in Saul (Act 11:19-26).

Note the carefully worked out pattern, which could be even more particularised. It consists of a general description followed by three ministries of Philip, commencing with the ministry to the Samaritans (a new distinctive outreach), then central is Paul’s conversion and new ministry, then come three ministries of Peter, possibly following up on Philip’s ministry in Act 8:40, finalising in Peter’s ministry to Gentiles (a new distinctive outreach), and then another general description.

This is all then followed by a description of events in and around Jerusalem, while the word of God grew and multiplied (Act 11:27 to Act 12:25).

The complexity of the construction of Acts, and the warning lest we too glibly divide it up into our patterns comes out in that the above analysis overlaps into what might be seen as two sections ending in their summaries (see introduction to chapter 1). Luke has a number of strands going at the same time. We do him an injustice not to recognise the fact.

A further interesting part of the pattern is found in the descriptions of the conversion of three vital figures, the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul of Tarsus, and Cornelius the Centurion. Note the huge contrast, the powerful minister of state, the devoted Pharisee and student of Gamaliel, and the officer in the army of occupation, and yet all in their own way men who were earnestly seeking righteousness and truth. In each case Christian men are directed to go to them. In each case those to be converted are chosen men. In each case a vision or equivalent is involved. In each case they are led to Christ by God’s chosen instrument. In each case they are baptised. And yet the differences are many too. They are not just reproductions. But they do bring out that God is at work not only on multitudes, but on individuals, as he expands the Kingly Rule of God.

The Consequences of the Death of Stephen.

The result of the death of Stephen was that Christians had to flee from Jerusalem, and this certainly included Philip, one of the Hellenists appointed along with Stephen. Indeed the six who remained of the original seven were probably targeted as known associates of Stephen. It must be seen as quite probable that the Hellenistic Christian Jews were the most prominent target of the persecution, a persecution probably largely pursued by their antagonists in the Hellenistic synagogues (compare Act 9:29), as well as especially by Saul, who was himself one of the Hellenists, although a very Hebrew one. They wanted to demonstrate to their Hebrew brethren that they too were true Jews (the Hellenists who had come to live in Jerusalem, and who had not already been converted, would tend to be those most fanatically gripped by Jewishness).

But behind the flight of the people of God was God Himself. Without that flight the impetus to spread the Good News widely would have been absent. They had felt it necessary to concentrate mainly on Jerusalem, but it was now His purpose that the word might spread far beyond the walls of Jerusalem. He was fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 2:3, ‘Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’.

This was taking place some years after the crucifixion during which time the church had become well established in Jerusalem. This is evident from the fact that the events of the previous chapters of Acts require such a length of time for their fulfilment. How far the Apostles were involved in the persecution we do not know, although we do know that they remained in Jerusalem (Act 8:1). Perhaps they were seen as still under the protection of the Sanhedrin’s edict that they be left alone. And perhaps their known loyalty to the Temple, (for they met there regularly), marked them off as giving full respect to the Temple and as not following the heresy of Stephen. It might have been argued that, while they were known Messianists, they had never been heard to speak against the Temple and the Law. They may have been seen as dutiful in following their religious responsibilities so that the Pharisees had nothing against them, for there were many priests and Christian Pharisees among their number who would maintain their Jewishness. Thus they may have been left alone. With their reputations it is certainly difficult to see how the Apostles could have remained hidden. They were still no doubt performing signs and wonders, and people would still be seeking them out. But there was still a strong sense of Jewishness among the early Judaistic church and that probably helped them. (Consider how the Apostles are later called to task by Hebrew Christians when they are thought to have erred from a Judaistic emphasis – Act 11:2).

But having said all that danger had to lurk for them. While the persecution may have majored on the Hellenistic Christians, the Hebrew Christians would be drawn in by association. They certainly had no certainty that they would be spared. And the impression given is that Saul was determined to hunt down any Christians that he could find. Thus it took a great deal of courage to remain in Jerusalem. But now full of the Holy Spirit that was not something that any of the twelve Apostles lacked.

However, while devastating at the time the persecution accomplished what the passage of time had failed to accomplish, not only the spreading of the Good News, but also the gentle separating of the Jewish church from its extreme Jewishness. Christian Jews were being faced up with a choice of adherence, whether to the Jewish authorities, or to the wider church. And the persecution would help them to make up their minds. The grip of Judaism was being slowly relaxed.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Persecution and Scattering of the Early Church In Act 8:1 b-4 we have the testimony of how Stephen’s death gave rise to the persecution of the early Church. As a result, the church scattered abroad.

Act 8:1  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Act 8:1 “and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria” Scripture Reference – Note:

Act 11:19, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.”

Act 8:1 “except the apostles” – Comments – Why did they stay at Jerusalem? Perhaps because they were still under the impression that the Gospel was for the Jews only, and not to the Gentiles (Note Act 11:19). Perhaps Peter’s experience of being rebuked by Paul helped change that idea (Gal 2:11-14).

Act 11:19, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.”

Gal 2:11-14, “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?”

However, we do know that James, the brother of the Lord, became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. This was a very strategic location for the leaders of the church. This is probably the reason that the apostles stayed at Jerusalem.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Church’s Structure (Divine Service): Key Witnesses that Began the Spread of Gospel into Judea and Samaria While Act 2:1 to Act 5:42 gives us the testimony of the founding and growth of the Church in Jerusalem, the stoning of Stephen gave rise to the spreading of the Church to Judea and Samaria. Act 6:1 to Act 12:25 serves as the testimony of the spread of the Gospel to the regions beyond Jerusalem as a result of persecution, which was in fulfillment of Jesus’ command to the apostles at His ascension, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Act 1:8) In Act 6:1-7 the New Testament Church begins to structure itself with the office of the deacon. One of these deacons named Stephen becomes the first martyr of the Church (Act 6:8 to Act 7:1 a). As the result of a great persecution fueled by the zeal of Saul of Tarsus, the Gospel begins to spread into Judea and Samaria. Philip the evangelist takes the Gospel into Samaria and to an Ethiopian eunuch (Act 8:5-40), Saul of Tarsus is converted (Act 9:1-31), Peter takes the Gospel beyond Jerusalem to the house of a Gentile named Cornelius (Act 9:32 to Act 10:48), while Luke provides additional testimonies of Church growth to Antioch and further persecutions (Act 11:1 to Act 12:25). These testimonies emphasize the spread of the Gospel into Judea and Samaria.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Introduction: Appointment of First Deacons Act 6:1-6

2. The Witness of Stephen Act 6:7 to Act 8:4

3. The Witness of Philip the Evangelist Act 8:5-40

4. The Witness of Paul’s Conversion Act 9:1-31

5. The Witness of Peter Act 9:32 to Act 10:48

6. The Witness of Church Growth Act 11:1 to Act 12:25

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Witness of Stephen In Act 6:7 to Act 8:4 Luke records the witness of Stephen. The importance of his testimony is the fact that he is the first martyr of the Church, ushering in a period of persecution that spread the Gospel abroad.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Stephen’s Arrest Act 6:7-15

2. Stephen’s Sermon Act 7:1-53

3. Stephen is Stoned Act 7:54 to Act 8:1 a

4. The Persecution and Scattering of the early Church Act 8:1 b-4

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Stephen is Stoned In Act 7:54 to Act 8:1 a we have the account of Stephen being stoned by the Jewish leaders to become the first martyr of the early Church.

Act 7:55-56 Comments Stephen’s Vision of Jesus – It is interesting to note that Stephen recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of man when He saw Him standing at the right hand of the Father. Perhaps Jesus was telling Stephen that He too had suffered in His humanity, but was now glorified by the Father, and that Stephen, too, must suffer in order to be received up into eternal glory.

Act 7:58 Comments – In his book The Call Rick Joyner is told in a vision by Paul the apostle that the memory of the light that was on Stephen’s face during his stoning carried Paul through many trials. Paul felt that Stephen has somehow died for him, so that he could see the true light. [155]

[155] Rick Joyner, The Call (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1999), 213-4.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Gospel Planted in Samaria.

The burial of Stephen and the hatred of Saul:

v. 1. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

v. 2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

v. 3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and, haling men and women, committed them to prison.

The young man Saul had been a witness of Stephen’s stoning, and had considered it an honor to watch the clothes of the men that began the stoning, chap. 7:58. It is here expressly stated that Saul consented to Stephen’s death; he felt great satisfaction, great pleasure over his death, he approved it with joy. And his feeling was shared by his fellow-Pharisees, who now started a persecution which involved the entire congregation, determined, if possible, to exterminate the Church of Jesus. The result was a general dispersal and scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem into the various Jewish provinces, especially Judea proper, the rural districts of the section about Jerusalem, but also to the regions of Samaria. See chap. 1:8. It was not the fear of martyrdom, of death, which caused these first disciples to flee, but the express command of Christ, Mat 10:23. “Had they fled through the fear of death, they would have taken care not to provoke persecution to follow them by continuing to proclaim the same truths that provoked it in the first instance. Only the apostles remained in Jerusalem. The small remnant of the congregation that was obliged to remain in Jerusalem very probably consisted of such as had the greatest need of the teaching and the comfort of the Word. For a pastor to leave his post in time of persecution, when the danger threatens his members as well as himself, in most cases amounts to plain unfaithfulness. Meanwhile, however, before the general scattering of the disciples took place, the burial of Stephen was attended to in a proper manner. Devout, pious men from among his fellow-believers carried him out to his last resting-place and attended to all the matters pertaining to his burial, They then made a great lamentation over him, probably beating their breasts and their heads in token of their deep grief. It is altogether pleasing to the Lord if Christians bury their dead in an honorable fashion, and the lamenting over the death of loved ones, if kept within proper bounds, has been hallowed by the tears of Jesus Himself at the grave of Lazarus. But all these facts, even if they were known to Saul and were, in part, intended in the nature of a protest against the murder of Stephen, made no impression upon him. If anything, he became all the more unreasonable and furious in his enmity toward Christ and the Church. Without ceasing, continually, he laid waste, devastated, the Church, like a hostile army spreading ruin and devastation in its wake, Psa 80:13. In so doing, he entered into every house which was known to belong to a Christian, particularly into those which served as places for Christian assembly. And both men and women whom he found at such times he dragged forth, he haled them out as though preparing them for trial, and committed them to prison, with the consent of the authorities gave them into the charge of the keepers of the prison. This persecution was the first real test to which the members of the congregation at Jerusalem were subjected. Till now it had all been peaceful growth; but now the storm was to test the strength of the young plant, and of every branch and shoot on the tender stem.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Act 8:1

There arose on that day for at that time there was, A.V.; in for at, A.V. Saul was consenting to his death. St. Paul’s repeated reference to this sad episode in his life is very touching (see Act 22:2,0; 1Co 15:9; 1Ti 1:13). (For the word , to consent, see Act 22:20; Luk 11:48; Rom 1:32; 1Co 7:12.) Arose on that day. The phrase is manifestly the Hebrew one, , so constantly used in Isaiah and the other prophets, not of a single day, but of a longer or shorter time, and means, as the A.V. has it, “at that time,” not the particular Tuesday or Wednesday on which Stephen was killed. If St. Luke had meant to state that the persecution set in the very day on which Stephen was stoned, he would have expressed it much more pointedly, and used a different word from . It is otherwise with Act 2:41 and Luk 17:31, where the context defines the meaning, and confines it to a specified day; just as the equivalent Hebrew phrase is as commonly applied to a literal day as to a time or period. The context shows which is the sense in which it is used. Here the thing spoken of, the persecution, did not take place on a day. It lasted many days. Therefore means here “time.” They were all scattered. Just as the wind blows the seed to a distance to fructify in different places. Except the apostles. They, like faithful watchmen, remained at their post, to confirm the souls of those disciples who for one reason or another were unable to flee (for of course the word all must not be pressed strictly), and to exhort them to continue in the faith, as St. Paul did later at Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (Act 14:22), and to keep up the nucleus of the Church in the metropolis of Christendom.

Act 8:2

Buried for carried to his burial (the last three words in italics), A.V. Devout men; . This word is applied to Simeon (Luk 2:25), and to the Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:5), and, according to the R.T., to Ananias (Act 22:12); but occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is not certain, therefore, that these men were Christians, though they might be. If not, they were pious Jews, men who feared God, and still loved Stephen as being himself a devout Jew though he was a disciple. Buried. occurs only here in the New Testament; but its common use for carrying corn to a barn or granary seems to indicate that “carrying to his burial” of the A.V. is the most exact rendering. The word is said also to be applied to the acts preparatory to burialclosing the eyes, washing, anointing the body, and so on; but this meaning is less certain than that of “carrying.”

Act 8:3

But for as for, A.V.; ‘laid waste for he made havoc of,’ A.V. From the dispersion of the disciples will flow the narrative in this present chapter. It is therefore mentioned first. From the persecution of Saul will flow the narrative in Act 9:1-43 and to the end of the book. Stephen’s burial completes the preceding narrative.

Act 8:4

They therefore for therefore they, A.V.; about for everywhere, A.V. Went about; i.e. from place to place, and wherever they went they preached the Word. here is used in the same sense as in Act 8:40, and in Act 10:38; Act 17:23; Act 20:25, and elsewhere.

Act 8:5

And for then, A.V.; proclaimed unto them the Christ for preached Christ unto them, A.V. Philip; the deacon and evangelist (Act 6:7; Act 21:8), not the apostle. As regards Samaria, it is always used in the New Testament of the country, not of the city, which at this time was called Sebaste, from , i.e. Augustus Caesar (see Act 25:21, Act 25:26, etc.; Joh 4:5; and Josephus, ‘Ant. Jud.,’ 15. Joh 7:9). Whether, therefore, we read with the T.R. , or with the R.T. , we must understand Samaria to mean the country, and probably the city to be the capital, Sebaste. Alford, however, with many others, thinks that Sychem is meant, as in Joh 4:5.

Act 8:6

The multitudes gave heed with one accord for the people with one accord gave heed, A.V.; the for those (things), A.V. that were spoken by Philip for which -Philip spake, A.V.; when they heard and saw the signs for hearing and seeing the miracles, A.V. Note St. Luke’s favorite word, with one accord (above, Act 2:1, note).

Act 8:7

From many of those which had unclean spirits, they came out crying with a loud voice for unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them, A.V.; that were palsied for taken with palsies, A.V. From many of those, etc. The R.T. is represented by the margin, but it is nonsense. The different rendering depends upon whether is taken as the subject to , or as the object after . In one case, or must be understood after , as in the A.V., which inserts with them in italics; in the other, the same word must be understood before , as in the R.V., which inserts they. The latter construction seems right, but the sense is the same, and the A.V. is much the nearest rendering. That were palsied. The purpose and effect of miracles is here clearly shown, to attract attention, and to evidence to the hearers and seers that the workers of miracles are God’s messengers, and that the Word which they preach is God’s Word.

Act 8:8

Much for great, A.V. and T.R. Much joy. The joy was caused partly by the healing of their sick, and partly by the glad tidings of the gospel of peace (comp. Mat 13:20; 1Pe 1:8).

Act 8:9

Simon by name for called Simon, A.V.; the city for the same city, A.V.; amazed for bewitched, A.V. (here and in Act 8:13). Amazed. In Luk 24:22 the same word () is rendered “made us astonished” in the A.V.; and in Act 2:7, Act 2:12, and elsewhere, in an intransitive sense, “were amazed.” It has also the meaning of “being out of one’s mind,” or “beside one’s self” (Mar 3:21; 2Co 5:13), but never that of “bewitching” or “being bewitched.” As regards Simon, commonly surnamed Magus, from his magic arts, it is doubtful whether he is the same Simon as is mentioned by Josephus (‘Ant. Jud.,’20. 7.2) as being employed by Felix the Procurator of Judaea, in the reign of Claudius (Act 23:25), to bewitch Drusfila into forsaking her husband, King Azizus, and marrying him, which she did (Act 24:24). The doubt arises from Josephus stating that Simon to be a Cypriot ( ), whereas Justin Martyr says of Simon Magus that he was , a native of Gitton, or Githon, a village of Samaria. It has been thought that Gitton may be a mistake of Justin’s for Citium, in Cyprus. The after history of Simon Magus is full of fable. He is spoken of by Irenaeus and other early writers as the inventor or founder of heresy.

Act 8:10

That power of God which is called Great for the great power of God, A.V. and T.R. That power of God, etc. The revised text inserts before . Origen says of Simon that his disciples, the Simoniaus, called him “The Power of God.” (‘Contra Cels.,’ lib. 5:62, where see Delarue’s note). According to Tertullian (‘De Anima’), he gave himself out as the supreme Father, with other blasphemies. According to St. Jerome on Mat 24:5, he speaks of himself in different writings as the Word of God, as the Paraclete, the Almighty, the Fullness of God.

Act 8:11

They gave heed to him for to him they had regard, A.V.; amazed for bewitched, A.V.; his sorceries for sorceries, A.V.

Act 8:12

Good tidings for the things, A.V. and T.R.

Act 8:13

And for then, A.V.; also himself believed for himself believed also, A.V.; being baptized for when he was baptized, A.V.; beholding signs and great miracles wrought, he was amazed for wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Contained with ( ); see Act 1:14; Act 3:1-26 :46; Act 6:4; Act 10:1-48.7. St. Paul uses the word in Rom 12:12; Rom 13:6; Col 4:2; and the substantive formed from it () once, Eph 6:18. Elsewhere in the New Testament it occurs only in Mar 3:9. But it is found in Hist. of. Sus. 6. Amazed (see note on verse 9). In Simon we have the first example of one who, having been baptized into Jesus Christ, lived to disgrace and corrupt the faith which he professed. He was an instance of the tares sown among the wheat, and of the seed which sprang up quickly being as quickly destroyed. He is an instance also of the truth of our Lord’s raying, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Act 8:14

The apostles (see Act 8:1). They sent unto them Peter and John. The selection of these two chief apostles shows the great importance attached to the conversion of the Samaritans. The joint act of the college of apostles in sending them demonstrates that Peter was not a pope, but a brother apostle, albeit their primate; and that the government of the Church was in the apostolate, not in one of the number.

Act 8:15

That they might receive the Holy Ghost. Why was it needful that two apostles should come down to Samaria and pray, with laying on of hands, for the newly baptized that they might receive the Holy Ghost? There is no mention of such prayer or such imposition of hands in the case of the first three thousand who were baptized. They were told by St. Peter, “Be baptized every one of you, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Act 2:38), and they were baptized, and doubtless did receive the Holy Ghost, Neither is there any mention of such things in the case of the subsequent thousands who were baptized at Jerusalem on the apostles’ preaching. Why, then, was it so in Samaria? To answer this question, we must observe the difference in the circumstances. The baptisms at Jerusalem were performed by the apostles themselves. The Holy Ghost was given upon their promise and assurance. But in Samaria the preaching and the baptizing were done by the scattered disciples. There was a danger of many independent bodies springing up, owing no allegiance to the apostles, and cemented by no bonds to the mother Church. But Christ’s Church was to be onemany members, but one body. The apostolate was to be the governing power of the whole Church, by the will and ordinance of Christ. Hence there was a manifest reason why, when the gospel spread beyond Judaea, these visible spiritual gifts should be given only through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, and by the intervention of their prayers. This had a manifest and striking influence in marking and preserving the unity of the Church, and in marking and maintaining the sovereignty of the apostolic rule. For precisely the same reason has the Catholic and Apostolic Church in all ages (Act 19:5, Act 19:6; Heb 6:2) maintained the rite of confirmation, “after the example of the holy apostles.” Besides the other great benefits connected with it, its influence in binding up in the unity of the Church the numerous parishes of the diocese, instead of letting them become independent congregations, is very great. Observe, too, how prayer and the laying on of hands are tied together. Neither is valid without the other. In this case, as at Pentecost, the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred. In confirmation, now that miracles have ceased, it is the ordinary and invisible grace of the Holy Spirit that is to be looked for.

Act 8:16

Had been for were, A.V.; into for in, A.V. Into the name. In seems preferable (comp. Mat 10:41, Mat 10:42). The use of the prepositions in the New Testament is much influenced by the Hebrew, through the language of the LXX. As regards baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus, here and Act 8:39, T.R.; Act 10:48; Act 19:5, we are not to suppose that any other formula was used than that prescribed by our Lord (Mat 28:19). But as baptism was preceded by a confession of faith similar to that in our own Baptismal Service, so it was a true description to speak of baptism as being in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Act 8:18

Now for and, A.V.; the laying for laying, A.V. Act 8:19.My hands for hands, A.V. Would to God that spiritual powers in the Church had never been prostituted to base purposes of worldly gain, and that all the servants of Christ had shown themselves as superior to “filthy lucre” as Peter and Elisha were! But the particular offence called simony has but a very faint analogy to the act of Simon.

Act 8:20

Silver for money, A.V.; to obtain the gift of God for that the gift of God may be purchased, A.V. (rightly, is the middle voice). Silver. This is a change of very doubtful necessity; , like the French argent, is frequently used for “money” generally, without any reference to the particular metal of which it is made. Sometimes, indeed, it is used in opposition to “gold,” as Act 3:6 and Act 20:33, and then it is properly rendered “silver.” Here the Revisers’ mason, doubtless, was to reserve “money” as the rendering of (Act 20:19, Act 20:20). St. Peter’s answer is remarkable, not only for the warmth with which he repudiates the proffered bribe, but also for the jealous humility with which he affirms that the gifts of the Spirit were not his to give, but were the gift of God (see Act 3:12-16).

Act 8:21

Before God for in the sight of God, A.V. Thou hast neither part nor lot. The “covetous shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 6:10; comp. Psa 10:3; Luk 16:14; 1Ti 3:3). The phrase, , rendered in this matter, seems to be more fitly rendered in the margin, “in this Word,” i.e. the Word of life, the Word of salvation, which we preach (see Act 5:20; Act 10:36; Act 13:26).

Act 8:22

The Lord for God, A.V. and T.R.; thy for thine, A.V.; shall for may, A.V. Repent. The terrible words, “Thy money perish with thee,” had not expressed Peter’s wish for his destruction. But they were the wounds of a friend speaking sharp things to pierce, if possible, a callous conscience. In the hope that that conscience had been pierced, he now urges repentance. And yet still, dealing skilfully with so bad a case, he speaks of the forgiveness doubtfully, “if perhaps.” The sin was a very grievous one; the wound must not be healed too hastily. “There is a sin unto death.”

Act 8:23

See for perceive, A.V. In the gall of bitterness, etc. The passage from which both this expression and the similar one in Heb 12:15 are taken is manifestly Deu 29:18, where the Greek of the LXX. has, . The context there also shows conclusively that the “gall and bitterness” (“wormwood,” A.V.) of which Moses speaks is the spirit of idolatry or defection from God springing up in some professing member of the Church, and defiling and corrupting others, as it is expounded in Heb 12:15, Heb 12:16. This, as St. Peter saw, was exactly the case with Simon, whose heart was not straight with God, but “had turned away from him,” as it is said in Deuteronomy. Though baptized, he was still an idolater in heart, and likely to trouble many. “The gall of bitterness” is the same as “gall and wormwood,” or “bitterness.” “Gall,” or “bile,” is in classical Greek and other languages a synonym for “bitterness,” especially in a figurative sense (see Lam 3:15, Lam 3:19 , LXX.). The uncommon phrase, the bond of iniquity, seems to be borrowed from Isa 58:6, where the LXX. have the same words, , “loose the bands of wickedness,” A.V. Simon was still bound in these bands.

Act 8:24

And Simon answered for then answered Simon, A.V.; for me to the Lord for to the Lord for me, A.V.; the for these, A.V. Pray ye, etc.; addressed to both Peter and John, who were acting together, and whose prayers had been seen to be effectual (verse 15) in procuring the gift of the Holy Ghost. In like manner, Pharaoh, under the influence of terror at God’s judgments, had asked again and again for the prayers of Moses and Aaron (Exo 8:8, Exo 8:28; Exo 9:27, Exo 9:28; Exo 10:16, Exo 10:17, etc.). But in neither ease was this an evidence of true conversion of heart.

Act 8:25

They therefore for and they, A.V.; spoken for preached, A.V.; to many for in many, A.V.

Act 8:26

But an angel for and the angel, A.V.; the same is for which is, A.V. An angel. “The angel,” as in A.V., is right, just as (Mat 21:9; Mat 23:1-39. 39; Luk 19:38, etc.) and in Hebrew mean “the Name of the Lord,” not “a Name” (see Act 5:19; Act 7:31, notes). The south, meaning that part of Judaea which was called “the south country;” Hebrew (Gen 20:1; Gen 24:62; etc.). This is generally rendered in the LXX. by or . But in 1Sa 20:41, in Symraachus, stands as the rendering of . As regards the words, the same is desert, it is observable that in Num 31:1 and Deu 34:3 is the LXX. rendering of , and that part of the country is called “the wilderness of Judaea.” The words of the angel, therefore, mean, not that Gaza is desert, nor that the read itself is desert, but that the country to which he was directing Philip’s journey was part of that known as the desert; does not refer to or to , but to , understood as contained in . The meaning of the whole sentence I take to be as follows:”Take thy journey in [or, ‘by’] the south [comp. Luk 15:14; Act 5:15; Act 11:1; Act 13:1-52. lids far as [, ‘notans locum vel terminum ad quem‘ (Schleusner)] the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, where the country is desert.” Philip was to proceed from Samaria along the south country till he came to where the Jerusalem road met his road. That district, he is reminded, was desert, part, i.e., or the desert of Judaea. The spot was probably selected for that very reason, as affording the privacy necessary for the eunuch to read in his chariot, and for Philip to join him and expound the Word of God to him. Chrysostom (followed by others) takes in the sense of “at noonday in the most violent heat,” though he also renders it “southwards” (Hem., 19.).

Act 8:27

Was over for had the charge of, A.V.; who for and, A.V. Candace. According to Pithy, the queens of Ethiopia, who reigned at Meroe, were so named through a long course of years (‘Nat. Hist.,’ Act 6:2,Act 6:5 -37). Dion Cassius speaks of a warlike Queen of Ethiopia of that name, who was brought to terms by Caius Petronius in the year A.U.C. 732 (54.5, 4). Eusebius says that the custom still continued in his day of the Ethiopians being governed by a queen. Had come to Jerusalem, etc. He was doubtless a proselyte of the gate. Eusebius, in the place above cited, speaks of him as the first Gentile convert, and as the first fruits of the faithful in the whole world. He adds, as Irenaeus before him had hinted (3. 12.8), that he is reported to have preached the gospel to the Ethiopians, by which the prophecy of Psa 68:31 was fulfilled. Later traditions speak of Candace as baptized by him.

Act 8:28

And he was for was, A.V.; was reading for read, A.V.; Isaiah for Esaias, A.V., the Hebrew for the Greek form. The diffusion of the Holy Scriptures among the Gentiles by means of the Jewish dispersion and the facility given to Gentiles for reading the Scriptures by their translation into Greek at Alexandria, and by the universal use of the Greek language through the conquests of Alexander the Great, are striking instances of the providence of God working all things after the counsel of his own will.

Act 8:29

And for then, A.V.

Act 8:30

Ran for ran thither, A.V.; reading-Isaiah the prophet for read the prophet Esaias, A.V. and T.R. Heard him. He was reading aloud. In Hebrew, the word for “to read” () means “to call,” “to proclaim aloud.” Hence the keri, that which is read, as distinguished from the cethib, that which is written. Reading Isaiah the prophet. The same providence which sent Philip to meet him in the desert doubtless directed his reading to the fifty-third chapter of the great evangelical prophet.

Act 8:31

One shall for man should, A.V. and T.R.; he besought Philip to come up and sit with him for he desired Philip that he would, etc., A.V. He besought, etc. The humility and thirst for instruction of this great courtier are very remarkable, and the instance of the joint use of the written Word and the living teacher is noteworthy.

Act 8:32

Now the place for the place, A.V.; was reading for read, A.V.; as a lamb is dumb for like a lamb dumb, A.V.; he openeth not for opened he not, A.V. As a lamb is dumb. The A.V. of this clause seems to me preferable as a rendering of the Greek, though the Hebrew has , “is dumb.” But this may be rendered “which is dumb.” As regards the word , rendered place, and considered as the antecedent to which, the use of it by Cicero (‘Ad Attic.,’ 13.25) for a whole paragraph, and the employment in the Syriac Version of this passage of the technical word which denotes a “section” or “paragraph,” and the Vulgate rendering, Locus quem (Schleusner), as well as the etymology of the word, which means “a circuit,” or “circumference,” within which something is containedall strongly point to the rendering in the text. Meyer, however, and others make the antecedent to , and construe, “The contents of the Scripture which he was reading,” and refer to 1Pe 2:6.

Act 8:33

His generation who shall declare? for and who shall declare his generation? A.V. and T.R. The preceding quotation is taken verbatim from the LXX., which, however, varies somewhat from the Hebrew. In this verse, for the Hebrew as rendered in the A.V., “He was taken from prison and from judgment,” the LXX. has, “In his humiliation his judgment was taken away,” having evidently read in their copy , or perhaps , “Through [or, ‘in’] his oppression [humiliation] his judgment was taken away.” Mr. Cheyne translates the Hebrew, “Through oppression and through a judgment [sentence] he was taken “away [to death].” For the Hebrew of the A.V., “He was cut off out of the land of the living,” the LXX. has, “His life is taken from the earth,” where they must have read , “his life,” as the subject of the verb, instead of , the living, taken in construction with , the earth. The differences, however, are not material in regard to the general meaning of the passage. His generation who shall declare? The explanation of this difficult expression belongs tea commentary on Isaiah. Here it must suffice to say that the explanation most in accordance with the meaning of the Hebrew words ( and ), with the context, and with the turn of thought in Isa 38:10-12 and Jer 11:19, is that given in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary:’ “Who will consider, give serious thought to, his life or age, seeing it is so prematurely cut off?” which is merely another way of saying that Messiah should “be cut off” (Dan 9:26)” from the land of the living, that his Name be no more remembered” (Jeremiah, as above). It was the frustration of this hope of Jesus being forgotten in consequence of his death that so troubled the Sanhedrim (Act 5:28).

Act 8:34

Other for other man, A.V. The eunuch’s intelligent question gave Philip exactly the opening he required for preaching to him Jesus, the Messiah of whom all the prophets spake by the Holy Ghost (1Pe 1:10, 1Pe 1:11).

Act 8:35

And for then, A.V.; beginning from this Scripture for began at the same Scripture, A.V.; preached for and preached, A.V.

Act 8:36

The way for their way, A.V.; saith for said, A.V.; behold for see, A.V. Here is water. “When we were at Tell-el-Hasy, and saw the water standing along the bottom of the adjacent wady, we could not but remark the coincidence of several circumstances with the account of the eunuch’s baptism. This water is on the most direct road from Belt Jibrin (Eleutheroplis) to Gaza, on the most southern road from Jerusalem, and in the midst of a country now ‘desert,’ i.e. without villages or fixed habitations. There is no other similar water on this road”. There were three roads from Jerusalem to Gaza, of which the one above described still exists, “and actually passes through the desert”. What doth hinder me to be baptized! This question clearly shows that the doctrine of baptism had formed part of Philip’s preaching, as it had of Peter (Act 2:18).

Act 8:37

The whole of Act 8:37 of the A.V. is omitted in the R.T., on the authority of the best existing manuscripts. But on the other hand, Irenaeus, in the third book against Heresies, Act 12:8, distinctly quotes a portion of this verse. The eunuch, he says, when he asked to be baptized said, : and Cyprian, in his third book of Testimonies, 43., quotes the other part of the verse. In proof of the thesis that “whoever believes may be immediately baptized,” he says, “In the Acts of the Apostles [when the eunuch said], Behold water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip answered, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” So that in the second and third centuries, long anterior to the oldest existing manuscripts, this entire verse must have been found in the codices both of the Greek and Latin Churches.

Act 8:38

Both went down for went down both, A.V. Nothing can be more graphic than the simple narrative of this interesting and important baptism. Surely Luke must have heard it from Philip’s own mouth (see Act 21:8-10).

Act 8:39

Came up for were come up, A.V.; and the eunuch for that the eunuch, A.V.; for he went for and he went, A.V. The eunuch made no attempt to follow Philip, but went on his road to Egypt, his whole heart filled with the new joy of Christ’s salvation.

Act 8:40

He preached the gospel to all the cities for he preached in all the cities, A.V. The sudden rapture of Philip by the Spirit, and his transportation to Azotus, or Ashdod, reminds us forcibly of 1Ki 18:12, and of the successive journeys of Elijah just prior to his translation. In Philip’s case we may suppose a kind of trance, which was not ended till he found himself at Azotus. Passing through. For (there rendered “went about”), see 1Ki 18:4, note. To Caesarea; where we find him domiciled (Act 21:8). Such coincidences, appearing in the narrative without any explanation, are strong marks of truth. “He journeyed northward from Ashdod, perhaps through Ekron, Ramah, Joppa, and the plain of Sharon” (Meyer).

HOMILETICS

Act 8:1-8

The fruits of persecution.

Persecution is Satan’s instrument for checking and, if possible, destroying the truth of God. Our Savior reminds us, in the sermon on the mount, how the prophets, who spake to the people in the Name of God, had been persecuted of old; and foretold how the prophets and wise men and scribes whom he would send should, in like manner, be scourged and persecuted, killed and crucified. And the history of the Church, from the first imprisonment of the apostles related in Act 4:1-37. down to the present day, shows the truth of the prediction. Some of the springs and causes of persecution were noted in the homiletics on Act 4:1-31. Our attention shall now be turned to the fruits of persecution.

I. THE FIRST EFFECT OF THE PERSECUTION THAT AROSE UPON THE DEATH OF STEPHEN WAS THE DISPERSION OF THE DISCIPLES. In accordance with the Lord’s directions (Mat 10:23), they fled, to save their lives, from the city of Jerusalem to the neighboring cities of Judaea and Samaria. But wherever they went they preached the Word. Thus the immediate effect of the persecution raised at Jerusalem for the extirpation of the faith of Jesus Christ was that that faith was carried into cities and districts and countries where it might never have been heard of but for the persecutions. Samaria heard the gospel; it was deposited in the heart of the eunuch for dissemination in Ethiopia. From Azotus to Caesarea it was proclaimed aloud. It passed on to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. It took deep root in Antioch, and was passed on from thence through all Asia and on into Europe.

II. ANOTHER EFFECT OF THE PERSECUTION WAS THE BREAKING DOWN OF OPPOSING BARRIERS OF HABIT, OPINION, AND PREJUDICE. If the rulers and priests, the scribes and Pharisees, had accepted the gospel, it might have been a very hard matter to separate it from circumcision and from the temple and from exclusive Judaism. It might have been very long before Jewish Christians would have turned in a spirit of love and brotherhood to their Samaritan neighbors, or sent a messenger to Ethiopia, or planted the first community who called themselves Christians in the great heathen city of Antioch. Endless scruples, hesitations, difficulties, would have barred the way. But persecution quickened with a marvelous impulse the logic of reason and benevolence, ay, and of faith too. By the force of circumstances, the persecuted disciples, expelled from country and home by their own flesh and blood, found themselves drawn into the closest bonds with those who were not Jews, and as it were compelled to tell them of the love of Jesus, and then to feel that that love made them both one. It would have taken generations, perhaps, to do what persecution did in a day. Persecution cut the Gordian knot which the fingers of human reason would, perhaps, never have untied; and the great persecutor himself might never have become the great chief and prince that he was in the Church of the Gentiles, had it not been fur the part that he had played in persecuting it in times past.

III. NOR MUST WE OVERLOOK THE INFLUENCE OF PERSECUTIONS WHEN ENDURED IN THE TRUE MARTYR‘S SPIRIT, IN DEEPENING AND HEIGHTENING THE FAITH, THE ZEAL, AND THE LOVE OF THE DISCIPLE. The fire of the spiritual life in the soul of the saint burns brightest in the darkest hours of earthly tribulation. The love of Christ, the hope of glory, the preciousness of the gospel, are never, perhaps, felt in their living power so fully as when the lights and fires of earthly joy and comforts are extinguished. Then, in the presence, so to speak, of Christ’s unveiled power and glory, charity and boldness, zeal and self-sacrifice, are at their highest pitch, and the making known to others the glad tidings of great joy seems to be the only thing worth living for. So that the fruit of persecution is to be seen in a noble army of martyrs and confessors, qualified to the very highest extent, and eager in the very highest degree, to preach far and wide the unsearchable riches of Christ, and in extraordinary accessions to the numbers of the persecuted Church.

IV. OTHER FRUITS OF PERSECUTION, SUCH AS EXHIBITING TO THE EYES OF THE WORLD THE REALITY OF THAT RELIGION WHICH THEY DESPISE, HOLDING UP TO ITS ADMIRATION THE TRUE CHARACTERS OF THOSE WHOM IT PERSECUTES, AND SHOWING THE HOPELESSNESS OF STAMPING OUT THAT FIRE WHICH IS FED FROM THE LIVE COALS OF GOD‘S ALTAR IN HEAVEN, AND MANY MORE, IT WOULD RE EASY TO ENUMERATE.

But these must suffice to teach us that the malice of Satan is no match for the power of God; but that the Church will eventually shine forth in all the brighter beauty of holiness for the efforts that have been made for her disfigurement and utter overthrow.

Act 8:9-24

The first heretic.

The appearance of Simon Magus in the list of the first converts to the faith, and his enrolment among the baptized members of the Church, must not be overlooked or passed hastily by, if we would profit by the exhaustive teaching supplied by the Acts of the Apostles for the use of the Church in all ages. When the student of Church history begins his studies expecting to find a record of faith and holiness, and to trace the triumphant victories of truth over falsehood through a succession of ages, and to feast his mind with the wise words and the righteous works of a succession of saints, he is soon disappointed and pained to find that Church history brings him into contact with some of the worst phases of human nature. The human mind never shows to greater disadvantage than when its contact with Divine truth stirs up all the foul sediment at the bottom of it, and suggests forms of deceit and duplicity, and varieties of impurity and dishonesty, and specialties of baseness and selfishness, which could have had no existence but for such contact with what is spiritual and heavenly. We might have been prepared for the rejection of truth by the children of the wicked one, and even for those acts of hatred and violence by which unbelief seeks to put out the light of truth. Apostles in prison, and Stephen lying lifeless on the ground, and a Sanhedrim of priests and scribes and elders solemnly forbidding the preaching of the gospel, are events that we might have anticipated, and which, though they shock, do not so much surprise us. But a reception of the truth of the gospel going so far as to lead the receiver to holy baptism, and yet immediately allied with sordid motives, and coexisting with imposture and sorcery, and issuing in a life devoted to the depravation of the gospel and to the hindering of men’s salvation, is an unexpected and a perplexing phenomenon. And yet it is the history of most heresies. Even in those days when the profession of the faith of Christ subjected men to persecution, and when the Christian body was a comparatively small one with a strongly defined character of purity and holiness, we find men joining the Church’s ranks only to pollute them, and then to separate themselves and to found some accursed heresy. Either the motive was vile from the first, or the restraints imposed by Christianity were found too severe for the half-converted heart, and the heresy was framed to reconcile the claims of the reason which was convinced with those of the passions which refused to be subdued. Simon appears to have been chiefly attracted and overawed by the miracles which he saw wrought in the Name of Christ. It then occurred to him that he might pursue his old career of sorcery more successfully than ever if he could obtain some partnership in the thaumaturgy which had astonished him. He anticipated richer harvests of gain as a Christian conferring spiritual powers by the laying on of hands than as a magician amazing men by his sorceries. And so he offered Peter money. The frothy levity of his nature was shown as much by his terror at Peter’s rebuke as it had been by his offer of a bribe to the apostle. And this rapid succession of sorcery, belief, baptism, simony, confusion, was the sure index of a heart still held fast by the bonds of iniquity, and the natural prelude to a life of base cunning, using holy things for base purposes of unholy gain. The career of Simon, as of many of the early heretics whom the Fathers denounce with such terrible severity, seems to leave us this lessonthat contact with holy things, if it does not convert, hardens the heart; that the light of Christ, if it does not purify the soul, plunges it into deeper darkness; and that familiarity with spiritual powers, which does not subdue and sanctify, has a tendency to stimulate the intelligence only to give it access into lower depths of intellectual wickedness and more deadly sin.

Act 8:25-40

The Word written preparing the way for the Word preached.

The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch is a great text on missionary work. It illustrates with singular force and clearness the double need of the Bible and the preacher to bring men to the knowledge of Christ crucified. Without the evangelist to teach him, this seeker after truth might long have groped in vain after the meaning of the prophet; and if his mind had not been exercised by musings on the prophet, the evangelist would neither have had the opportunity to teach nor would his teaching have had such success. It was the concurrence of the two that brought this illustrious convert within the gates of the city of God. Hence the conclusion that the written Word and the preached Word are concurrent factors in the conversion of men to God; that both are necessary, and that neither of them can safely be dispensed with. The written Word, being “given by inspiration of God,” is, as far as it goes, perfect and infallible, and yet it is not of itself sufficient. The preached Word, albeit far inferior, as being liable to error, imperfect and fallible, is yet necessary as the complement of the testimony of Scripture. The written Word stands immovable, the touchstone of truth, the standard of doctrine, the referee in doubt, the pattern and model, the crucible of error, the court of final appeal in all controversies of faith. The preached Word varied, modified, by circumstances of time and place, drawing its coloring, its clothing, its fashion, from its immediate surroundings, presents the eternal truth in the garb most suited to the wants and capacities of those with whom it deals. But in doing this it is liable to err. Then the sole appeal is to the written Word of God. All teaching not in accordance with it, however venerable for age and for the authority by which it is supported, must be mercilessly cut off. Blessed is that Church whose doctors explain but never darken the revelations of Holy Scripture. Blessed are the people whose teachers guide them into the meaning of Holy Scripture, but never turn them from it. Happy is that disciple whose mind, being deeply imbued with the truths of the Word of God, is aided by a faithful evangelist to adjust those truths in their true proportion and relation to each other, and to fill up their interstices with harmonious and homogeneous materials. As regards missionary work, the lesson is, sow the Bible broadcast to prepare the way for the foot of the missionary. Let the version of the Holy Scriptures given to each nation in his own tongue be to the modern world what the version of the LXX. was to the old; so that the evangelist may find the ground already ploughed, and ready to receive the seed of eternal life, when he preaches the salvation which is by Jesus Christ.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Act 8:1-4

Perversion and restoration.

These verses suggest

I. HOW FAR FROM RIGHT FEELING WILL WRONG THOUGHTS LEAD MEN ASTRAY.

“Saul was consenting [rejoicing] unto his death” (Act 8:1). “Saul made havoc of [was ravaging] the Church,” etc. (Act 8:3). The death of the first martyr, which was so utterly shameful to those who compassed it, and so deeply regrettable from a human estimate, was, in the eyes of Saul, a thing in which to triumph with savage pleasure. And this dreadful satisfaction of his grew out of strong religious convictionshe hated Stephen so passionately because he clung to “the Law” so tenaciously. Nor was this his only manifestation of distorted feeling. He was not satisfied with the stoning of Stephen; he joined heartily in the persecution which broke up Christian families and caused their general dispersion (Act 8:2), himself being the most prominent agent of the council; neither ordinary humanity, nor the gentleness which should come with a liberal education, nor the tenderness which is due to womanly feeling, laying any restraint upon him. Every wiser, kinder, more generous sentiment was lost in a violent, relentless, unpitying fanaticism. So does error pervert the mind and distort the impulses and abuse the energies of the soul. Before we lend ourselves to any cause, before we plunge into any strife, let us very carefully and devoutly weigh the question whether we are really right, whether our traditions are not leading us astray as men’s inherited notions have led them astray from the truth, whether, before we act with a burning zeal, we must not alter our position or even change our side. Not till we have an intelligent assurance that we are in the right should we act with enthusiasm and severity; else we may be cherishing feelings and doing actions which are diabolical rather than Divine.

II. How MUCH HOLY EARNESTNESS MAY BE CALLED TO SUFFER, The Christians of those early times were called:

1. To sympathize, with painful intensity, with a suffering man. If Saul was consenting to his death, with what lacerated and bleeding hearts did his Christian friends see the first martyr die! They” made great lamentation over him” (Act 8:2).

2. To be distressed for a bereaved and weakened Church. The cause of Christ could ill spare (so they would naturally feel) such an eloquent and earnest advocate as he whose tongue had been so cruelly silenced; they must have lamented the loss which, as men bent on a high and noble mission, they had sustained.

3. To endure serious trouble in their own circumstances. There was “great persecution and they were all scattered abroad” (Act 8:1). This must have involved a painful severance of family ties and a serious disturbance in business life. Holy earnestness has similar sufferings to endure now.

(1) Its personal attachments are peculiarly deep and its sympathies peculiarly strong. When injury or death comes to the objects of them, there is corresponding pain and sorrow of soul.

(2) It is often deeply distressed for the cause of Christ in its times of loss, weakness, wrong.

(3) It suffers, in virtue of its fidelity, from the scorn, the opposition, the persecution, in some form or other, of those who are the enemies of God and truth. But, thus doing, it treads closely in the footsteps of the best of men, and in those of the Divine Master himself. And thus suffering with him, it will be crowned with his honor and joy (Rom 8:17; 2Ti 2:12; 1Pe 4:13).

III. HOW WONDROUSLY GOD OVERRULES EVERYTHING. (Act 8:4.) He:

(1) used the machinations of the enemy and

(2) recompensed the faithfulness of the suffering Church by causing the dispersion of the disciples to result in “the furtherance of the gospel.” What misguided men hoped would be a death-blow to the new “way” proved to be a valuable stroke on its behalf, increasing the number of its active witnesses, and multiplying its adherents largely. So shall it be with the evil designs of the wicked; they will be made to subserve the gracious purposes of God.

1. How vain and foolish, as well as guilty, is it to fight against God!

2. How confidently may we who are co-workers with him await the issue! The angry and threatening storm which is on the horizon will perhaps only speed the good vessel of the truth and bring her sooner to the haven.C.

Act 8:5-25

Success and disappointment in Christian work.

I. A LARGE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. We must consider:

1. The special obstacles in the way, viz.

(1)the people of Samaria were to some extent alien; they were likely to be less friendly than those who were wholly foreign, for their connection with the Jews as their near neighbors had led to the bitterest jealousies and animosities.

(2) They were under the spell of a skilful and powerful impostor (Act 8:9-11).

2. The means by which success was gained.

(1) Philip presented to the people the one great truth which they needed to know: he “preached Christ unto them” (Act 8:5). Obstacles must be mighty indeed if there are not found hearts to respond when a once crucified, now exalted Savior is preached, whose death is the sacrifice for sin, and who offers himself to our souls as our living Lord and unchanging Friend.

(2) The preached truth was confirmed by striking and gladdening proofs of Divine power: they gave heed,” seeing the miracles which he did” (Act 8:6); and great wonders were wrought in their midst, so numerous and beneficent that “there was great joy in that. city.”

3. The magnitude of the success.

(1) They gave unanimous attention: “with one accord they gave heed” (Act 8:6).

(2) They believed and avowed their faith: “they were baptized, both men and women” (Act 8:12).

(3) The impostor himself made profession of faith (Act 8:13).

4. Confirmation of it, both human and Divine.

(1) Human: the apostles sent down Peter and John, who witnessed and owned the work as genuine (verses 14, 15).

(2) Divine: the Holy Ghost descended upon them, in (doubtless) miraculous bestowments (verse 17).

II. A SERIOUS DISCOURAGEMENT. There is no more disheartening blow which can fall on the heart of an earnest Christian worker than to find that his converts have not really changed their mind, but only their creed. Very bitter must have been the cup to the Christian community in Samaria when Simon made the miserable exhibition of himself recorded in the text (verses 18, 19). Either he had been utterly insincere throughout, or, as is more likely, he was convinced that Philip and the apostles were masters of some great powers he had not been able to gain; but completely mistook the character of their mission, thinking they were out on an errand of self-aggrandizement. Whether Simon’s was a guilty simulation or a blasphemous error, it was rebuked with an almost terrible severity (verses 20-23), which evidently affected and even affrighted the sorcerer (verse 24). In tones of unwonted sternness, such as the occasion required, Peter rejected the infamous proposal to receive money for the impartation of Divine power, and assured Simon that he was still in the very depth of folly and of sin, from which nothing but repentance could deliver him.

1. We also may have a large measure of success in our work. We have all the materials of success, if we will use them: the needed saving truth; the beneficent agencies which spring from Christian sources, and which commend the Christian cause; the presence in the Church of the Holy Spirit of God.

2. We shall always be liable to disappointment. Some whom we believe to be possessed of the truth and to be brought beneath its vital power will prove to be only just touched by it, or to be mere pretenders and deceivers.

3. Spite of painful drawbacks, we may thank God for good work done. It was with joyous and grateful hearts, we may be sure, that the apostles “returned to Jerusalem” (verse 25). They had not forgotten Simon’s defection; they would never forget that disappointing moment when he made his humiliating offer. But, after all, he was in the dark and far background; in front of him and in full view of their gladdened souls was the testimony they had borne for their Master, the Church they had gathered, the good work they had wrought in Samaria.C.

Act 8:26-40

The Christian teacher and disciple.

We have an interesting and instructive instance of one man submitting himself to the teaching of another, and deriving from him a sudden transforming influence which most beneficially affected his whole after-life. Such teaching might well come ultimately from God, as in truth it did; for we learn

I. THAT THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER IS TO PLACE HIMSELF CONTINUALLY UNDER DIVINE DIRECTION. Philip had some advantages which we do not now enjoy. “The angel of the Lord spake unto him” audibly (Act 8:26), and gave him definite instructions whither he should go: “Arise, and go toward the south,” etc. “The Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself,” etc. (Act 8:29). When his work was finished here,” the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip”” (Act 8:39). But though we have, not now these outward, unmistakable manifestations, we have “the mind of Christ we may consult and know his will, if

(1) we intelligently and devoutly study his Word,

(2) unselfishly regard the leadings of his providence,

(3) earnestly ask for the promptings of his Divine Spirit. We are earnestly to desire to go only where we are sent of God, to address ourselves to these whom he would have us influence, and to stay no longer than he has work for us to do there.

II. THAT CHRIST HAS SUBJECTS TO SECURE FOR HIS KINGDOM OTHER THAN THOSE WE SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED. Which of the apostles would have imagined that the next convert to Christianity at this time would be “a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority,” etc. (Act 8:26)? Yet such was the mind of Christ. We are too apt to think we can tell whence the disciples will be drawn, by whom the table will be furnished with guests. But our Master has surprises for us here as elsewhere. We must not, in thought, limit the range of his redeeming love or converting power. It may not be the poor in need of some enrichment, but the rich in need of some higher wealth; not the lowly wanting some honor, but the honorable craving some truer dignity; it may not be the children of privilege familiar with the truth, but the sons of ignorance or superstition, or even the children of infidelity far from the wisdom of God;it may be these and not those whom the Lord of love and power means to call and win and bless.

III. THAT GOD HAS MUCH ENLIGHTENMENT TO IMPART THROUGH HUMAN AGENCY. Here is human ignorance and misapprehension (Act 8:30): a sense of utter helplessness without guidance from some friendly hand (Act 8:31); invitation to him that knows and will explain (Act 8:31). Without the enlightenment which some men have it in their power to impart, everything is dark, meaningless, obscure, perplexing,facts in nature laws of God, utterances of the Divine Word. Then comes the illuminating flash, and the mists roll away, the objects are clear in the sunlight, the path is plain. How wise to seek, how excellent to render, the light which, by God’s kind blessing, one human mind may shed on the highest of themes into the most troubled souls!

IV. THAT THE SACRIFICIAL SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST ARE THE GRAND THEME OF THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER. (Act 8:32-35.) What passage in all the Hebrew Scriptures could Philip have preferred to this as a text for his teaching? This supreme fact in the history of our race is the theme on which to dwell, in which to find a deepening interest, from which to draw motive and inspiration, with which to fascinate the people, to which to be continually returning.

V. THAT THE CONVINCED DISCIPLE SHOULD FORTHWITH AVOW HIS CONVICTION IN THE APPOINTED WAYS. (Act 8:36-38.)

VI. THAT THE FULL RECEPTION OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH WILL BE FOLLOWED BY DEEP AND ABIDING JOY. (Act 8:39.) “He went on his way rejoicing.”

VII. THAT THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER MAKES SUCCESS AN INSPIRATION TO FURTHER HOLY ACTIVITY. (Act 8:40.)C.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Act 8:1-13

Incidents of persecution and dispersion.

I. A GLIMPSE OF SAUL THE PERSECUTOR. Though brief and passing, it is very significant. He was a party to the execution of Stephen. Saul was full of ignorance and blind passion. What he afterwards felt about his conduct is expressed in 1Ti 1:3. This example should be a standing warning to us against trust in mere feeling and enthusiasm. The fumes of anger and violence are no signs of pure glowing zeal for the truth, but rather of the spirit that is set on fire of hell. It is when we are most passionately excited in the cause of party conflict that we have most need to be on our guard. Bitter was the remorse of Saul of Tarsus for his complicity in the murder of Stephen. Hard was it for him to forgive himself. It was the triumph of Divine love in his heart when he could trust that through it he had been forgiven.

II. THE EFFECTS OF PERSECUTION. It leads to dispersion, and dispersion to the dissemination of the truth. Through the country of Judaea and Samaria the scattered ones went, leaving in every village, in every house and heart, stirring memories, new thoughts. And Saul, like a ravaging wolf, went on his blind course. There is a general historical lesson here. Persecution is ever the symptom of intellectual change. The old dragon is ever ready to devour the child of the woman. The hellish Python would wrestle with the glorious Apollo. Herod would put to death the child Jesus. Saul would slay the infant Church. But the victory of eternal light and love is not doubtful. “They that were scattered in different directions went in different directions evangelizing the world.” How beautiful is this! The true weapon with which to meet the sword is the Word. The policy of the persecutor is of all the blindest. He stimulates the movement he aims to crush. In every manly spirit opposition rouses new energy. We love more dearly the truth for which we have to fight and suffer. It is in the laws of the spiritual world that persecutions should ever bring a violent reaction in favor of the principles of the persecuted. When Christianity is patronized it becomes corrupt. When through persecution it is thrown back upon the ground of its first principles, it springs up with new life and vigor.

III. THE WORK OF PHILIP. Well does it stand in contrast with that of Saul in this glimpse of early Christianity. Saul, the wolf amidst the fold, breathing out threats and slaughter; Philip, as the shepherd, feeding and healing and comforting. Again and again we have the repetition of the true effects of Christianity. Good words are spoken, which command attention and do good to the soul; good deeds are done to the suffering body, which are evident “signs” of a Divine presence and power to heal, and therefore of a Divine and loving will. And joy ever breaks outthe reflection of recovered freedom in the body and the soulin every city. These, then, are the constant evidences of Christianity. No other “apologetic” can be needed, for this is invincible. Without it the subtlest arguments are unavailing.

IV. THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIAINITY OVER SUPERSTITION. Simon the Magus is the type of those who work upon the imagination of the people, as contrasted with the true Christian teacher who appeals to the conscience. What was to decide between the genuine teacher and healer and the eloquent and skilful quack? Close is the shadow to the light in all the course of the gospel. In the individual conscience lies the test. To that God speaks; that in every age is the mirror of the truth. And to the truth and to God the conscience of the impostor bears witness. Simon believed in the word of Philip, and became by baptism a professor of the new creed. It is said that he was astonished at the signs and peat wonders which occurred. What we call” sensationalism” in the mind, the craving for the wonder, is the spurious form of a true instinct. Men must see in order to be convinced; when conviction is attained, they can afterwards walk by faith in regions where sight is not possible. We never change the habit of our thought until we find something inexplicable where before all was plain and simplesomething wondrous where we only recognized the commonplace. To ask for belief without giving evidence is to insult the conscience, to refuse belief when the evidence is clear is to deny to one’s self the possibility of guidance when the evidence is not altogether clear. Let men take the evidence which is clear to them, and act upon it; that is safe for the time, and the rest will become clearer by-and-by. But the case of Simon shows how void is any kind of mere conviction unless it be followed by the corresponding act of will. Simon was convinced, but not converted. The light penetrated his intelligence, but failed to move his heart.J.

Act 8:24, Act 8:25

The impostor unmasked.

I. THE MISSION OF PETER AND JOHN. Samariathere is an emphasis on this wordhad received the Word of God. There was something significant in this conversion. The gospel was already proving itself a power to reconcile and break down distinctions long rooted and deeply felt. So important an occasion called for the services of the two leading apostles, Peter and John. These go down and pray for the new converts, that they may receive the Holy Ghost. Power and purity, the joy and freedom of the Christian life, are associated with this baptism; as repentance or a preparatory change of life was associated with that of John the Baptist. It is difficult to understand how such gifts as those we associate with spiritual religion could be conveyed by the physical act of imposition of hands. Nor are we required to believe that the imposition of hands was in any way causally related to the spiritual result, or even instrumentally. It was an external association, an apparent not a real connection, such as might well deceive the unspiritual observer.

II. THE SELF–DECEPTION OF THE UNSPIRITUAL MAN. Simon perceives the solemn act of laying on of hands; he perceives that something followsa spiritual power in the converts, and he mistakenly infers that the apostles are magicians, who can bestow at their pleasure supernatural gifts. What man can bestow may be bought from man Had the apostles been like Tetzel, the friar who went about in Luther’s time selling indulgences, it would have been natural to offer them, and for them to receive payment for the communication of the power. But spiritual things are spiritually discerned; and “the carnal mind understands not the things of the Spirit of Gee” When the heart has not been awakened, when the man has not been born into the kingdom of God, there is constantly the danger of confounding things that differ. Money cannot buy thought, nor feeling, nor inward power; though it can buy action and the imitation of reality, but not reality itself. Simon confounds the outward phenomena of the Spirit with the essence and meaning.

III. THE UNSPIRITUAL MAN‘S ERROR EXPOSED.

1. The sin of Simon is that of the money-loving man. His faith is in it; he believes that it “answers all things,” not only in reference to this world, but in reference to the kingdom of God. He is the type of a class. There are those who secretly believe they can patronize the ministers of Christ, and purchase for themselves an interest in the kingdom of God. The power of wealth so subtly mingles with all Christian work, and profusely used may so readily acquire for its possessor the reputation of sanctity. But the immortal antipathy of the spirit of the gospel, as the free energy of the holy God in men’s souls, casts off in one word of the apostle these vile counterfeits, which ever obtain currency side by side with it in the world. The apostle whose word has been in the very act of healing, “Silver and gold have I none,” exclaims, “Thy money perish with thee!”

2. A bosom sin will separate a man from the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is within. It is a spiritual state and a spiritual system of motives. He has no part or lot in it who does not see that it aims at the fulfillment of our life by the subjugation of the lower motives and the instatement of the higher in the rightful empire of the soul. Simon’s heart was not “straight” before God. He was trying to juggle with him who searches the heart; to keep the lower passions in full action, if possible, under the mask of piety. His is the type of perhaps the deadliest sin that Christianity has occasioned in the world. As the shadow follows the sun, so does hypocrisy follow close on the heels of genuine piety. Insincerity is the sin of sins. What filth is in the bodily habit, that untruth is in the soul. The man is aware of his sin. It is no blindness of passion, but the deliberate admission of an habitual lie to the feelings and the thoughts. It is a poison or gall infusing its influence into the whole life of the mind. It is a bondage, and no liberty is possible under the tyranny of inward falsehood. Thus is the character of the impostor exposed by the pure light of the truth. He is seen to pretend a faith of which his heart knows nothing; he regards the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the means of base gain; and he knows no higher motive to repentance than slavish fear of punishment. The spirit of the gospel is illustrated in St. Peter by the strong contrast. It sternly points out man’s sins and tracks them to their source in the heart; chastises the sinner, but at the same time holds out the duty of repentance and the hope of forgiveness to the worst.J.

Act 8:26-40

Philip and the Ethiopian.

This incident teaches us

I. THAT MEN IN THE WAY OF DUTY MAY RECEIVE UNUSUAL GUIDANCE. The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, and gave him directions as to the course he should take in his missionary journey. How are we to understand the mode of this interference? We are told that rationalist expositors assume that the angel appeared to Philip in a dream; for the word “Rise!” is spoken. But then it is replied that there is no mention of the night-time nor of a couch. And in Act 8:26 there is no mention of a vision. Avoid rationalism, which is the attempt to exercise clear intelligence upon things best left in a sacred obscurity, or chiaro-oscuro. The point is not so much to understand how the Divine intimation came, as to recognize the fact that it did come. Cases of sudden and irresistible impressions of the kind are not uncommon and are well attested. But there are a thousand coincidences in life which we do not notice, and which may nevertheless be equally real evidences of a higher intelligence directing the human will, and “a good man’s steps are ordered of the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.”

II. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHANCE IN LIFE. Two men meet on the road, the railway, in a foreign city, “casually,” as they say; and something flows from the meeting which influences the after-life of one or both. In the present meeting, notice:

1. The stranger’s nationality. He is from Ethiopia, from the south of Egypt. Some say of Jewish extraction; for he was reading the great Jewish prophet; but perhaps it was not so.

2. His rank. He was a “potentate” in his land, the grand treasurer of the queen, Candace being the official title of the queens of Ethiopia, as Pharaoh was that of the kings of Egypt.

3. His religious belief. Whether he was a “proselyte of the gate” or no cannot be decided. But his errand was to Jerusalem, to pray. Therefore in his African home he had learned to know and to worship the God of Israel. It looks like a case of independent conviction, and therefore the more interesting; somewhat like that of the Roman centurion in the Gospel. He was reading in all probability in a copy of the Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Scriptures. This version had been diffused from Alexandria through Egypt, and was doubtless well known to all the educated class. Philip receives an intimation, not this time from “an angel,” but from “the Spirit,” to go and join himself to the chariot of the Ethiopian.

III. THE WORD OF GOD A COMMON BOND OF INTEREST AND SYMPATHY. The teacher is led by Providence to the disciple, who is found beforehand prepared to receive the teacher’s instruction, and craving it. The teacher and the disciple have need of one another. The teacher has much to impart, the disciple much to receive; and each in a way changes his part with the other, for we learn as we teach and teach in learning. The passage the Ethiopian was reading is one of the most significant of the Old Testament. It contains the picture of the Servant of Jehovah, the Representative of Israel. It is the embodiment of Israel’s spiritual ideal. Meekness under injuries; lowly estate in the world and exposure to persecution; obscurity in the eyes of men; such are the traits of Israel’s Hero, in the passage the Ethiopian is reading. Well may he ask, “Who is this unique figure portrayed by the prophet’s pen?the prophet himself or another?” Then Philip proceeds to unfold from this text the whole evangel, which centers in the person of Jesus. He is the Divine Figure, the living Embodiment of the prophet’s meaning, the Fulfiller of Israel’s long history.

IV. CONVERSION PRODUCED BY CONVICTION. We may notice:

1. The preparation for change in personal reflection. The serious mind, the attentive gaze fixed on the records of religion, the desire to learn, the willingness to be taught, precede conversion in this case, and are the more attractive traits in one of high rank like the Ethiopian. We can only profit by the teacher when we have first used our own spiritual energy to the utmost. “To him that hath shall be given.”

2. The prompt decision. New thought ever impels to new action. The light comes that we may use it. “What shall I do?” is the question of the conscience so soon as it is aroused and quickened by the light. The Ethiopian at once “decides for Christ”the Christ he has learned to know through the study of the prophet and the preaching of the evangelist. And as Philip vanishes, a blessing is left on the heart of his disciple never to be effaced. The whole yields an important lesson on the value of opportunity, and how it should be seized both by teacher and by disciple. In interviews like these, like angels’ visits, God is revealed, truth is sown in the heart, and influences are set at work which never cease.J.

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD

Act 8:1-3

The enemy coming in like a flood.

I. THE FLOOD OF INIQUITY CALLED FORTH BY THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY GHOST.

1. The corruption of the Jewish state. Instances in the case of Saul of Tarsus, assenting to the death of Stephen. The organized persecution as an answer to the gospel. The insincerity of those who pretended to accept Gamaliel’s wise counsel. Their real cowardice in not venturing to lay hold of the apostles.

2. The persecution had now a leader in Saul. It was a more decided arraying of the priestly power against the new sect; a house-to-house visitation with assumed legal authority. This was to push forward the conflict between the two kingdoms as nothing else could. It was to give definite aim to the persecution, and so to prepare the way for the more decided lifting up of the standard against it by the Spirit of God in the conversion of Saul.

II. THE BREAKING UP OF THE FIRST FORM OF CHURCH LIFE, PREPARATORY TO A HIGHER, WIDER, AND MORE ACTIVE.

1. Fellowship is very precious, but activity still more so. Loving one another should prepare us to love the world. The temporary expedient of Christian communism gave way before the world’s violence; it was a help to the realization of Church life, but not an abiding rule of action.

2. Stephen’s funeral and the Church’s lamentation would deeply impress upon all dependence, not on individual instruments, but on the Spirit of God. How little it was thought that the chief persecutor would soon himself be the chief preacher!

3. Those scattered abroad carried with them a body of facts, both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles so far, which helped them to dispense with the immediate superintendence of the apostles. So the [New Testament would begin to be formed in that first persecution. The believers all over Judaea and Samaria, speaking to one another and to their neighbors of the things that they themselves most surely believed. How little Saul’s “laying waste” the Church harmed it! Learn the lesson of confidence in the overruling Savior. “He maketh the wrath of man to praise him.”R.

Act 8:2

The grave beside the Church.

“And devout men carded Stephen,” etc.

I. Death the EXALTATION of Christian character. Devout men carried him. Their hope was the rainbow on the cloud of lamentation. The fellowship of Church life helps us to appreciate excellence. The greatest and best testimony when devout men feel the loss.

II. THE CONTRAST between the grave of the good man fallen asleep in Jesus and laid to rest by the hands of lamenting brethren, and the grave of:

1. The worldling.

2. The infidel.

3. The doubter.

4. The backslider.

5. The isolated and unbrotherly Christian, who has not lived in the hearts of devout men. Try to live so that you will be lamented when you die.

III. THE EFFECT on the world of a great Christian life. “He being dead yet speaketh.” President Garfield. Great lamentation is often great proclamation of truth. The cross. The Book of Martyrs.R.

Act 8:4

The first flight of the Word.

“Therefore they that were scattered abroad,” etc. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save the world. Providence and grace work hand-in-hand. The Church needed to be taught by discipline. Jerusalem a natural center of religious life. But a center of radiation, not concentration.

I. PREACHING THE WORD the greatest function of the Christian Church.

1. The Word preached was the Word given. Apostles gave it. It was pre-eminently Christ’s Word. It was given by the Holy Ghost with special gifts and wisdom”confirmed” unto us.

2. The Word preached was the Word tried. Conversion proved it. Church life illustrated it. The attitude of the corrupt Jewish Church showed that it was a new Word that was required for the world. 3. Preaching preceded writing. Individual testimony. The baptism of persecution followed the baptism of inspiration. The world wants not speculative truth, but practicalthe Word of life. “Taste and see,” etc.

II. UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY for the spread of truth.

1. The true conception of the Churcha body of believers. They believe and therefore speak. Possession of the Word is responsibility.

2. The state of the world demands activity in every believer.

3. The pastoral office quite consistent with the fulfillment of this universal duty. The primi inter pares should stimulate all to work.

III. THE LEADINGS OF PROVIDENCE are the true guidance of spiritual activity. “Scattered abroad” against their will. Doors opened. Opportunity enlarged. Trouble sanctified.

1. It is dangerous to anticipate Divine preparation.

2. Watch in the night, for the darkest hour precedes the dawn.

3. Keep a true and firm center from which to go and to which to return. Jerusalem still remains the seat of apostolic wisdom and authority. God is not the author of confusion. The greatest activity need not break up orderly religious life. Revivals and evangelistic aggression should always maintain a rallying-point. Seek out not “quiet resting-places,” but spheres of labor. Let God appoint the peace.R.

Act 8:5-8

Samaria evangelized.

I. The STEPPING–STONE to work among the Gentiles. Half heathen.

II. THE PREPARATION FOR CHRIST. The Pentateuch. The false teaching of Simon and others. Mental and moral degradation.

III. A specimen of SPIRITUAL WANT AND PRIVATION. Unclean spirits. Palsied. Lame. The multitudes under the dominion of physical and spiritual disease. Adaptation of the new message to universal humanity.

IV. THE MEANS EMPLOYED. Preaching the Christ. Signs and wonders. The two great factsa personal Redeemer the object of faith; a Divine power at hand able to lift up the fallen, to subdue the evil, to heal the sick, to change the world.R.

Act 8:8

Missions to the masses.

“And there was great joy in that city.” City life, its two sides of good and evil the victims of ignorance. Vice. False teaching. Old enmities. Sorcery. Bodily disease. “The multitudes” pressing on one another. The world’s joys ruinous, deceptive, consuming, filthy, degrading, hiding the light of truth. No remedy in civilization, science, social schemes, mere intellectual growth.

I. The gospel a proclamation of GREAT JOY to our cities.

1. To the individual heart.

2. To houses and families.

3. To communities.

Religion the only safe basis of social progress. The Christ preached as Redeemer of humanity. Illustrate from the actual results, both in our own cities and in heathendom. Indirect influence of Christianity on the physical condition. Healing ministry of Christ still continued. The life of man lengthened during the last three centuries, since the truth had fuller sway over the thoughts of men and their universal activity. Science the outgrowth of the civil and religious liberty obtained by the victories of spiritual heroes.

II. God works great results with SMALL INSTRUMENTALIES. Philip was one man among multitudes.

1. An encouragement to all mission work both at home and abroad.

2. A lesson as to method. “He proclaimed the Christ unto them.” The people will “give head” when the message is adapted to their wants.

3. A manifestation of Divine energy. Philip alone was powerless. The Spirit wrought with him. Moral miracles still accompany faithful preaching. The signs may differ, but still be equally striking and convincing. Witness the work done by Wesley and Whitefield.

4. A prophecy of the future. Great joy in all cities. Samaria might recall the visit of Jesus to Sychar. Some work already done there. So in the world generally, a foundation on which Christian messengers can labor. The heathen world has its measure of light, though mingled with joyless gloom of superstition and falsehood. When the multitudes give heed to the preaching of the Christ, what may not be anticipated? “Great joy” instead of great wars and great famines and great desolation: the great joy of universal progress and a redeemed humanity acknowledging and glorifying Christ. What is our joy? What is the joy of our neighbors? Cast out the lies and let the Spirit of life come in.R.

Act 8:9-13

The spirit of lies cast out.

Simon an example of the kind of deceivers under whose spell the ancient world was taken captive. Samaria half heathen. “Salvation is of the Jews” (cf. Joh 4:1-54.). A striking instance showing that a dim twilight of knowledge is the condition favorable to the growth of falsehood and superstition. They would not have given heed to Simon had they studied the whole Scripture. Yet the gospel found a ready soil because the true wonders could be opposed to the false.

I. THE STATE OF THE WORLD APART FROM CHRIST. Given up to “strong delusion to believe lies.”

1. Abuse of human learning and philosophy. Simon probably versed in ancient lore.

2. The distinction between sorcery and marc and true science, and the wonders of human progress, has been the fruit of Christian teaching and the development of the kingdom of God. 3. The signs of man’s birthright still traceable in his degrading bondage. Subjection to the power of God. Readiness to worship. Idea of a Divine kingdom.

II. THE VICTORY OF THE TRUTH OVER THE FALSEHOOD,

1. Good tidingsliberty, peace, joy” without money and without price.”

2. Power manifested. This is the true kingdom, not such as Simon pretended to show.

3. Subjugation of alleven Simon himself. As in Egypt, the miracles of God are infinitely more wonderful than the deceits of the false teachers. So let us learn confidence in the gospel message. We may yet bring the very deceivers themselves to the feet of Christ. The world will be amazed as the gospel reveals its power. “Have faith in God.”R.

Act 8:14-24

The spirit of mammon in the Christian Church.

Peter and John represented the apostolic authority, but not as something to be imposed on believers, but as linking them with the source of spiritual gifts. Simon represented the spirit of this world in the Churchthe sins of ambition, covetousness, hypocrisy, priestcraft, intimately connected with the one fatal error of admitting the world’s calculations into the Church. “He offered them money.” The Church has listened to such offers far too much. The Simon-spirit, the mixture of sorcery and faith, has filled some portions of the professed Church with lies and mammon-worship. Notice

I. THE TRUE APOSTOLIC SPIRIT manifested.

1. Dependence on prayer.

2. Separation of spiritual gifts from oil money considerations.

3. Detection and denunciation of the false and sordid.

II. The CHURCH‘S DANGER from the laxness of discipline.

1. Those that have “neither part nor lot in this matter” must be kept out of the number of God’s people.

2. Especially must the ministry be preserved from every form of simony.

3. The bold and fearless course on the part of those in office is much the safest. Hypocrisy is weakness. Simon will succumb to Peter, if Peter only speaks out the Word of God, and stands up for purity of faith and conscientiousness. Better a poor Church with spiritual gifts, than a treasury full of hypocrites’ offerings and no Holy Ghost descending on the world.R.

Act 8:25-40

The second flight of the gospel.

Samaria evangelized both by Philip and the apostles, and both in the city and country districtsa preparation of the Church for yet greater expansion. Necessity that such a flight as from Samaria to the desert on the way to Ethiopia should be supernaturally commanded. The step-by-step process of opening the Jewish mind to the idea of a world-message. The eunuch was a proselyte of the gate, so would be regarded as holding an intermediate position. Contrast this childhood of the Church with our advanced knowledge of the Divine purposes. Moreover, at that time no New Testament. The work to be done must await the instruments. The gospel cannot be preached fully till the apostles have fulfilled their testimony.R.

Act 8:35

Jesus the Hope of the world.

“Then Philip opened his mouth,” etc. The two lines meeting in the desert. The Ethiopian traveler led on by Providence; the evangelist led by the angelic message; ignorant of one another, yet both in their way following Divine guidance. The importance of that meeting-place to the world’s future, both as opening the South and East to the gospel, and as helping the Church to look away to the ends of the earth. The underlying facts, the Old Testament and its work. Proselytes. Devout men. Isaiah preparing for Christ. “Of whom speaketh the prophet?” The world was ready and asking questions, and the Church was prepared to answer them. The Spirit presiding over all.

I. JESUS THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF ALL GOD‘S REVELATIONS.

1. Atonement the great want of the world.

2. The gospel facts fulfillments of the Old Testament prophecies.

3. A personal Redeemer preached as an object of faith, the satisfaction of the heart.

II. THE PREACHING OF JESUS THE TRUE OPENING OF THE CHURCH‘S LIPS TO THE WORLD.

1. In distinction from mere dry theology, vague sentiment, or barren speculation.

2. With no feeble or uncertain sound he opened his mouth. Boldness, directness, persuasiveness, faithfulness, he preached to him.

3. Scriptural preaching the great demand of the age. Beginning on a firm foundation of the written Word and the convictions of hearers.

III. DIVINELY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY NUMBLY USED PRODUCTIVE OF GREAT RESULTS.

1. Missionary work should recognize the preparation God makes in men’s minds for his truth.

2. Individuals the objects of gracious communications, that messengers may be raised up who shall carry the Word into the strongholds of heathenism. We should always follow the Spirit.

3. Deserts rejoicing, prophecy of a recovered world. The nations shall be baptized. But we must see to it that we preach unto them Jesus.R.

Act 8:39

The way of pleasantness.

“He went on his way rejoicing.”

I. A RETROSPECT.

1. Heathenism compared with Christianity.

2. A state of doubt and inquiry compared with knowledge, faith, decision, open dedication.

3. Loneliness changed into fellowship; some one helping and guiding; remembered instructions, and opened Scripture.

II. A PROSPECT. The way of rejoicing opened.

1. Sense of reconciliation. Inward peace. Joy “springing up as a well of water into everlasting, life.”

2. Hopes for himself and for others. He was carrying the gospel to his home, to his duties, his anxieties, his sovereign, his fellow-countrymen.

3. A baptized man rejoicing in the sense of Divine approval of his conscience and a new position in life. We get rid of much difficulty both within and without by public confession of Christ. We draw round our souls the visible tokens of Divine presence and favor. We associate ourselves with God’s people in every age, and feel that our way is

“The way the holy prophets went
God’s highway from banishment.”

Recognize the turning-point. Take the straight road that leads through a joyful obedience to glory.R.

HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER

Act 8:1-4

Discordant elements obedient to the accomplishing of one purpose.

This short paragraph is not only full of incident, but of strangely contrary kind of incident. It seems at first a mere medley of facts, history’s patchwork, or like some mosaic pretending to no harmony at all. This first impression, however, soon passes off, and each incident of the group assumes yet clearer outline and is seen to fit into its place. The fact still remains, however, that the materials are of very antagonistic kind, and the wonder still remains, broadening more and more clearly to view, that out of all the variety a sovereign power is working a certain unity of result. The martyrdom is at the center of the subject yet. It is the key of the position. It makes a landmark conspicuous far and wide, and a date forever memorable. And this paragraph develops to view a fivefold energy resulting from the martyrdom.

I. IT BRINGS OUT IN BROAD RELIEF OTHER THAN THE LATE HUMBLING ASPECTS OF HUMAN NATURE. (Act 8:2.) Other hearts than those that beat in the breasts of the Sanhedrim are in Jerusalem, other hands than those that stone are at this very moment outside its walls. The triumph has not been an unqualified one. The contrast is a wonderful relief to the strain put on faith, a welcome restorer of hope for human outlook. And one and the same hour shows no doubtful sign of those sternest Works, those tenderest offices of which the angel of Christianity would through all the ages be witness. The storm is spent, and men seek in the morning to bury themthe dead washed ashore. The battle is over, and in the evening men gather their slaughtered to bury them. The cross has done its work, and the sacred body is “begged” and with tenderest care and service is buried. The stoning has finished, and devout men carry mangled limbs to honored burial. Christianity has her chivalry, and the chivalry of Christianity is that purest affection which, mingled with purest faith, before all reverences and mourns her fallen heroes and warriors, though she never excused them while they lived a duty, nor exempted them a pang while they struggled and fought. Most impressive is that which is left to our imagination to fill up. When the last stone had been thrown, and the echoes of howling murderers bad died away, and the mob had swept by,then “devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.”

II. IT FINDS OUT THE TRUE DISCIPLES, AND SCATTERS THEM EACH WITH HIS FRUITFUL INFLUENCE FAR AND WIDE. (Act 8:1.) Persecutiona thing of darkest deeds, a very word of dreadhas ever had some crop of most beneficent results. Of it, it may emphatically be said, “Bow no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are-exercised thereby.” Persecution:

1. Tries the sincerity of character.

2. It ascertains the dominance of faith or its comparative weakness.

3. It gives faith much stronger hold on its proper object or objects.

4. It chases away vast quantities of vague thought, vaguer feeling, mists that have long misled, and a habit of doubt that has gone far to undermine the nobility of Christian life.

5. It exerts a vast benefit on others. If this be not part of its intention, it is a grand overruled use of it. The happy hour often is touched with the taint of selfishness. The members of happiest family are so united to one another that they render an unfairly small contribution to the happiness that should touch their borders too on all sides. And it has in point of fact often been so with the Church, till,” when persecution arises”, it is broken in upon, and those who composed it are separated and spread and many a missionary is made (Act 8:1).

III. IT FINDS OUT THE “CALLED APOSTLES“TRUE TO THEIR CALL. (Act 8:1.) The believers were scattered. Some voice, some power, or some pure impulse tied the apostles. The post of duty remains so for them, though it become the post of danger. They are to remain yet in Jerusalem, to guide, to comfort, to keep together the lessened flock, and to face fearlessly the enemy. This word, “except the apostles,“ should be heard like a trumpet-call by the leaders of Christ’s flock, at all times, in all places. And does it not indicate that leaders there ought to be, and in this sense, ranks of servicebetter so called than ranks of office and dignitiesin the Church of Christ? The analogy of all nature says, “Yes,” supported not only by the “call” and the special “inspiring” of apostles, but by such a fact as that which underlies this exception, “except the apostles.” It is left meantime open to us to imagine only why this crisis was not used by those who persecuted to turn a fierce tide of opposition upon the apostles themselves. They must have been easy to find, and they must have been known to be at the root of the whole matter. The most probable account of the matter seems to us to be that the Sanhedrim had already had enough of them, and in interfering with them had been so humblingly worsted (see homilies on Act 4:1-37., 5.).

IV. IT FINDS OUT SAUL, TO SET AN INDELIBLE MARK, NOT ON HIM, BUT RATHER IN HIM. It will seem to the reader at first, perhaps, that it is none but the historian who sets a mark on Saul, and that the mark which he sets is none but an outward mark, though he repeats it three times (Act 7:58, Act 7:60; Act 8:3). Second thoughts will persuade him of something very different. As sure as ever sureness was, mark surer far than even Cain’s mark is being set upon Saul, get where nothing can endanger its lasting depth. Ineffaceable memories are furnishing the secret cabinet of his mind; thoughts and resolutions and strong forces of conviction are being stored there, that no future crowd of cares, or throng of occupations, or tumults of mirth should avail to drive out. In the whole scene Saul takes three parts.

1. He takes a passive part, or what may seem mostly so (Act 7:58), and then a picture was being photographed on an inner tablet in its stillness, accurate, full, safe, to be permanent also. It was destined for a while, indeed, to be overlaid by other images, fleeting and vain, but after a while to brighten out and become, perhaps, brightest of all except one.

2. Saul takes a consenting part (Act 7:60). He says nothing against the martyrdom; he looks approval of it. Do they ask whether it is all right and to his mind?his answer is in the affirmative.

3. Saul takes an active part. Full of zeal, full of fury, full of impetuous, imperious, intolerant determination, he “makes havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, commits them to prison” (Act 8:3). He is mercilessly marking himself, unless you say that, with triple mark, another hand, a gracious one, is marking him for mercyJesus Christ’s own “pattern of all long-suffering” (1Ti 1:15). Yes; the Saul of Stephen’s martyrdom; the Saul who permitted the polluted garments of those that stoned that saintliest Stephen to lie at his feet for safety’s sake; who made himself a consenting accomplice of the causeless murder, and who then girded himself up to the full stretch of his mighty energy to presume to “make havoc” of the flock of Jesus, will make a good pattern indeed, a pattern hard to improve upon”pattern of the all long-suffering” of that same “Jesus.”

V. IT FINDS UTTERANCES ABUNDANT, RINGING, FAR AND WIDE, FOR “PREACHING CHRIST,” A THOUSAND–FOLD FOR THE ONE LOVING VOICE THAT HAD BEEN HUSHED. (Act 8:4.) And no thought outside of the rapture of his own soul, delivered unto the glory of God, of Christ, of heaven, could have been more welcome than this to Stephen. His murderous, stoned death, he would have said, was already amply and blessedly revenged. The one thing, “preaching Christ” that caused his death, was multiplied immediately a thousand-fold by that very thinghis death. In his death Samson slew more than all he had slain while he lived in his mighty manhood. Unenviable achievement! Fame unblessed! His seed perish from the earth! But Stephen in his death becomes the means of the offer of life, and doubtless of life too to more, innumerably more than all whom he could reach with all his saintly force while he lived. Honored servant! Deathless renown! His seed” the noble army of martyrs,” and converts exceeding the drops of morning dew! No unworthy pendant to the thrilling sacred tale of Scripture itself is the proverb that takes date from this one: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”B.

Act 8:8

New-found joy.

“And there was great joy in that city.” The gospel of Jesus begins now its own aggressive but beneficent march. Twice already has it passed through the most solemn baptism of blood. Its birth, its infancy, its home, its early struggles outside its own sacred home, and its baptisms can never be forgotten. Yet it is time for the young giant to essay his powers, and, without a weapon, to try what intrinsic force may count for. Apostolic preaching and achievement are still for a short time held in abeyance by the history. It is almost as though open ground were being prepared for the entrance of Saul into the great champion’s place. Stephen, stricken down, is immediately replaced, not by an apostle, but by the second of those who had been specially set apart for the care of tables. Philip, who comes to be named Philip the Evangelist, is to the front. At the message of persecution, when many, apparently with no little concert and in no little order of movement, travel elsewhere, he goes “down to the city of Samaria.” Whether it were he or they, it cannot be supposed that they imagined that they and their gospel were sure, by mere change of place, of escaping persecution. They probably saw very clearly and were very sure of the reverse of thisnor less sure that they carried with them what would again and again win for itself and for them the heartiest welcome, waken the truest joy, reap a harvest of unending gratitude. And such was now the earliest experience of Philip. How kindly came the brief sunshine in place of persecution’s biting blast! So God often helps his faithful ones on another stage, and ordains that his own cause shall triumph through alternate storm and sunshine. The city of Samaria found great joy, after a short period of Philip’s visit. Let us consider this joy, what account it can give of itself.

I. IT WAS A JOY THAT HAD FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO REST. It came of “Christ preached” and Christ proved among the people. Philip preached Christ, and this is clearly stated first. His preaching was attended with signs and wonders following. Notice:

1. That the exact nature of those signs and wondersmiracles of healing to the bodydoes not derogate from the great principle here forcibly illustrated. Some may think that because present ages are not ages of bodily miracles, neither the preaching nor the preacher of the gospel has a chance to compare with that of Philip’s time. But the mistake is patent. The criterion is not that one bodily kind of miracle should be forthcoming, but that some practical fruit should certainly be found. Christ preached must have some result of a practical kind. Christ is not among men to be nothing among them, to be no force among them, to be an indifferent possession, or to be mere passing excitement. No time is to be wasted, with Christ as the pretence of it, as he never wasted any.

2. The practical effect of Christ preached must be, really and everything taken into account, good in itself and in its bearing. It is true that awhile much of what shall seem of an opposite character may be stirred up. It is true also that Christ preached and refused must be condemnation to those who refuse. And it is true that much of Christ’s practical work, while it is in progress, lies in discriminating, in moral judgment of men, in separating and showing the infinite disparity there is between certain kinds “of ground” on which the seed of his Word falls. These things nothing hinder the fact that, if Christ has been at work, it may be shown and must be shown that good has been at work, and goodness come thereof.

3. The practical good effect of Christ preached is not disadvantaged in the present day by the absence of physical signs and wonders. These were the shadows, not the things that now purport to have succeeded them. They were but simple, elementary types compared with the substance of which they forewarned. It might with much more verisimilitude he said that the physical miracles of Jesus Christ and his apostles shared the class of disadvantages attendant upon his own personal presence in the fleshwhen men might love the person rather than the character, the body rather than the soul, the limb restored rather than the soul saved. Where to-day, Christ being preached, sins are forsaken, hearts are changed, lives do different works and those the works of godliness, the miracle is not what makes men alone wonder and throng and be glad exceedingly, but it makes them and hosts of angels also wonder, throng, and be glad to Heaven’s joyfullest music.

4. The practical good effect of Christ preached is bound to be efficacious in attracting “the people.” We here read that they “with one accord gave heed” to the things that were spoken, because of the things that were done. Though many an individual has by one method or another shut himself, alas! too surely, too successfully, out of grace, this has never yet been found true of the mass of people (unless it be judicially the case for a while with the Jew) when the gospel has been preached amongst them. So soon as some real fruits have become apparent, standers-by, ay, and passers-by, not a few, look, and gaze, and ask, and move toward that truth that can act, and then they yield ere long in tumult of devotion and unbounded subjection to it. No work, no public movement, no sample of revolution even, ever showed more genuinely the signs of adaptation for spreading (ay, to the idea of “covering the earth, as the waters cover the seas”) than” Christ preached” has shown. It offers us a grand idea of what the scene will be, what the rate of growth, what the grand transformation of scene, when the set conditions, the “set time” shall have come.

5. Christ’s gospel does not only not disdain these conditions of its acceptance, but proposes them and gives prominence to them and desires to be itself tested by them.

(1) Jesus Christ has been a wonderful Teacher in this world. The civilized world now gives him the teacher’s chair. All other teachers pale their ineffectual light in his presence. And when they shine, shine only in proportion to the light they borrow from him.

(2) Jesus Christ has been also a wonderful Example of characterPattern of patterns, Model of models; how perfectly sculptured! how adorably complete!

(3) But the one leading wonderful characteristic to which he lays claim, and justest claim, is that of Savior: not what he teaches; not what he instances and illustrates of surprising greatness, goodness, grace; but what he does and will do. Therefore no barren word, nor word of dialectic skill, nor word of elegant culture, nor of poetic fancy, nor of profoundest theologic theme, shall dare to offer to pass current for “Christ preached.” This means false profession, audacious blasphemy, guiltiest tampering with sacredest things, unless it mean conviction for sin, contrition for guilty heart, conversion of nature, and unmistaken change of life! Then first would the gospel of Christ put off its glory, and he himself descend from his undisputed place, when any diminishment were made in the slightest iota, “one jot or one tittle,” of these their unique and venerable and practical proffers. Well might there be “great joy in that city,” when into it there graciously entered the presence which met the deep, the groaning, sighing, almost despairing and worn demand of “the people”! It carried in its very voice its evidence; in its deeds its attraction; in its varied rich message its circle of reward. And as with bountiful hand it strewed its blessings, a willing, grateful, jubilant crowd gathered round, and one filled with new joy.

II. It was A JOY THAT HAD THE ELEMENTS OF LIKELY DURATION IN IT.

1. Some joyed who received the full blessing themselves. If any were dispossessed of unclean spirits; if any palsied were thrilled with all the old energy and new added thereto; if the lame were made to walk and to leap;these were substantial benefits, undoubted blessings, never “to be repented” or forgotten.

2. Some joyed whose chiefest joy, reached by the way of sympathy, was for those who were dear to them, those whom they knew though not dear to them, those whom perhaps they did not know at all nor had ever seen till they now see their joy. For in the wide circumference of a genuine human heart and in its capacious spaciousness there was room, and there is still room, for sympathy to find its sweetest, daintiest food in all these ways. And the joy of sympathy, some of the sacredest that fringes human life, dwells in a secret pavilion, which no profane fickleness shall easily molest, when Christ is the origin of it.

3. Many joyed by the stirring novelty of so new, so bright a hope, and that hope was neither delusive nor “for a while” only.

4. Some, perhaps many, possibly very many, genuinely knew the real dawn of celestial light, of spiritual health, of salvation for the soul. That was a joy incontestably of likely duration. It was deep and large and limitless.

III. IT WAS JOY THAT HAD IN IT THE EARNEST OF THE ETERNAL UPPER JOY. However little conscious “the people” might he of any such thought, not the less might it have strong hold on them. But it is not impossible that they were in some measure conscious of it, yet the possession of the present be so true, so welcome a good, that they do not stop to ask of the future or the upper. It matters not either way; there was surely such an earnest in the joy that filled them now.

1. Was it not an unparalleled scene and experience for them? Had they ever known anything on earth to surpass it or to parallel it?

2. Was it not a most genuine rehearsal of “the former things being passed away”? Were pain, and disease, and deprivation of strength, and deprivation of limband the tyranny of evil spiritsrelaxing their various grasp, nay, resigning it; and did it not look far on to the time when God would also go so far as to wipe away every tear from every eye? Was the joy all round, every eye full of it, every tongue full of it, every ear full of it, every heart full of it; and did not this go far to make it a universal joy?

3. Was it a joy that came of any other parentage than heaven? Did science bring it, or art, or even the glowing glories of creation bathed in golden sunlight? No; God sent it, and Jesus brought it, and the Spirit made it flow full and abound. This answers to the heavenly joy. Though one and another individual fell short of the soul’s real light and the heart’s deepest joy, if the scene looked to be an end “of all our woe,” it must have looked something like an end of all our “sin,” and justly sends on our enraptured anticipations to the time when both shall hate vanished in the perfect and eternal joy.B.

Act 8:9-24

The type of one stricken with religion-blindness.

It may be at once allowed that it were difficult to measure with any exactness the amount of moral guilt in Simon Magus. Happily we are not called to do this. That we cannot do it will not hinder our noticing the phenomena of what may well strike upon our own knowledge and our own light as an amazing development of the very obliquity itself of moral or spiritual vision. Confessedly with most various amount and kind of effect does the glory of the natural sun strike on the profusion of the objects of nature. What brilliant effects some of these return! what rich and mellowed effects, others! How do some seem to give out all they have in gratitude’s welcome, and others rest in their joy! till, when we come to the range of human life, we can by no means count upon any correspondingly uniform or correspondingly varying responses. Now something within asserts itself greater, more sullen, more given to contradiction and resenting of external force than the coldest granite, the gloomiest yew, the dreariest of scenery. Yet these things within men make no such stubborn and successful fight against a whole world’s source of light and heat as they do often against the pure light of truth, the purer light of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the purest and most vitalizing force of light of allGod in the searching gaze of the Holy Spirit. An early type of this religion-blindness of human nature is before us. Wherever the slightest allowance may possibly be made for the individual in whom it is now illustrated so broadly and undisguisedly, there must the indictment press but the more heavily on the state of fallen nature itself. Let us notice respecting this religion-blindness

I. IN WHAT IT STOOD SELF–CONVICTED.

1. It was in the presence of the greatest power of heaven that could be on earth, and (to begin with) did not stand in awe of it, nor recognized it as a presence to inspire awe. On occasions of far less direct manifestations of the like great power of God, it had been far otherwise with Peter, and often had it been far otherwise with the miscellaneous multitude; and in particular on occasion of a manifestation of strong resemblance to the presenton the day of Pentecostit was far otherwise with such a multitude. But Simon, a picked man, a taught man, a man acquainted with “mysteries,” is not cognizant of high emotions, of deep stirrings of the moral nature, as were they; but stands there still with covered head, with thoughts that run on business, and with a hand ready outstretched to do business!

2. It was in that presence, with moreover the strongest added symptoms that an unwonted holiness attached to it, and yet it was eager and was presumptuous to challenge intrinsic responsibilities in partnership with it. Forwardness to rush into responsibilities of the most sacred kind has always meant but one thing, and rarely enough led to any but one end. And yet the forwardness with which Simon may now be charged was not that of hasty impulse, of youth and its inexperience, of inconsiderate rashness. It has to be credited with a much worse and more ingrained genius. It was a calculating eagerness, an old and far too familiar impulse to be longer justly called impulse at all, the unaffected outcome of a heart indurate with self. This sort can surely no further go than when it intrudes its callous candidature for the most sacred partnership that Heaven itself has to name, nor suspects that it is at all specially to blame in doing so.

3. It was in that presence, and dares to offer money, that with it may be purchased a share of its most sacred prerogative or own nature. The “corruptible things” of “silver and gold” are proposed as an exchange value for the most incorruptible, living Holy Spirit! Once Judas, for the getting of money to himself, volunteers to be the betrayer of Jesus; but in real fact, human insolence of thought dared a higher flight of incredible audacity when it purposed to part with money for the attempted purchase of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then not the leader of the rebel angels who kept not their first estate, more really affronted the holiness and the majesty and the sovereignty of God, than did Simon in that thought of his heart and word of his lip. In which lay implicit in part, and in part explicit,

(1) the treasonous thought that the sovereign gifts of God could be swayed by human inducement, and

(2) the impious thought that money could avail as the inducement. If there be any eye at all which sees but yet sees not the utter disparity between the symbol that makes the exchange value of one earthly thing against another earthly thing, and Heaven’s gift most critical, most; mysterious, most gracious of all gifts, then that eye is color-blind with the worst deprivation, it is emptied of its own proper nature, religious rays have vainly struck upon it, and the light that is in it is darkness”how great!” Confusion worst confounded is therefore at least one motto of the transaction proposed by Simon; for, fearful as was the degree of it, its darkest condemning lies in the kind of matter in which it exercised itself (Psa 131:1).

4. It was in that presence, and did not humbly, earnestly pray for a personal experience of its mighty and gracious energy, but only to have the official dignity, the self-exalting dignity, or the literally gainful dignity of being the channel of conducting it to others. What could be more suspicious? What more unnatural? What more hollow, when the question once becomes a question of matter of the highest concernment? How can any man sincerely work for the salvation of another who has never found, never sought his own? How can any man purpose to be the servant of God and of God’s Spirit in order to convey spiritual gift and spiritual grace and sanctification to others, if he is not himself in constant and living recipience of the same kind of gifts? Yet many propose this thing unconsciously which Simon proposed in so many most outspoken words. For how often are men glad to think of or even to see the devil cast out of others (Luk 10:20), who have never sought deliverance themselves, and never submitted to the humbling stroke that should break the chain of their own captivity to him! And how many with the lip speak patronizingly of Christianity and pray for the spread of true religion, who never illustrate the possession of it? Confessedly there are some outer things which one may be the means of conveying to others by the mere hand, and as the mere deputy of some original giver; but as certainly the attempt is as impious as it is impossible in other things. The higher you ascend in gift, the more absolute and patent is the inherent impossibility, until, after you have traversed all the ascending realms of mental bestowment and attainments, you reach that realm of pure spirit; crossing over into it, you cease for ever to assume to convey to others, except that “which you have heard seen looked upon, and your hand has handled” in the matter “of the Word of life.” It might be that the blind man should pray if haply he might find the way to give sight to other blindthough still most strange if he pray not for himself, “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” But if the case be that of a man spiritually blind, who prays and with his prayer offers money that he may be the “chosen vessel” for commanding spiritual light to others benighted as yet, yet prays not for spiritual sight himself, you say he is the most benighted of all, blind indeed, and, short of limiting God’s power in the gift of repentance and the grace of his pardon thereupon, you say self-stricken, hopelessly blind! And of this there is every dread appearance in the instance of Simon.

II. IN WHAT IT FOUND ITS PREDISPOSING CAUSES.

1. In a long career of profession. Simon’s very profession was to make profession. And it was of the very essence of dangerous profession, since it was profession about self. Self was the object as well as the subject. The ill odor in which self-assertion, as a mere individual act, is held is well admitted. But how much worse when this has become habit! worst of all when it has become the bread and livelihood of a man. “Giving out that himself was some great one,” sounds the irony of biography. It was all that and more for him.

2. In a professional career that rested on the basis of deception. “Of long time he had bewitched the people with sorceries.” Whatever reality there was in the sources from which he derived power to work “sorcery,” there was no reality of benefit flowing to a deluded people from his works. When “they all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying; This man is the great power of God,” they were “all” the victims of Simon’s most purposed and systematic deception. And however much they were to blame, he more by far, who prostituted persuasive powers to mislead and to rob his fellow-creatures, instead of to guide and enrich them. By all this, whatever else, whatever harm he did to others, he was effectually branding his own conscience with a hot iron, and putting out his own inner light.

3. In the habitual recourse to methods which, so far as they were not mere deception, were the result of some sort of league with the powers of evil. Whether this were really so, and if so to what degree it obtained, may be held moot points still; but two things must be said on the subject.

(1) That it is hard to escape the conviction that the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments purport to say so and to give that impression. And

(2) that if it be not proved that in notable periods of mankind’s history bad men were permitted to be in some real league with the unseen rowers of evil and darkness, it is not yet disproved. Now, the tampering with the unseen is ever hazardous, the mere familiarity of that kind dangerous; but disastrous in the highest degree it is to enter into relations with such powers. Samson taken of the Philistines (Jdg 16:21) is a type, but a very feeble one still, of that enthralled captive.

4. Yet once more, however badly things were looking for Simon, one thing might have stayed the filling up of the full measure of his iniquitiesmight have stayed the utter extinction of the moral eyesight; namely, if he had kept well within the domain of his darkened self and career, and not tried that worst attempt, to ally his evil unrenounced to the good. Long had he known the pride, the flattery, the intoxicating effect of a large and enthusiastic following. The hour came when he saw all this slipping away from him, and he followsfollows those who once followed him. It is significantly said, that “then,” i.e. in the rear, not in the van, “he himself believed also.” But it was no “belief with the heart,” and none “to righteousness.” And every step that he took by the side of Philip, as he “beheld and wondered at the miracles and signs which were done” by him, was a calculating step. He beheld with envious stirrings within; he wondered, and not least, how by any means he might become a sharer of that which he eyed with envy. That moment marked his fall certain. It was the turning-point. This thought filled his sordid ambition, to keep his darkness and get some light to work it to better result. And it was the supreme insult, the last wound to his moral nature.

III. IN WHAT SORT OF CONDITION IT FOUND ITSELF IN THE END.

1. It found for the first part of its reward the most trenchant and unsparing denunciation. This denunciation was just as justice could be, but it was of the severest and most scathing that Scripture records (Act 8:20).

2. It brought upon itself uncompromising exposure. The character is weighed and declared wanting. The heart is analyzed and is pronounced “not right.” It is brought under “the eye of God” and is ruled wrong by that unerring estimate (Act 8:21, Act 8:23).

3. It courted the visitation of a humiliating exhortation (Act 8:22). Simon had been “baptized,” so that, though he might writhe under the spiritual inquisition made of him and this spiritual monition addressed to him, he had put himself where he could not refuse to bear stripes. That his submitting to baptism and his continuing with Philip made some demand on his pride, and would bear some traces of patronizing condescension, is very possible; but none the less has he placed himself where the stripe cannot be evaded.

4. It ended the scene in an unmasked acknowledgment of miserable insincerity. Simon vanishes from our view, unregretted under any circumstances, for we cannot say that he was “not far from the kingdom of God;” but none the less so for the unwelcome echoes of his latest voice left on the ear. No tide of “repentance” stirs him to the depth; no movement of sweet penitence begins to sway to and fro a yielding heart; no manly attitude in him wakens within us a particle of sympathy for an humbled career; no publican’s prayer and broken-hearted petition for pity and the extended hand of mercy, “strong to save,” part asunder his bloodless lips. All the contrarya stranger still to his own guilt without a dawning or even dreaming conception of sin’s exceeding sinfulness, he can only find it in him to beg with unreal tone and with cowardly simulation that those who have found him out will pray that his sins may not find him out. He would fain ask that they take on themselves the responsibility of praying the hypocrite’s prayer, to pray the prayer which it is “an abomination” to praythat his sins may not be reckoned against him, though unrepented their guilt, unpardoned their aggravation, and unsought any saving shelter for his own soul. Such a prayer never rose accepted; it never rose at all; it never had the wing on which to rise. It must needs drop out of view, as Simon now out of our view, into the uncovenanted, unknown.B.

Act 8:26-39

A life true to light led to the Light true to life.

From one of the most unwelcome exhibitions of human nature, we are led with grateful relief to an episode full of hope and the very suggestion of sunshine for the world. This alternate light and shade of a written record of human life, which exhibits alike the appearances of a compendious description and a crowded epitome, is so far a very faithful reflection of the tenor of human history. And the faithfulness of the reflection goes some way to tell whose hand held the pencil of such graphic effect. Incident abounds in the paragraph marked by these verses. But it is no disjointed, incoherent collection of incidents. They come together, “bone to his bone,” “sinew and flesh come up upon them,” and “skin covers them above,” and they make into a most living whole. These incidents of our history group around two subjects. Let us notice

I. WHAT IS RECORDED HERE OF A LIFE THAT WAS TRUE TO ITS LIGHT.

1. The subject of this fragment of biography is an Ethiopian. Though a fragment, it conducts to the most critical portion of life, and puts the key of it into our hand. He is a first fruits of the fulfillment of the prophecy that was written, “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God” (Psa 68:31); and in the desolacy too rapidly drawing on of Jerusalem, Zion was still to say,” This man was born in her” (Act 8:28; Psa 87:5). The Ethiopian cannot “change his skin,” but God can change a darkened heart, and this he is doing. By what route the Divine ray of light reached the Ethiopian’s mind we know not, but that in man’s deepest darkness that light oftentimes loves most suddenly to spring up, we do know. He was not one who had been brought up in the light of revelation, but was now following that which was given him.

2. The subject of this fragment of biography was a man of peace, doubtless of wealth also, “of great authority,” and with near relations of office to royalty. Yet he is an instance of exception to the tyrannical entanglements of the “cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in to choke the Word.” He is not of those rich of whom it is said by unerring lips, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” He strives to enter in, and strives at the right time. He is not leaving it till too latethe “too late” of those who “shall seek and not be able.” This, again, was obeying and being very faithfully ruled by the light that was in him.

3. The subject of this fragment of biography is come upon using the advantages of his position, state, wealth, for direct religious ends. He has been to Jerusalem to worship. He is returning. He has by his resources of money and of influence possessed himself of the Scriptures, or a portion of them, comparatively so difficult to obtain; and while yet on his journey he is reading them. He is dwelling on what he has heard read in Jerusalem, and is referring to something that had fixed his attention and wakened his wonder. Air, and light, and sun, and movement of the chariot, and presumably voices of some attendants, are playing disregarded upon his senses, while his soul is communing with itself and the things written in that scarcely understood Scriptureall interested. He is scarcely outside; he is crossing the threshold in the very porch of the living Churchof God’s own glorious temple and manifestation of truth to man. He is reading in “Esaias the prophet;” and is reading in “the place” of places, where “some soft hand invisible” has guided his eye. The sacred parable of some six centuries oldbut which, within the last some six months, has, unknown to him, blossomed for a mission of perpetual youthhas arrested him. He reads and wonders and inquires, “Of whom speaketh the prophet this‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter: and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth’?” The man who has got to that “story,” sacred story, sweet story, strange story, and can’t pass it, won’t pass it, but lingers over it, muses it, asks in the very spirit of prayer for its interpretation, looks very like a man who is not putting out his light, not dishonoring it, but is following it and on the way to improve it and find it brighter.

4. Arrived a very little further in knowledge, the subject of this partial biography is resolved without an unnecessary moment’s delay to “make profession.” Let him belong to what nation he may, let him wear what livery he may, let him jeopardize what splendid place of earthly promotion he may, he will take the Name of Christ. He has found the truth, and he recognizes it, and not an hour will he lose or risk his “part and lot in the matter.” His “heart is right in the sight of God,” and it is because God’s light has come to be in him. What light he had he followed, and it “shone upon the road that led him to the Lamb;” and he was satisfied, and “went on his way rejoicing.”

II. WHAT IS RECORDED HERE OF UNSEEN AND UTTERLY UNSUSPECTED AGENCIES AT WORK BEFRIENDING THE ETHIOPIAN. There were such agencies, and this is first to be noticed. It is plainly written where it can be written, that it may be the better understood and believed in the times innumerable when it cannot be written. Life flows on often apparently by itself; but what unthought of tributaries there are to its stream! Or, if they are thought of and even seen, how little is made of them, with how little faith or devoutness are they mused over! Nay, even when acknowledged as providences, the utterance of that word seems to discharge all debt connected with it. It is not treated as a sacred symbol of untold depth and breadth, and a mercy of meaning only thinly veiled beneath it.

1. We may be very sure that the eunuch would have been first to desire to acknowledge the help that he had received from Philip. What he may have thought of his sudden appearance, of his placing himself so as to overhear his reading of that sacred scroll, and of his addressing to him the somewhat gratuitous question, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” we know not, but evident it is that he both courteously and gladly received the proffered intrusion, nor regarded it as intrusion. He was well repaid. Philip expounds to him the Scripture, and “preaches to him Jesus;” and soon after is the minister to him of baptism, and nor asks nor takes fee or reward, but, so soon as his service is fulfilled, he has vanished. Was all this chance? If the Ethiopian thought it was, or did not think it was not, it may be in some measure forgiven alike to his education and want of education. But he does not strike us as the man certain to fail or likely to fail in matters of spiritual discernment. Be this as it may, we know that there was no chance about it, but distinct design and preparation: So this visible human contribution of help, gratefully received and no doubt unstintedly acknowledged in the heart of the Ethiopian, owned to an unseen friendly power. It was a notable instance of a “stranger” being” unawares an angel.” And our human friends, and the visits of their sympathy, their voice to encourage, or to exhort, or to rebuke, may often be “angels’ visits.” Pity two things

(1) that they are not in fact more often so; and

(2) that we do not oftener recognize them and use them as such, when they are in truth so ordained.

2. More remote still, there was friendly agency, unknown, unsuspected by the man who took all the benefit of it. Philip himself did not come; he was sent. And the Ethiopian’s greater and devouter thanks belong to him who sent. So it was once that there was “no eye to pity, no arm to save.” And the majesty and sovereignty and might of highest heaven interposed. And to these behind and above all means and methods and “instruments,” belong the glory, gratitude, and endless praise. The “angel of the Lord” (Act 8:26) appeared to Philip, and told him the way in which he should go; and Philip went, obedient, unquestioning, though there was room for two or three questions. Like Abraham, “he went,” presumably (Act 8:29), at present, “not knowing” why he went, though he did know the unpromising “desert” where. And this was no chance, nor was it what happened as a sign and wonder in the one solitary history of this Ethiopian. It is what often is taking place. It is in human life, not deserted, forsaken, “despised“ of God, to be also often befriended, and most graciously befriended by him.

3. A third friendly interference is vouchsafed in the behalf of the Ethiopian. Philip has reached “the way from Jerusalem to Gaza;” and probably he knows the “desert” heat and drought, and the unrefreshing barrenness of the route. And he is going to cross the path of the traveler’s chariot, or rather be left behind of it and miss it. We need not suppose that Philip was not wishful to be “instant in season and out of season.” But for whatever reason, he needs the direction of “the Spirit” (Act 8:29), and that Spirit interposes and instructs and commands. These are of the gracious Spirit’s chiefest functionsto arrest, to inform, to command. And still it is all for the help of the unwitting Ethiopian traveling from the worship of Jerusalem, using well even travel-ling-time, and living true to such light as he had. The fuller day was near at hand for him. Long time, perhaps, had glimmering rays been straying in, and he had wondered what they meant, and they had made him long for more light and feel for it with many a groping. Thus” he that seeketh findeth.” Full conviction, fall satisfaction, full faith and peace and joy arc his reward (Act 8:39).B.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Act 8:1-4

Providence making missionaries.

The disciples of the Lord Jesus were to be missionaries, going everywhere and preaching his gospel to every creature. But they were to begin at Jerusalem, and there wait for “the promise of the Father”the Divine endowment of the Holy Ghost. Then they were simply to follow the openings of Divine providence and the impulses and leadings of the Divine Spirit. They evidently at first scarcely understood what their work was, or how it was to be begun. Prejudices hindered them; difficulties blocked their way; it would seem to them that their lives would be imperiled by exciting public attention to them; and on the day of Pentecost they wore simply borne beyond themselves and above their fears, and were led to speak, freely and bravely, all they knew of Christ’s resurrection and power to save. At first their witness was rendered in Jerusalem, and they waited on Providence for further guidance. The way for more extended work presently opened, but it was in very strange and unexpected ways. Out of seeming disaster and discomfiture came the plain indication of what their missionary work was to be.

I. PERSONAL PERIL CAME. The Revised Version gives the better reading of Act 8:1 : “There arose on that day a great persecution.” It would seem “that the crowd which stoned Stephen outside the gate rushed back with its blood up, or, as Calvin says, like a wild beast which has once tasted blood, and threw itself there and then upon the company of brethren who, perchance, had met to pray secretly in their upper room for the brother who before men was playing so well his honorable and perilous part.” The wild things which an excited mob will do have received abundant illustration in all ages, and recent illustration in the partial destruction of Alexandria. But the Christian disciples had more than this to fear. Such riotings of mobs last, at the most, but a few days. The Sanhedrim had now determined to persecute, and, if possible, destroy, the Nazarene sect; and from their systematic efforts, the disciples could only gain safety by flight. “A favorable juncture had come for the bigots,” but it was, in the ordering of God’s providence, the favorable juncture for commencing missionary work. We must always seek to judge, not what peril, suffering, persecution, or the arresting of our work may seem to be, but what they prove to be, when they have come fully under the Divine overrulings.

II. ESCAPE FROM THE PERIL SCATTERED THEM. Broke up the daily meals and the life in common; made the apostles hide away out of reach; and drove the disciples into the country districtsinto Samaria, where Jewish fanatics would hardly venture, and even away as far as Damascus, where we subsequently find Ananias. It is remarkable that at this time the persecution does not seem to have reached the apostles, and it has been suggested that it was directed against that section of the disciples which followed Stephen, and attacked, in greater or less degree, the Mosaic system. Dean Plumptre says, “It was probable, in the nature of the case, that the Hellenistic disciples, who had been represented by Stephen, should suffer more than the others.” Missionary records contain many illustrations of persecution making opportunity. The scattering was limited at first to the neighboring districts, but it started the missionary idea, and then the whole world was felt to be the sphere for the missionaries of the cross. Show how travel, migration, and commerce have scattered men over the world, and made providential openings for Christian works. “There is that scattereth and yet increaseth” is illustrated in these early disciples.

III. THEY TOLD OF CHRIST WHEREVER THEY WENT. The persecution opened their mouths, made them bold, filled them with fervor and zeal; the silent ones now preached the glad tidings. Persecution puts new life and energy into the persecuted. Things die out if left alone, that grow into power if we attempt to crush them. Men learn to value things which others would forcibly pluck from them. The weakness of our modern witness to Christ is mainly due to the general acceptance of our message. We should speak it nobly if we had to suffer or to die for it. Then the “lips of the dumb would speak.” Trouble and calamity and difficulty made the first missionaries, and it has made the best ever since. Impress that the Christian law is thiswherever the providence of God may lead you or drive you, be therefore Christ.R.T.

Act 8:3

Intense against Christ may become intense for him.

The indications given in this verse of Saul’s intensity should be noticed; he added personal cruelties to judicial severity, manifested almost an insane ferocity and wanton brutality, as he afterwards acknowledged (Act 26:11). The grounds of Saul’s prejudice against Christ and Christianity should be carefully traced, as the nature of his mistaken sentiments helps to explain the entire change of his thoughts and conduct when Christ spoke to him from heaven. A Pharisee such as Saul would have a general offence against Christ

(1) as having deluded the people, and led them away from their proper teachers;

(2) as daring to claim the Messiahship, when he was known to be only a poor Nazarene carpenter. But he would have further and deeper grounds of offence in the facts

(3) that Jesus had openly opposed and endeavored to discredit the Pharisee class to which he belonged;

(4) that Jesus was proved to have wrought sham miracles by the fact that he could not deliver himself from the cross; and

(5) that it was a public insult to the intelligence of the people for these disciples to go on asserting that this crucified impostor had risen from the dead, and had ascended to heaven, and was now showing signs of his Divine power. Saul thought he had a plain case and good grounds for his persecuting zeal; and so he had, assuming that his view was correct. But, suppose he was wrong, and Jesus after all was Messiah? Suppose it could be shown him in a moment that Jesus was alive and exalted? Then the very foundations of all his arguments were plucked away, and a new impulse urged him to consecrate himself, once for all, to the service of Jesus the Nazarene.

I. THE INTENSITY OF AN IMPULSIVE CHARACTER. Illustrate from the Saul who was the first king of Israel; from incidents in the life of the Apostle Peter, and from the later story of Saul, or Paul. This intensity often does good service; it overleaps difficulties which hinder the quieter and calmer class of men. It bears others along on its own tide of impetuosity. It becomes holy boldness, wise enterprise, and steadfast endurance when it is duly toned, sanctified, and guided by the indwelling Holy Ghost. There is more or less of impulsiveness in each of the apostles of whom anything is narrated. James and John followed the impulse stirred by the Master’s call, and left their fisher-work and fisher-folk, to become servants of Christ and fishers of men; and an impulsive spirit is sealed in the surname which our Lord fixed upon them. Matthew seems immediately to have obeyed, and left the receipt of custom, when the Master touched his heart with the call, “Follow me;” and it was evidently in the intensity of deep feeling that he gathered his friends to a parting feast. Thomas speaks impetuously, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails I will not believe;” and still more impetuously he cries, “My Lord and my God,” when constrained to believe by the condescending grace of the Redeemer. Peter represents to us the exaggeration of impulsiveness; and he never reveals his character more fully than when smitten down, penitent and broken-hearted, because of the second cock-crowing and the Savior’s reproachful look.

II. THE WEAKNESS OF THE IMPULSIVE CHARACTER. This finds expression in such things as:

1. A disposition to overvalue mere religious feeling.

2. To take up new ideas or new schemes, under the urgings of sentiment rather than sound judgment.

3. A tendency to give up schemes with as little thought as they were taken up.

4. A foolish expectation that every one must be as intense as the impulsive one is.

5. And an inability fairly to estimate the reasons that make slow progress alone safe and sure. In the Christian life, as in common life, seasons of undue elevation are sure to be followed by seasons of undue depression, and such seasons are very disappointing and humiliating. St. Peter illustrates the weaknesses of the impulsive. Our Lord had even to reprove him severely. From Saul, or Pan], may be shown the solid excellence of character which the naturally impulsive man may gain when piety, principle, and noble sentiments come to rule and guide and tone his impulses. Some of the grandest sentences of St. Paul’s Epistles are the utterances possible only to a sanctified man of intensity and strong impulses; e.g. Php 1:21-23.R.T.

Act 8:5

Preaching Christ.

The expression here used is a frequent one in the Acts of the Apostles; e.g. “preaching the gospel;” “preached the Word;” “preaching peace by Jesus Christ;” “ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ;” “preaching the Lord Jesus;” “Jesus whom Paul preached;” “according to the preaching of Jesus.” The proper idea of preaching is “heralding,” “proclaiming,” declaring a message; and the old prophets of Judaism were true preachers; so were the angels at Bethlehem, and so was John the Baptist. Philip the evangelist went to Samaria, where there was quite as intense an expectation of the Messiah as could be found among the Jews, and to the Samaritans Philip proclaimed that Messiah, or Christ, had come, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and that his resurrectionwhich was abundantly provedwas the crowning attestation and proof that he was the Christ, the Son of the Most High God. What is involved and included in “preaching Christ may best be found by the consideration of a few illustrative cases.

1. Christ preached himself to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus; and his points were the necessity for the sufferings of Christ and his subsequent resurrection, and the absolute truth of the Messiahship and Lordship of Christ.

2. Christ’s command,” Go into all the world,” etc., sends us back to the announcement of the angels at Bethlehem; they preached a Savior, not a salvation.

3. The apostles preached Christ at Pentecost, and at the healing of the lame man, and declared Jesus as both having died and risen again, and being exalted with present saving power.

4. Stephen preached, in his defense, the Messiahship and death of the Lord Jesus, closing with a firm declaration that he was risen.

5. Philip preached unto the eunuch, and his subject was Jesus the Key to the prophecies, suffering and triumphant.

6. St. Paul preached to the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The peculiarity of the early preaching evidently was the presentation to men of a personal, living Savior, with whom men may have personal dealings for their full salvation. Then true preaching must present a living Christ to men as having

that the Man Christ Jesus reveals God to man, and man to himself;

(2) gives example of the human life that can alone be acceptable to God; and

(3) is the assurance of the Divine sympathy with sinning, suffering man. He “took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham,” and “being found in fashion as a man” he is able to save us men.

II. ON HIS cross. Or, Christ in sacrifice, the Divine Sufferer. This is the mystery of Calvary. A suffering Savior shows:

1. The intensity of sin: its utmost effort crucified him.

2. The helplessness of sin. It did its worst, and was defeated. “It was not possible that he should be holden of it.” A suffering Savior:

3. Attracts men. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” No persuasions can so urge and win men as those that come from the cross where our Sin-bearer died.

4. Removes out of the way the hindrances to our fellowship with God. “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

III. WITH HIS CROWN. Or, Christ in triumph, the Divine King. This is the mystery of Olivet. The kingly Jesus is:

1. The , Leader of his people, “the Captain of their salvation,” their Bringer-on.

2. The Head and Lord of the new kingdom, “exalted to give repentance and remission.” “Head over all things to his Church.”

3. The Bestower of the Holy Spirit, which is his present inward agency, himself abiding with us and in us.

So we preach Christ, the Man; the Divine Man; ours, our Brother; and with this preaching we arouse interest in him. We preach Christ, the Sufferer, who draws us to himself in sympathy and love. “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.” We preach Christ the King, and bid you bow down now and submit to his gracious and holy reign.R.T.

Act 8:9-13

Warnings from Simon Magus.

“His name indicates a Jewish or Samaritan origin.” He appears as the type of a class but too common at the timethat of Jews trading on the mysterious prestige of their race and the credulity of the heathen, claiming supernatural power exercised through charms and incantations. For other illustrations, give account of Etymas (Act 13:6); the “vagabond Jews, exorcists,” at Ephesus (Act 19:13); the so-called Simon of Cyprus mentioned by Josephus; and Apollonius of Tyana. Explain the state of the times; men were thoroughly dissatisfied with the empty formalities of religion, and were sick of the routine demands of rabbinical traditions, and were more or less distinctly yearning and crying for the spiritual. Their thought and feeling laid them open to the influence of the sorcerer and juggler, who appeared to be possessed of mysterious and spiritual power. “All over the known world, the nations were at that critical hour in history agitated by a vague unrest and a feverish anticipation of some impending change. Everywhere men turned dissatisfied from their ancestral divinities and worn-out beliefs. Everywhere they turned in their uncertainty to foreign superstitions, and welcomed any religion which professed to reveal the unknown. Along with this came a strange longing to penetrate the secrets of the world, to communicate with the invisible. To persons in this expectant and restless condition there could be no lack of prophets. Asia bred them, Egypt ripened them, the West swarmed with them.”

I. SIMON‘S ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF A DIVINE FORCE IN CHRISTIANITY. The degree of his sincerity in professing belief and submitting to the rite of baptism needs careful consideration. He may have been carried away by feeling. He may have been guileful throughout, and only seen a higher force in the power of the apostles than he knew of, and designed to get the control of this force for his own purposes. Or the two may have blended. He may have been carried away. At first he may have sincerely taken up with Christianity, but soon yielded to a guileful spirit, which suggested that a splendid fortune could be made out of the new force. But whatever Simon’s motives may have been, we have from him an important testimony to the genuine persuasion and power accompanying the early preaching, and to the truth of the miraculous powers exerted by the apostles. Simon well understood the ways of sorcerers and jugglers, and he knew and openly acknowledged that the apostles were not such. Show the importance of the testimony to Christ and Christianity rendered by those outside, and even opposed, such as Rousseau, Napoleon, J. S. Mill, etc.

II. SIMON‘S MISTAKE IN PROFESSING BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. Because true discipleship is no mere profession, no sudden excited impulse, no vanishing sentiment, but a sober, calm judgment, a full and hearty surrender, an entire consecration of heart and life to Christ. Simon did not sit down first and count the cost. Simon had no idea of taking a lowly place in Christ’s service. He wanted still to be “some great one.” tie was “weighed in the balances, and found wanting,” when Christ’s testings came. “He that would be great among you, let him be your servant.” “He that exalteth himself shall be abased.” Show with what mistaken notions men take up the Christian profession now, and how certainly life tests and tries them, and they fail in the testing day. Simon’s faith had not a moral, only an intellectual basis, tie expressed no compunction for having deceived the people and blasphemed God. The whole ethical side of Christianity, its power of bringing man into peace with God, and of making man like God, was shut against him. For that he had no ear. Against that his heart was closed. He believed, therefore, without being converted. Impress how the money-getting spirit had so hardened Simon’s mind that it was difficult to gain access for the Christian truth and claims. “How hardly shall they that trust in riches enter into the kingdom of heaven!”R.T.

Act 8:14-17

The gift of the Holy Ghost.

There are signs of an impartation of the Spirit by the apostles which we do not appear to understand fully, because it differs from any impartation of the Spirit with which we have experience. The apostles were enabled to repeat for their disciples their own experience. They were first called to discipleship and then endowed for work. So those to whom apostles preached were first brought into the new kingdom by faith and confession, and then sealed and entrusted with particular gifts for service by the Holy Spirit of promise. The apostles were at first the only agents through whom this further gift of the Spirit came. How far they were permitted to pass this agency in the giving of the Spirit on to their successors has been a matter which the various sections of Christ’s Church have regarded differently. Two things require study and consideration.

I. THE NATURE AND OBJECT OF THIS GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. It was evidently regarded as essential to the full standing of the Christian. A man must be converted and sealed. St. Paul found at Ephesus some disciples who knew only John’s baptism, and he asked them this, as a searching, testing question, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” as if this alone could be accepted as the assurance of their full Christian standing. The gift or endowment may be regarded.

1. In relation to the apostles as agents. They never assumed that the gift came from them; it only came through them. God might have sent his Spirit directly and apart from any human agency. Probably he used the human means in order that the source whence the gift came should be recognized and men should not treat it as an accident, but as a trust; also that its connection with Christ should be recognized, and the use of the endowments in Christ’s service should be realized. It was a bestowment entirely within the Christian limits.

2. In relation to the believers, who were the recipients of the gift. It was a sealing them as Christ’s. It was a taking of them over to Christ’s service. It was a solemn convincement that a new and Divine life was in them, and so a sublime urging to purity of life and an ennobling assurance of all-sufficient present grace for whatever they had to do and whatever to bear. It was a holy rest for personal feeling; they were plainly accepted of God. It was a holy urging to Christly labors; they had the powers, they must find their spheres.

3. In relation to the Church, which was benefited by the various endowments as calculated to meet all its various needs. These points assume that the indications of the Spirit’s coming on the disciples were such as we find at Pentecost. There was some gift of tongues, or preaching, or prayingsome outward sign which all could realize. Show that if the Spirit now comes to the believer in quieter modes, no essential difference is made in the purpose of his coming. He is with us now to comfort us with assurance of full salvation; and to inspire and guide us in the devotion of our powers to the service of others and of the Church.

II. THE MODE AND ORDER OF THIS IMPARTATION OF THE SPIRIT. Observe that it is never regarded, any more than the early Church miracles, as an independent act of the apostles. It is only effective:

1. After prayer, which puts the apostle in right frame to become the agent or medium, and which directs public attention away from the apostles to the real source whence the gift comes.

2. On the laying on of hands. A significant act, by which the vital force filling the apostle seemed to stream forth into the disciple, and the recipient shared in the Divine Spirit-life. If some indication of a gift, talent, or endowment appeared, as a consequence, it need not be anything new; it might be the characteristic quality or faculty infused with new life and energy. But in those days no man received the Spirit apart from some sign of force for service in the Church. This Simon noticed, and it set him upon evil thought. And still God’s Spirit comes on prayer, is recognized by the spiritually minded, and is the energy for all holy labors.R.T.

Act 8:27-39

The inquiring proselyte.

Give some account of Ethiopia, of the queen of that day, of the office the eunuch occupied, and of the probable means by which he had been made a Jewish proselyte. He was one of those men among the heathen who had been awakened to spiritual anxiety by the ever-working Spirit of God. He may have had some Jewish connections, through whom he had come to know of Jehovah. We can recognize in him:

1. An inquirer.

2. A spiritually awakened inquirer, one who had come to see that his own personal relations with God were matters of extreme importance.

3. A wise seeker, who had found the revealed Word of God, and was searching it in full confidence that therein was the “eternal life.” To such a seeker help will never be long withheld. “God waiteth to be gracious.” Philip was divinely guided to meet the eunuch on his return from the holy city, and to join him in the chariot just when he was hopelessly puzzled with his reading. The passage which engaged his attention was one which opened up the applications of truth to sinful souls. The great chapter of the evangelical Isaiah deals with human sins, calling them transgressions; and it discloses that wonderful scheme of Divine wisdom and love by which those transgressions were vicariously borne, and borne away. Philip preached unto him Jesus, who “was wounded for our transgressions,” on whom the “Lord laid the iniquity of us all,” whose “soul was made an offering for sin;” who now saves his people from their sins; from the penalty of their sins, by the virtue of his great sacrifice, from the power of their sinfulness by the cleansing energies of his Holy Spirit. With opened soul the eunuch listened, and the truth dawned upon him; Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, was revealed to him. He believed the record, and longed at once to seal in baptism his faith and love to the crucified One. He thus simply declares his faith, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” What was this eunuch’s faith? and can we learn from him what the saving faith is? Evidently it was a simple acceptance of and confidence in the testimony rendered by Philip to Christ, based as the testimony was upon the revealed Word of God. And that is faith stillreceiving the record which God hath given us of his Son, and acting on the record. Faith is the great difficulty in the way of seekers, yet, when it is won, it seems strange that so simple a matter should have hindered. Some of the expressions and figures of Scripture may help us.

I. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO APPREHEND OR LAY HOLD OF HIM. AS St. Peter, sinking in the waters, put out his hand and grasped the offered hand of Christ, so our souls, sinking in sin and despair, by faith lay hold of the strong, rescuing Savior.

II. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO RECEIVE HIM. As the imprisoned debtor welcomes and receives the man who brings into his cell the money of his ransom, so our souls, by faith, welcome and receive him by whose precious blood we have been bought out of our prison-house of sin.

III. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO ROLL OUR BURDEN UPON HIM. To shift the weight of all the trouble and anxiety from our own shoulders, and let Christ bear it all for us; as one might do who had an important trial coming on, but trusted the whole matter to his skilful lawyer-friend.

IV. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO APPLY TO HIM. As the hungry and the thirsty apply for food and drink, so the hungry soul applies to Christ for the bread which, if a man eats, he lives for ever.

V. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO COME TO HIM. To flee to him as the villagers flee into the strongholds before invading armies; as the doomed man fled into the sanctuary to lay hold of the horns of the altar, or as the manslayer fled before the avenger of blood to gain the shelter of the city of refuge. So the soul enters the stronghold of Christ, takes sanctuary with Christ, passes within the gates of Christ, the Refuge for the sinner.

VI. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO LEAN UPON HIM, TO STAY UPON HIM, as we lean upon a staff for support. Christ is the strong Staff, on which the soul, with all its eternal interests, may safely lean; Christ is the healthy, strong Friend, on whom the sick, fainting, weary soul may wholly rely.

VII. To BELIEVE IN CHRIST IS TO ADHERE TO HIM, TO CLEAVE TO HIM. As the drowning man clutches so must we grasp, cling to, cleave to, the Lord Jesus, binding the soul to him as with everlasting bands. With so many and so simple illustrations, how well you may be urged noweven nowto believe on the Son of God, and find the pardon he speaks, the life he gives, and the love with which he will make you his own forever.R.T.

Act 8:36

Testing the impulse to confession.

The eunuch knew how his own proselytism had been sealed. When he accepted the Jewish faith, he made confession of it by the rite of baptism. So now, when he had accepted a new faith, his first impulse was the desire to seal it by a renewal of the rite, and the site of the water reminded him of the possibility of making his confession of Christ there and then. Though Act 8:37 is not found in the Revised Version, and may be only an editor’s explanation that has crept into the text, we may be quite sure that Philip would not baptize the eunuch in response to his impulsive request without some such test as thisa test which would bring out whether his faith was whole-hearted and sincere. He must know if his belief was belief with all the heart. On this test, which needs to be still put to would-be confessors, we may dwell.

I. BELIEF OF THE HEART IS THE BELIEF OF SINCERE CONVICTION. A man becomes intellectually convinced that Jesus Christ is the Savior. That conviction may come by very different agencies adapted to individuals. Mere ideas never urge to faith, convictions do.

II. BELIEF OF THE HEART IS THE BELIEF OF DEEP FEELING. The intellectual grasp of truth is not enough. The sense of sin and the gratitude for salvation urge the outgoing of trustful affections towards the Savior.

III. BELIEF OF THE HEART FINDS EXPRESSION IN PRACTICAL RESOLVE. First all entire decision for Christ; then a full and unreserved consecration to him; then a turning round of our whole life to his obedience, and a daily devotion of our powers and talents to his service. But this belief with the heart is no mere fitting association of the first act of confession; it needs to be daily maintained, growing knowledge of Christ giving fuller apprehensions of him, and our hearts lovingly responding to all we can learn and know. Heart-belief alone can ensure the active, noble, and self-denying Christian life.R.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Act 8:1. And Saul was consenting unto his death Dr. Heylin renders this, And Saul was accessary to his death; and he joins it to the last verse of the foregoing chapter. The circumstances relative to St. Paul, recorded by his most intimate and familiar friend, not only shew the fidelity of the historian, but likewise illustrate the miracle of his conversion. It was possibly at this time, when the Christians were so dispersed, that Ananias went to Damascus, ch. Act 9:10.; while others, after they had preached the gospel in the neighbouring parts, travelled on to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. See ch. Act 11:19.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Act 8:1 . The observation [216] forms the significant transition to the further narrative of the persecution which is annexed.

] he was jointly assenting , in concert, namely, with the originators and promoters of the ; comp. Luk 11:48 , and on Rom 1:32 . On , in the sense of caedes, supplicium , comp. Num 11:15 ; Jdt 15:4 ; 2Ma 5:13 ; Herodian. ii. 6. 1, iii. 2. 10. Here, also, the continuance and duration are more strongly denoted by with the participle than by the mere finite tense.

] is not, as is usually quite arbitrarily done, to be explained indefinitely illo tempore , but (comp. Act 2:41 ): on that day , when Stephen was stoned, the persecution arose, for the outbreak of which this tumultuary stoning served as signal.

.] added, because now the dispersion (comp. Act 11:19 ) set in.

] a hyperbolical expression of the popular mode of narration, Mat 3:5 ; Mar 3:33 , al. At the same time, however, the general expression does not permit us to limit especially to the Hellenistic part of the church (Baur, I. p. 46, Exo 2 ; comp. de Wette). But if the hyperbolical is not to be used against the historical character of the narrative (Schneckenburger, Zeller), neither are we to read withal between the lines that the church had been formally assembled and broken up, but that to dispersion into the regions of Judaea and Samaria (which is yet so clearly affirmed of the !), a great part of those broken up, including the apostles, had not allowed themselves to be induced (so Baumgarten).

. ] This country only is here mentioned as introductory to the history which follows, Act 8:5 ff. For a wider dispersion, see Act 11:19 .

.] This is explained (in opposition to Schleiermacher, Schneckenburger, and others, who consider these statements improbable) by the greater stedfastness of the apostles, who were resolved as yet, and in the absence of more special divine intimation, to remain at the centre of the theocracy, which, in their view at this time, was also the centre of the new theocracy. [217] They knew themselves to be the appointed upholders and (Oecumenius) of the cause of their Lord.

[216] Observe the climax of the three statements concerning Saul, Act 7:59 , Act 8:1 ; Act 8:3 ; also how the second and third are inserted antithetically , and how all three are evidently intended to prepare the way for the subsequent importance of the man.

[217] Quite inappropriately, pressing that , Zeller, p. 153, in opposition to this inquires: “Wherefore was this necessary, if all their followers were dispersed?”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

PART THIRD
The Church of Christ throughout Judea and Samaria, and in its transition to the Gentiles. Ch. 812
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SECTION I

THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM, WHICH BEGAN WITH THE STONING OF STEPHEN, AND IN WHICH SAUL ESPECIALLY TOOK AN ACTIVE PART, OCCASIONS THE DISPERSION OF THE BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT JUDEA AND SAMARIA, BUT ALSO LEADS TO THE PROMULGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN THESE REGIONS, AND EVEN TO THE CONVERSION OF A PROSELYTE FROM A DISTANT COUNTRY

Acts 8

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A.THE FLIGHT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH FROM JERUSALEM, LEADS TO THE PROMULGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN JUDEA, AND EVEN IN SAMARIA. PHILIP PREACHES CHRIST TO THE SAMARITANS WITH SUCCESS, AND SIMON THE SORCERER HIMSELF IS BAPTIZED. THE APOSTLES PETER AND JOHN SUBSEQUENTLY ARRIVE; THEY CONFER THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, AND UNMASK SIMON

Act 8:1-25

I. Persecution and Dispersion

Act 8:1-4

1And [But] Saul was consenting unto [had pleasure in] his death [execution]. And at that time [on that day] there was [arose] a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and [but]1 they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2And [But] devout men carried Stephen to his burial [buried Stephen], and made2 great lamentation [wailing] over him. 3As for Saul, he [But Saul] made havoc of [ravaged] the church, entering into every house, [entering (here and there) into houses], and haling [dragging]men and women, committed them to prison. 4Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where [went further] preaching the word [the Gospel, ].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act 8:1 a. And Saul was consenting unto his death.Tischendorf [and Stier, with whom J. A. Alex. and Hack. agree] attaches this short sentence to Acts 7 at the end. But it belongs rather to the commencement of the present chapter, since it serves to introduce the narrative of that persecution of the Christians which now began to extend. And even the construction: , in place of the simple past tense, implying continuance of time [Winer: Gram. N. T. 45. 5.Tr.], derives its significance here mainly from the facts that are now to be related.

b. And at that time persecution.The expression , is usually understood in the widest sense, as equivalent to: At that time (Luthers [and Engl.] version). There is, however, no reason for departing from the literal sense: On that day. We might rather infer a priori, from psychological considerations, as well as from others furnished by the natural sequence of events, that the stoning of Stephen would be immediately followed by an outbreak of fanaticism, of which the Christians generally would be the victims. Bengel accordingly remarks on . . .: non differebant adversarii. As a wild beast that has once tasted blood, is ever afterwards governed by a thirst for it, so the brutal passions of men, when they are once roused, and especially when they are combined with religious fanaticism, acquire additional ferocity after every successful outbreak. It is not probable that many days passed by, before the great persecution began; it is possible, that the mass of the Jews, on returning to the city, at once began a general attack on the Christians. And this persecution was, without doubt, not exclusively a measure adopted by the theocratical authorities, but rather the act of the people, who had previously been stirred up, according to Act 6:12, and had now participated in the act of stoning Stephen.

c. They were all scattered abroad.The members of the church fled from the persecution to which they were exposed in the capital, in accordance with the direction and permission of the Redeemer (Mat 10:23). They retired at first to the surrounding regions of Judea, and sought places of refuge in other cities or in villages; many of them subsequently withdrew to the territory of Samaria. It is, however, questionable whether the term is to be literally understood, in the sense that every Christian left the city. Luke himself reports one exception, when he appends the words: , so that it is certain that at least the apostles remained in Jerusalem. They regard that city as the post to which the command of the Lord had assigned them, and which they do not feel at liberty to abandon, without an express declaration of his will. And, besides, the holy city, the central point of Israel, was still, in their view, the future central point of the kingdom of Christ. The apostles, therefore, supported by their faith, courageously maintained their position in the midst of the dangers which threatened them. But did not a single Christian, with the exception of the twelve apostles remain in Jerusalem? It is not probable that such was the fact, particularly when we consider the circumstance that, not long afterwards, Act 9:26, disciples are found present in Jerusalem, in addition to the apostles, who are themselves not mentioned until the facts stated in Act 8:27, are introduced. An additional argument against the literal meaning of is furnished by Act 8:3, of the present chapter, as some interpreters suppose, since even after the dispersion mentioned in Act 8:1, Saul was able to ravage the church, by dragging men and women to prison (Meyer). But we do not ascribe any importance to this argument, as Act 8:3 appears to us not to describe subsequent events, but rather to present, more in detail, one aspect precisely of that which had been mentioned only in general terms in Act 8:1. Still we cannot be convinced that is to be here understood in its strict and literal sense; the term is rather to be regarded as employed in a hyperbolical manner [Meyer; de Wette; as in Act 3:18; Mat 3:5; Mar 1:37; Mar 6:33; Joh 3:26; the word here need not be pressed so as to include every individual. (Hackett).Tr.]. But this view does not authorize us to take at once in the sense of multi (Kuinoel), nor to restrict it to the doctores (Bengel), nor to assume that designates exclusively the Hellenistic part of the church (Baur). Baumgartens conjecture (I. 158 ff.) is equally as little capable of being sustained, when closely examined. He supposes that precisely at the hour in which Stephen was stoned, the church, in its deep sympathy, was gathered together, offering prayer in his behalf, and that the first assault in this persecution was directed against that congregational meeting, the members being instantly dispersed. If this was the case, the words ; would state nothing more than that all those members who were accidentally gathered together, were scattered. Now, in the first place, it is an unaccountable circumstance that the apostles, who were certainly present, if such a meeting had been held, should not also have been scattered abroad, as well as others. In the second place, Baumgarten rends portions of the text asunder which are intimately connected, namely: ; for he represents the dispersion of the meeting as the immediate result of the persecution, and the flight to regions beyond the city, as an indirect result, which is offering violence to the text.

Act 8:2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial.The particle after undoubtedly indicates a contrast, namely, that between the tender affections of certain individuals and the madly excited passions of the mass of the people. These are, without doubt, Jews, as in Act 2:5, and not Christians, (as Heinrichs and da Costa imagine); the latter are always designated in the Acts by other terms. [But Ananias, mentioned in Act 22:12, was a Christian, and yet is so designated, according to the reading preferred by Lechler to that of the textus receptus.Tr.]. They were Jews who rendered the last honors to Stephen, and even engaged in a solemn mourning for him [de Wette refers here to Gen 50:10.Tr.]. But they were , that is, they were men who feared God more than they feared man, or than they regarded the temper of the populace at the time. They did not hesitate to give an honorable burial to a man of whose innocence and godliness they were convinced, although he had been accused of blasphemy (of which he had not been proved to be guilty), and had suffered the ignominious death of a criminal. An analogous case may be found in the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea, who also had, previously, not been a disciple of Jesus (at least according to Luke and Mark). [Termed a disciple in Mat 27:57 ff; a disciplesecretly, in Joh 19:38, but not so designated in Mar 15:43 ff., and Luk 23:50 ff.Tr.]

Act 8:3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church.Luke proceeds to relate the share which Saul took in the persecution of the Christians; his conduct contrasts strikingly with that of the devout men mentioned in Act 8:2, and also illustrates the general statement made in Act 8:1. Saul ravaged () the church [comp. the same word in Psa 80:14, Sept. with in Act 9:21; Gal 1:13; Gal 1:23; and see Act 22:19-20; Act 26:9-11; 1Ti 1:13.Tr.]. The word implies that, as far as it lay in his power, he injured and destroyed the church; he entered into houses, , literally, from house to house; the expression, however, can, naturally, refer to those houses only, in which he expected to find Christians. When these were discovered, he dragged them forth, (doubtless with the aid of the officers of the Sanhedrin), and transferred them to the prison. It is obvious that he was sustained by the hierarchical authorities, as he could not have otherwise ventured to enter by force into private dwellings, neither would he have found the doors of the prison open to receive his victims. Still, the general tenor of this verse leads us to conjecture that these results depended in a great measure on the personal character of Saul, and that it was specially his wildly excited fanaticism which inflicted great injuries on the church. The novel and revolting features of his course were the systematic manner in which he sought out the confessors of Jesus, and his rude intrusion into domestic circlesa Jewish prelude of the later Romish Inquisition.

Act 8:4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad, went every where.These words are connected with in Act 8:1, and are explanatory of that term; they inform us that the fugitive Christians did not quietly establish themselves in any places of refuge which they may have found, but travelled onward from place to place [, they went through, i.e., the country; comp. Act 8:40, below.Tr.]. But the most important fact is stated in the next words: preaching the word, i.e., the Gospel. It consequently appears that the persecution which they had endured in Jerusalem, could not so intimidate them, that they henceforth concealed their faith in Jesus from public view; on the contrary, wherever they appeared, they proclaimed their faith, and the joyful tidings concerning the Redeemer and his redeeming work.The very closest chronological connection exists between this historical statement and Act 11:19 ff.: ; the intervening portions, from Act 8:5 to Act 11:18, accordingly assume the character of an episode.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. This persecution of the Christians and its consequences constitute a glorious evidence of the government of Christ, who rules also in the midst of his enemies [Psa 110:2], and always promotes the interests of his kingdom. An event which appeared to the eye of man to threaten inevitable destruction, so that it was a question whether the church of Christ could continue to exist, or would be annihilated, was, on the contrary, converted into the means of invigorating and extending it. The dispersed Christians preached the Gospel; thus the storm which burst forth, carried the seed which had hitherto been gathered together in a single spot, to many different regions, and, in some cases, to a considerable distance. And that seed germinated and produced fruit. The Gospel now begins its course, which is to extend over the whole globe, after having been hitherto confined to the one city of Jerusalem. Thus, even when men think evil, the Redeemer means it unto good [Gen 50:20], that is to say, he not only counteracts the intended disastrous results, but also employs the devices of enemies, in an unexpected manner, as means for extending his kingdom.

2. As the apostles remained in Jerusalem, the dispersed Christians were church members only: at most, several of them, Philip, for instance, Act 8:5, may have belonged to the company of the seven men, who had been previously elected, Act 6:3 ff. But even to these the ministry of the word had not been primarily intrusted; hence, these scattered Christians, in the great majority of cases, were invested with no ecclesiastical office whatever. And yet they labored as evangelists, wherever they came, without any official obligation, or any express authority. They were moved by the inward power of that faith which cannot but speak of the truth of which the heart is full; they were influenced by the Spirit, with whom they had been anointed; they were controlled by their love of the Saviour, to whom they owed the remission of their sins and all their blessed hopes. This propagation of the Gospel beyond the limits of the holy citythis establishment of the church of Christ in other districts of Palestine, and even beyond its boundaries (see Act 11:19), was, consequently, not the work of the apostles themselves, but mainly of other Christians, who held no office, but were invested with the general priesthood of believers [1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9]. According to human conceptions of church government and the ecclesiastical office, such a course should not have been adopted. But the Lord of the church did not restrict himself to the apostolic office which he had instituted, in such a manner that no work could be legitimate, acceptable to God, or rich in blessings and in promise, unless it were performed exclusively by the apostles. Here, too, Christ teaches us that no human being and no finite ordinance can be regarded as necessary, and absolutely indispensable; He alone is at all times and in all places, indispensable.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See below, 2. Act 8:5-13.

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Footnotes:

[1]Act 8:1. . The particle [of the text. rec.] is attested only by the Alexandrian MS. [A.], and the Syriac, as well as the two [Reuss: Gesch. d. h. Sch. N. T. 431.] Ethiopic versions; whereas, all the other minuscule mss. and ancient versions read , which is, accordingly, to be preferred. [ is found in B. C. D. E. H. and adopted by Lach., Tisch. and Alf. Neither particle is found in Cod. Sin., but a later hand (C) prefixed to .Tr.]

[2]Act 8:2. [Lachm., with whom de Wette agrees, reads before , with A. B. C. D., but Tisch. and Alf., following E. H. read with text. rec. , the former being, according to Alf., very probably a later correction.Cod. Sin. .Tr.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Church under Persecution; which affords Occasion to Philip to preach Christ in Samaria. Peter and John visit Samaria. The awful History of Simon Magus. Philip preacheth to an Ethiopian, and baptizeth him.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (2) And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. (3) As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. (4) Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. (5) Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. (6) And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. (8) And there was great joy in that city.

he opening of this Chapter, is connected with the history of Stephen, in the preceding. And it appears very plain, from what Paul related to Agrippa, Act 26:10-11 , that Stephen’s death was followed with many others, in which Paul took part. And no doubt the Holy Ghost hath caused this record to be made of Paul, purposely to magnify the exceeding riches, and freeness of grace, in such an illustrious display of it, as was manifested in the after conversion of Paul. See also Act 22:4-5 ; Gal 1:13 . As to those which were scattered abroad, it should seem to have been some of the seventy disciples, or probably some of the newly converted believers at the day of Pentecost. For we find, verse 1 (Act 8:1 ), that the Apostles remained firm at Jerusalem. And, verse 14 (Act 8:14 ), they sent Peter and Joh 1-21. Oh! could the enemies of Christ and his Church, but be made sensible, how the Lord overrules their malice to his glory, in causing them to become the very instruments, to bring about the reverse of what they intend, how would they sometimes shudder? Psa 75:10 .

The Reader will recollect, that about four years before, the Lord Jesus had visited Samaria. At which time the Lord had wrought the conversion of many of the people, Joh 4:39-42 . Philip’s ministry differed from his Master’s, in that Philip wrought miracles in Jesus’s name, in confirmation of the truth: but we read of no miracle wrought by Jesus, when there. But I beg the Reader not to overlook, the comprehensive manner of Philip’s preaching: Christ. Yes! all preaching is folded up in Christ. Jehovah’s Christ; is the One, and the only One Ordinance of heaven, Act 4:12 . And let the Reader further observe, what powerful effects followed Philip’s preaching, while Christ was the whole sum and substance; text, sermon, and application! We are told, that unclean spirits came out of many; and palsies, and lameness were healed. And might we not hope, that if the Lord the Spirit were to commission preachers now, as Philip was commissioned then, to preach Christ; would not the same blessed effects, spiritually considered, follow? Oh! ye ministers of the Lord Jesus! see to it, that Philip’s plan be your plan; if ye hope the same blessings to follow, Preach Christ to the people! Devils, and all unclean spirits, must be dispossessed, when God the Holy Ghost sends the word, and Christ is preached by his power.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

A Story of Conversion

Act 8:27 , etc.

Philip the deacon was one of the most active Evangelists. Only one or two scenes in his obedient and strenuous career find a place in the panorama of Acts; but these make it clear that he was a man of whom, had there been space enough, the New Testament might well have told us a great deal more.

I like the hopefulness of Philip, as he advances to his new task. Remember, he had just been imposed upon by a bad man at Samaria, when Simon the Sorcerer, a kind of false Christ, had tried to buy the Holy Spirit. That was a bitterly disappointing case, yet Philip went on evangelising just the same. He would not throw up his mission in disgust, because Simon had turned out a sham; here he is, a few days later, guiding an earnest man to the Redeemer.

I. The eunuch for whose help Philip had come was seeking God. He was not by birth a member of the Jewish race; but by choice he had become, so to speak, an associate-member; or, in more technical language, a proselyte And now on his way home he held open before him the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, and was reading it attentively. In the circumstances nothing was more natural than for Philip, the lonely traveller, to join the larger caravan; and, as he moved close up to the chariot, he heard the treasurer reading reading aloud, as the Eastern way is reading that deep and moving lyric of vicarious sorrow, the fifty-third chapter, which delineates the sufferings of the Servant of the Lord. How the scene stands out! the patient earnest-faced reader, with lines of perplexity on his brow, as he cons the verses over and over again; and near by, keeping pace with the wheels, biding his time, Philip, the man of wise counsel and big heart, Christ’s true preacher and ambassador.

II. The eunuch had no sooner got Philip seated at his side, than he began to ply him with questions about salvation. How afraid we all are of religious talk! How we pride ourselves on our reserve, and how ready we are to freeze up any warm, eager soul who is not quite so taciturn as we are! There was an Indian gentleman who once came to this country because he had been filled with an insatiable desire to learn all he could about immortality, and he supposed people in England could tell him something. He went to London, and to his neighbour at table one evening he said: ‘I should like to know what you think about immortality’. He received the answer, ‘Ah! in this country we don’t talk about these subjects at dinner’; and that was the end. I wonder what you would or could say, if at any time some one who really meant it were to ask you, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Could you put the matter in a few plain words? Could you speak as one man to another? And could you speak in the tone of one who is passing on the Gospel that has first redeemed himself?

III. It was the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah that Philip made his text that day. It is one of the holiest spots in all the Bible, at which a great multitude of souls have found God. We, as we read it, feel the wondrous tenderness and power with which it portrays Christ’s sacrifice, and all the virtue of His redeeming sympathy. Just then the Ethiopian knew nothing of all that: yet he, too, was melted and subdued by the picture of the Man of Sorrows. He read once more the description of the great Sin-bearer the verses in which it is clearly predicated of Him that His greatness is the result of His being, not the founder of a new school of thought, or the leader of a social reformation, nor even possessed of personal saintliness, but of His being a Sufferer. And in view of this description, so moving in its mystery, he asked the question, going right to the heart of things: Of whom speaketh the prophet this? Yes; the question for religious faith, the question best worth asking, and the answer to which answers at the same time all the others, is just that which confronts us here: Who is the Bearer of human sin?

It was a great Gospel text; none better could have offered, in all the Old Testament; and Philip was not the man to miss the opportunity. So he took the other where he found him, and from that spot led him on. No Christian worker can miss the lesson. Accept people just where they are; and seek the path that leads to Christ precisely from where they stand.

IV. On the swift conversion followed, as swiftly, an eager confession of new faith. For acts of trust have sequels. Everywhere in that day, of course, as in heathenism still, the obvious and natural mode in which a man could signify his personal belief in Jesus was an open and deliberate submission to the rite of baptism. None of the elements of publicity were lacking now; one can see the officers and servants of the retinue crowding round to watch and comment and remember. In some pool or streamlet by the wayside, then, the sacrament took place, and the new disciple took the words of Christian confession on his lips.

V. Then, when they were come up out of the water, ‘the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. He had found Jesus Christ, and realised Christ’s personal love for him; and depend upon it, whatever else he understood of Christian doctrine, he knew this, that Christ had become his inseparable companion for ever and for ever. Far away in distant Ethiopia he would never feel forsaken or bewildered any more, for the great secret was now his. That touch on the hem of Jesus’s garment had made him whole. And therefore, as he went his way back into the heathen darkness, perhaps to meet a cruel fate, it was with a soul made brave and glad by the presence that solves all difficulties and satisfies all hearts.

H. R. Mackintosh, Life on God’s Plan, p. 102

References. VIII. 28-32. Expositor (6th Series), vol. v. p. 55. VIII. 29. F. D. Maurice, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 110. VIII. 30, 31. E. W. Attwood, Sermons for Clergy and Laity, p. 92. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 241. VIII. 30-33. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1792. VIII. 31. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 125. VIII. 33. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 121.

The Ethiopian Convert

Act 8:34-35

Our theme is the marvellous story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. Three factors go to make up this eventful narrative.

I. The Ethiopian eunuch as the subject. He constitutes the central figure of the story. (1) Who then is he? He was an African, a swarthy descendant of Ham the father of Canaan the cursed, and by descent is connected with Nimrod, the first founder of the ungodly empires of the world (Gen 10:6 ; Gen 10:8 ). (2) Whence came he? He came from Ethiopia, a country called Cush in the Old Testament, including what now is known as Nubia and Abyssinia. (3) What is he? He was an eunuch. Among Oriental nations eunuchs were numerous; but in Israel they were forbidden. By a special law they were excluded from the congregation of the Lord. They were disqualified for membership in the Jewish Church. If Moses rejected them, Jesus Christ received them. His office was honourable and lucrative. ‘He came to Jerusalem for to worship.’ However distinguished his rank, or honourable his office, or vast his revenue, there was a conscious need within, which neither rank nor honour nor wealth could satisfy.

II. Let us glance at Philip the Chosen Instrument. Not the Apostle of that name, but Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven deacons solemnly set apart for the diaconate by prayer and the laying on of the hands of the Apostles (Act 6:5 ). Philip is called ‘the Evangelist,’ that is, a preacher of the Gospel, a proclaimer of the good news of salvation for the lost. He was the first to proclaim the Gospel of good news outside the holy city, the first to preach that Gospel to the Samaritans. To this busy, successful Evangelist God sent an angel, to bid him leave at once his important field of toil and go to minister to this solitary Ethiopian courtier while on his homeward journey from Jerusalem. Why did not the angel go himself direct and teach the Ethiopian courtier? Why send Philip? The angel had not the requisite fitness for such a mission. God has wisely and graciously appointed men and not angels to preach to us sinners the Gospel of salvation.

III. God is the active agent, the Prime Mover in and throughout the whole of this marvellous story. (1) We see the agency of God directing him to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, containing explicit reference to the substitutional atoning sufferings of the Messiah. (2) We see God again working to provide a suitable agent to instruct and guide the anxious inquirer. (3) We see much of God in Philip’s prompt obedience. (4) We see God again in the selection of the place where and the time when the Evangelist and the eunuch should meet.

Learn (1) How graciously God cares for the soul that seeks Him. (2) Do not despise your mission, even if God send you only to a solitary soul. (3) The joy of the soul when it finds Jesus and His salvation.

Richard Roberts, My Closing Ministry, p. 245.

Act 8:35

The preachers of the cross told, indeed, of a Healer, but of a rejected Healer. They told of a houseless wanderer, of harlots and sinners, of shepherds and sowers and fishermen, of the wine-press and vinedressers, of father and mother and of family life, of marriage and festival, of the bridegroom and his friend. They spoke of suffering and of failure and of unrecognised death. Then men saw in all this something different from the bright sun-god of the Hellenes, or the fated Balder of the chivalrous North, and said with whispered breath to themselves and to each other, ‘This is the God we need’.

J. H. Shorthouse.

References. VIII. 35. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2044. VIII. 36. F. S. Webster, The Record, vol. xxvii. p. 676. VIII. 36, 37. J. Keble, Village Sermons on the Baptismal Service, p. 154. VIII. 37. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2737. VIII. 39. Archbishop Temple, Christum World Pulpit, vol. lv. p. 361. J. Keble, Sermons for the Sundays after Trinity, p. 240. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 264. A. Maclaren, The Wearied Christ, p. 212. VIII. 40. Ibid. p. 42.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Chapter 20

Prayer

Almighty God, thy hand is very strong. Make bare thine arm in the midst of the nations, and show us that thou art still the King. Men forget themselves, and with much rioting of weakness they rebel against thy will, but when thou dost arise in thy great strength the nations shall know themselves to be but men. They are a wind that cometh for a little time then vanisheth away. There is none abiding like thyself. Thou only art the same yesterday, today, and for ever. All else is changing. Thou hast said of thyself, “I am the Lord, I change not.” May we hide ourselves in thy unchangeableness, and know that our eternity is secured not by ourselves, but by thy Almightiness. Lift us up this day from the dust, and give us an outlook over the wider world. Deliver us from the prison of darkness, and from the river of trouble, and lift us up into the holy hills whence we can see the morning glory, and where we can overhear the songs of the better land. This, our desire, we breathe at the Cross. At the Cross we learn how to pray. Is not the Cross the open door into heaven? Without it we have no access to the Father. Lord, help us to cling to the Cross with our whole strength, and may the fire of our life renew itself every day in sight of the Cross of Christ. Our life is wasting away. Its days are becoming fewer. The most of them may possibly be behind us. May we now be children of the day, walking in the light, doing heartily thy will, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened. And may our heart glow with a new expectation. We humbly pray thee show us thy goodness in the future, as thou hast shown it unto us in the past. Keep back nothing of thy mercy. One drop the less, and we shall die of thirst. We need all thy help. We are so weak, so poor, so empty of all goodness and strength, that we need God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost to sustain and keep us in the right path, and feed us with the bread of heaven.

We bring our Psalm into thine house, great, holy, noble Psalm. It is meant to express our love. Thou wilt receive it in this meaning, and send back still nobler music in reply. We put ourselves every day into thy keeping. Rock the cradle, make the bed of the afflicted, deal out bread to the hungry, and send a gospel to him that is in despair. Let the heavens make the earth glad today. The heavens are older than the earth. Let eternity send out its benediction so that time may be crowned as with a blessing from God. Thou knowest what we need most. Do not withhold it. For Christ’s sake, give it to every man. When we stumble, see that we fall not utterly, and when the darkness is thickest, let the pressure of thy hand be tenderest. Make a way for us where there is no path. Melt the stones that hinder our progress, and as for the mountains that would keep us back, touch them with thy finger, and they shall arise like smoke. Be a buckler to us in the day of battle. Give us the sword, and the shield, and the helmet, and cover us in the day of danger.

Make us like the One Perfect man. Yea, make us like the Son of God. Is he not the brightness of thine image? has he not revealed to us the glory of thy person? May we be, as he was, pure, true, full of loving, meek, all-enduring self-sacrifice marred more than any man, but victorious even in sorrow.

The Lord hear our prayer for the little child, for the sick life, for the weary traveller, for the absent one, for the wandering prodigal, for the sinner who dare not look back lest he should see nothing but darkness, and sword, and penalty. Send thou messages over the sea to our dear ones in the far-away home who are wondering about us, and returning our prayer with many supplications. Help us to live the few years that may yet remain, nobly, wisely, and well. Work in us all the good pleasure of thy will, and the work of faith with power. Strengthen our hold upon things eternal. May we be right, so that whether the Lord come now or then, at midnight, or at the crowing of the cock, or in the broad noontide, we may all be more than ready. Amen.

Act 8:1-8

1. And Saul was consenting (same Greek word in Luk 11:48 ) unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad [foretold by Christ; Act 1:8 ] throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria [the teaching of the apostles must have been with great power to break through the long-standing prejudices of their Jewish converts against the Samaritans] except the apostles.

2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation [implying beating on the breast] over him.

3. As for Saul, he made havoc [like the ravages of wild beasts; Psa 80:13 ], of the church, entering into every house [making search everywhere], and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word [evangelizing the word].

5. Then Philip [mentioned only in this chapter, and in chapter Act 21:8 ] went down to the city of Samaria, and preached [proclaimed] Christ unto them.

6. And the people [the multitudes] with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8. And there was great joy in that city.

Three Great Figures In the Church

IN this part of the narrative the name of Saul occurs three times. In the seventh chapter and fifty-eighth verse we read, “The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.” In the first verse of the eighth chapter we read, “And Saul was consenting unto his death.” In the third verse of the same chapter we read, “As for Saul he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women he committed them to prison.” He was an apt scholar. He made rapid progress in his bad learning. Observe how quick is the development and how sure! First of all, he watched the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen; then he expressed in every feature of his face satisfaction and gladness on account of the death of Stephen; and in the third place, he took up the matter earnestly himself with both hands, being no longer a negative participator but an active worker. He struck the Church as it had never been struck before; he made havoc of the Christian society; women were as men to him, and men as women; and having secured the keys of the prison, he crowded the dungeons with Christian suppliants. The taste for blood is an acquired taste, but “it grows by what it feeds on.” This man Saul began as he ended. There was nothing ambiguous about him. He was positive, well defined in purpose, resolute in will, invincible in determination. A tremendous foe, a glorious friend!

We see from this part of the narrative what we have seen often before the power of the Christian religion to excite the worst passions of men. It is a “savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.” It is like Saul himself; for Saul was a true man whether persecuting the Church or defending it. Christianity either kills or saves. It is either the brightness of day, or the darkness of night in a man’s life. I am afraid we have become so familiar with it externally as to cast by our own spirit and demeanour a doubt upon this veritable proposition. Set it down as the most melancholy of facts that it has become possible for nominal Christian believers to care nothing about their faith. They have degraded it, so that it now chaffers with infidels, doubters, and even mockers. The faith that used to hold no parley with unbelievers is now fagged with much walking on the common road begging, asking leave to hold discussion, and apologizing for suggesting its own revelation. The age has been seized with what is known as a horror of dogmatism. But Christianity is nothing if it is not dogmatic. It has no reason for its existence if it be not positive. If it be one of many, saying, “You have heard the others, will you be good enough to hear me?” it is not what it professes. Poetry may hold parley with prose fiction, because they belong to the same category. They are dreaming, guessing, shaping thoughts into aptest forms. Daintily selecting dainty words for dainty thinking. But arithmetic can hold no parley with poetry. Arithmetic does not say, “If you will allow me, I may venture to suggest that the multiplication of such and such numbers may possibly result in such and such a total.” Poetry admits of malleability, it may be moulded and shaped into new forms; but arithmetic admits of no manipulation of that kind. It is complete, final, positive, and unanswerable. Now, in proportion as any religion is true, can it not stoop to the holding of conversation with anybody. It reveals, proclaims, announces, thunders. It is not a suggestion it is a revelation. It is not a puzzle, to which a hundred answers may be given by wits keen at guessing; it is an oracle, and every syllable is rich with the gold of wisdom. Clearly understand what is meant. The dogmatism of truth is one thing, and the dogmatism of the imperfect teacher is another. The dogmatism of the priest is to be resisted, if it be justified only by official descent or official relation, but truth must be dogmatic, that is, positive, absolute without ambiguity. Clear in its own conception, clear in its positive demands, clear in its rewards and its punishments. Can you wonder, then, that a religion namely, the Christian faith which claimed to be the very voice and glory of God, should have encountered this unpitying and most malignant hostility? If it could have come crouchingly, or apologetically, and have said, “I think, I suggest, I hope,” it might have been heard at the world’s convenience. But it came otherwise. It came with angels’ songs in the upper air, a miraculous conception, a voice saying, “This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him.” Being true, it could not have come otherwise, but so coming it raised the world into antagonism and deadly conflict. So will every true life. We have no enemies because we have no Gospel. We live in a humble and respectable obscurity, because we say nothing. We pass along pretty easily, because we annoy no man’s prejudices, or naughtinesses, or indulgences. We dash no man’s gods to the ground; we stamp on no man’s idolatries; and so we have no martyrs. In olden times Christianity attacked the most formidable citadels of thought, prejudcice, and error, and brought upon itself the fist of angry retaliation.

In this part of the narrative we see that the success of the enemy was turned into his deadliest failure. Read the fourth verse in proof. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” They did not go everywhere with shame burning on their cheek, nor did they go everywhere with a leaden weight upon their once nimble tongues, nor did they go everywhere whining and moaning and complaining that they were doomed to a useless life. They were taught eloquence by persecution. They were made Evangelists by suffering. That is the true way of treating every kind of assault. When the pulpit is assailed as being behind the age, let the pulpit preach better than ever and more than ever, and let that be its triumphant reply. When Christianity is assailed, publish it the more. Give it air, give it liberty, give it a wider constituency. Evangelization is the best reply to every form of assault. How do we treat our little and very tepid persecutions say of an intellectual kind? We retire to consider the case. We ask for a year’s leave of absence from the pulpit, that we may revise our theological position. Do you wonder that such a method of encountering intellectual opposition should leave the field almost wholly in the hands of the enemy? When will we learn Christ’s method and the Apostles’ method of meeting such hostility? More hostility should be more preaching; more persecution should be more prayer. We have mistaken the method wholly. We have been wanting in resoluteness and directness. Do not let us be driven away by mockery, or silenced by flattery, or overweighted by prejudice, or deterred by fear. Christianity has one answer to every assault, and that is another statement of its claim, a louder and clearer utterance of its heavenly authority! “They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” The seed shaken out by the wind was carried by the wind to other fields. It dropped into open soil, and grew up a hundred-fold.

In this part of the narrative we see Christianity followed by its proper result. You find that result stated in the eighth verse, “And there was great joy in that city.” Joy was a word that was early associated with Christianity. Said the Angel, “I bring you good tidings of great joy .” Where is that singing, holy joy? Not in the Church. We are gloomy, despairing, uncertain. We have lost the music, we have retained the tears. The Church ought to be a very fountain of joy, delight, triumph. Instead of that the Church is a valley of tears. The Church looks upon death and sighs. The Church is gifted in sighing. The Church that used to have a voice like a band of music, that used to lift its blood-red banner high in the air, and shake it with the defiance of already attained and unchangeable victory. There ought to be no death in the Church: Christ hath abolished death. And tears should be but dew, to be exhaled in the sun and carried up to enlarge and beautify the rainbow of promise. Why this sighing, fainting, doubting? The revelling is now in the other house. It used to be in our Father’s House that there was music, and dancing, and feasting, and great festival of joy. We have lost the trumpet, and the cymbals, and the dances, and the holy merriment, and now we are languishing like men who are simply waiting the coming of the executioner.

Looking at the narrative from another point of view, we may say that already there are two graves in the early Church. Since we began this reading of the Acts of the Apostles, we have seen two graves opened. In the one grave lie Ananias and Sapphira, in the grave opened today there lies Stephen, over whom devout men made great lamentation. Already the old story writes its record in the documents of the Apostolic Church! In one or other of these graves we must be buried! Which shall be our resting-place? Over the first there was no lamentation, no tears were shed, no hearts broke in pity and in grief. The occupants of that grave were shot with the lightning of God! Sad grave! Pit deep, black, hopeless! The liars’ retreat, the hypocrites’ nameless hiding-place! No loving one goes thither to lay a white flower on the black sod. Will you be buried there? Lightning-struck, blasted from heaven with God’s bolt of anger in your heart; will you be buried there? Then there is the good man’s grave, which is not a grave at all, it is so full of flowers, and so full of peace and promise those vows spoken by Christ Himself will you be buried there? The road to it is rough, but the rest is deep and sweet, and the waking immortality! Will you so live that you will be much missed for good doing? So that men shall say, “Alack, the world is very poor today, for the noblest of hearts beats no more?” Will you be missed in the haunts of poverty, and by the bedside of suffering, and in the church of activity, and in the school of education and discipline? How shall we go? Buried without prayers, or buried in showering tears of regret, and love, and thankfulness?

Here is the persecuting Saul testing the sincerity of the Church. We know what we are made of, when the fire of persecution tries us! You do not know your best friend until you have been in trouble. For want of knowing this many men are today living on a false reputation. Your friends are nice, amiable, pleasant, fond of hand-shaking, and salutation, and courteous remark. Always cordial, always sunny, always agreeable. Have you ever needed them? Have you ever sent for them to come to you through some bitter cold night-wind? If not, you do not yet know them. They may be nobler than you suppose, they may be meaner than your friendly dream. It is when we are in poverty, and straits, and difficulties that we know our friends. The persecution which Saul inflicted upon the Church tested the Church’s reality and sincerity, and it is under such circumstances, according to their degree, that we ourselves are to know what we are made of.

Here is the evangelist Philip extending the influence of the Church. “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Not Philip the Apostle, but Philip the deacon Philip one of the seven. Stephen dead, Philip taking his place that is the military rule! The next man, Forward! “Who will be baptized for the dead?” When Stephen was killed the remainder of the seven did not take fright and run away in cowardly terror, but Philip, the next man, took up the vacant place, and preached Christ in Samaria. Who will take up the places of the great men and the good men? Who will fill the vacant pulpits? Who will undergo the so-called drudgery of the Church? Who will consent to be nothing in name that he may be everything in helpfulness? Is the Church to be a broken line, or a solid and invincible square?

These three great figures are still in the Church the dead Stephen, the persecuting Saul, the evangelistic Philip. Our Stephens are not dead. We see them no more in the flesh, but they are mightier than ever since they have ascended to heaven, having left behind them the inspiration of a noble example. John Bunyan is more alive today than he was when he wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress. John Wesley is more alive today than he was when he began to preach the Word in England. Richard Baxter is more alive today than when he wrote the Saint’s Everlasting Rest. Your child is not dead when the memory of the dear little creature leads you to do some kindness to some other child. Our fathers, heroic and noble, are not dead, when we are able at their graves to relight torches and go on with our sacred work. We cannot peruse a narrative of this kind without feeling that we are in a great succession, and that we ought to be in proportion great successors.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XVI

SAUL, THE PERSECUTOR

Act 7:57-60 ; Act 8:1-4 ; Act 22:4-5 ; Act 22:19-20 ; Act 26:9-11 ; 1Co 15:9 ; Gal 1:13 ; Gal 1:22-24 .

In a preceding chapter on Stephen we have necessarily considered somewhat a part of the matter of this chapter, and now we will restate only enough to give a connected account of Saul. In our last discussion we found Saul and other members of his family residents in Jerusalem, Saul an accomplished scholar, a rabbi, trained in the lore of the Jewish Bible and of their traditions, a member of the Sanhedrin, an extreme Pharisee, flaming with zeal, and aggressive in his religion, an intense patriot, about thirty-six years old, probably a widower, stirred up and incensed on account of the progress of the new religion of Jesus.

In considering this distinguished Jew in the role of a persecutor, we must find, first of all, the occasion of this marvelous and murderous outbreak of hatred on his part at this particular juncture, and the strange direction of its hostility. On three all-sufficient grounds we understand why Saul did not actively participate in the recent Sadducean persecution. First, the issue of that persecution was the resurrection, and on this point a Pharisee could not join a Sadducean materialist. Second, the motive of that persecution was to prevent the break with Rome, and Saul as a Pharisee wanted a break with Rome. Third, the direction of that persecution was mainly against the apostles and Palestinian Christians, who, so far, had made no break with the Temple and its services and ritual, or the customs of Moses. To outsiders they appeared as a sect of the Jews, agreeing, indeed, with the Pharisees on many points, and while they were hateful in their superstition as to the person of the Messiah, they were understood to preach a Messiah for Jews only and not for Gentiles. That is why Saul did not join the Sadducean persecution because of the issue of it, because of the motive of it, and because of the direction of it.

1. Five causes stirred him up to become a persecutor: First, the coming to the front of Stephen, the Hellenist, whose preaching evidently looked to a Messiah for the world, and not only looked to a break with Jerusalem and the Temple, but the abrogation of the entire Old Covenant, or at least its supercession by a New Covenant on broad, worldwide lines that made no distinction between a Jew and a Greek. That is the first cause of the persecuting spirit of Saul.

2. Stephen’s Messiah was a God-man and a sufferer, expiating sin, and bringing in an imputed righteousness through faith in him wrought by the regenerating Spirit, instead of a Jewish hero, seated on David’s earthly throne, triumphant over Rome, and bringing all nations into subjection to the royal law. This is the difference between the two Messiahs. So that kind of a Messiah would be intensely objectionable to Saul.

3. Stephen’s preaching was making fearful inroads among the flock of Saul’s Cilicean synagogue, and sweeping like a fire among the Israelites of the dispersion, who were already far from the Palestinian Hebrews.

4. Some of Saul’s own family were converted to the new religion, two of them are mentioned in the letter to the Romans as being in Christ before him, and his own sister, judging from Act 23 , was already a Christian.

5. Saul’s humiliating defeat in the great debate with Stephen.

These are the five causes that pushed the man out who had been passive in the other persecution, now to become active in this persecution. They account for the vehement flame of Saul’s hate, and the direction of that hate, not toward the apostles, who had not broken with the Holy City, its Temple, its sacrifice, nor the customs of Moses, but against Stephen and those accepting his broader view. We cannot otherwise account for the fact that Saul took no steps in his persecution against the apostles, while he did pursue the scattered Christians of the dispersion unto strange cities.

We may imagine Saul fanning the flame of his hate by his thoughts in these particulars:

1. “To call this Jesus ‘God’ is blasphemy.

2. “To call this convicted and executed felon ‘Messiah,’ violates the Old Testament teaching of David’s royal son triumphing over all of his enemies.

3. “That I, a freeborn child of Abraham, never in bondage, must be re-born, must give up my own perfect and blameless righteousness of the law to accept the righteousness of another, is outrageous.

4. “That I must see Jerusalem perish, the Temple destroyed, the law of the Mosaic covenant abrogated, and enter into this new kingdom on the same humiliating terms as an uncircumcised Gentile, is incredible and revolting.

5. “That this Hellenist, Stephen, should invade my own flock and pervert members of my own family, Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen [Rom 16:7 ], and my own sister [Act 23:16 ], and shake the faith of my other kinsmen, Jason and Sosipater [Rom 16:21 ], is insulting to the last degree.

6. “That I, the proud rabbi, a member of the supreme court of my people, the accomplished and trained logician, should be overwhelmed in debate by this unscholarly Stephen, and that, too, in my own chosen field the interpretation of the Law, Prophets, and Psalms, is crucifixion of my pride and an intolerable public shame. Let Stephen perish!

7. “But more humiliating than all, I find myself whipped inside. This Stephen is driving me with goads as if I were an unruly ox. His words and shining face and the Jesus he makes me see, plant convicting pricks in my heart and conscience against which I kick in vain; I am like a troubled sea casting up mire and filth. To go back on the convictions of my life is abject surrender. To follow, then, a logical conclusion, is to part from the counsel of my great teacher, Gamaliel, and to take up the sword of the Sadducee and make myself the servant of the high priest. Since I will not go back, and cannot stand still, I must go forward in that way that leads to prison, blood, and death, regardless of age or sex. Perhaps I may find peace. The issue is now personal and vital; Stephen or Saul must die. To stop at Stephen is to stop at the beginning of the way. I must go on till the very name of this Jesus is blotted from the earth.”

That is given as imagined, but you must bring in psychology in order that you may understand the working of this man’s mind to account for the flaming spirit and the desperate lengths of the persecution which he introduces.

Seven things show the spirit of this persecution, as expressed in the New Testament:

1. In Act 8:3 (Authorized Version), the phrase, “making havoc” is used. That is the only time in the New Testament that the word “havoc” is found. It is found in the Septuagint of the Old Testament. But it is a word which expresses the fury of a wild boar making havoc a wild boar in a garden: rooting, gnashing, and trampling. That phrase, “making havoc,” gives us an idea of the spirit that Saul had, which is the spirit of a wild boar.

2. In Act 9:1 , it is said of Saul, “Yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter.” How tersely expressed that is! The expiration of his breath is a threat, and death. Victor Hugo, in one place, said about a man, “Whenever he respires he conspires,” and that is the nearest approach in literature to this vivid description of the state of a man’s mind that the very breath he breathed was threatenings and slaughter.

3. The next word is found in Act 26:11 . He says, “being exceedingly mad against them.” That is the superlative degree. He was not merely angry at the Christians, but it was an anger that amounted to madness; he was not merely mad but “exceedingly mad.” So that gives you the picture of that wild boar.

4. “He haled men and women.” “Haled” is an old Anglo Saxon word. We don’t use it now, but it means “to drag by violence.” He didn’t go and courteously arrest a man; he just went and grabbed men and women and dragged them through the streets. Imagine a gray-haired mother, a chaste wife, a timid maiden, grabbed and dragged through the streets, with a crowd around mocking, and you get at the spirit of this persecution.

5. The next word is “devastate.” Paul used this word twice, and Ananias used it once (Act 9:21 ). That word is the term that is applied to an army sweeping a country with fire and sword. We say that Sherman devastated Georgia. He swept a scope of country seventy-five miles wide from Atlanta to the sea, leaving only the chimney stacks not a house, not a fence with fire and sword. And that word is here employed to describe Saul’s persecution.

6. Twice in Galatians he uses this word in describing it: “I persecuted them beyond measure,” that is, if you want to find some kind of a word that would describe his persecution, in its spirit, you couldn’t find it; you couldn’t find a word that would mean “beyond measure.”

7. The last phrase is in Act 22:4 , “unto death.” That was objective in spirit, whether men or women. These seven expressions, and they are just as remarkable, and more so, in the Greek, as they are in English, give the spirit of this persecution.

The following things show the extent of this persecution:

1. Domiciliary visits. He didn’t wait to find a man on the streets acting in opposition to any law. He goes to the houses after them, and in every place of the world. The most startling exercise of tyranny is an inquisition into a man’s home. The law of the United States regards a man’s home as his castle, and only under the most extreme circumstances does the law allow its officers to enter a man’s home. If you were perfectly sure that a Negro had burglarized your smokehouse, and you had tracked him to his house, you couldn’t go in there, you couldn’t take an officer of the law in there, unless you went before a magistrate and recorded a solemn oath that you believed that he was the one that did burglarize your place, and that what he stole would be found if you looked for it in his house.

2. In the second place, “scourges.” He says many times I have scourged them, both men and women, forty stripes save one; thirty-nine hard lashes he put on the shoulders of men and women. Under the Roman law it was punishable with death to scourge a Roman citizen. Convicts, or people in the penitentiary, can be whipped. Roman lictors carried a bundle of rods with which they chastised outsiders, but on home people they were never used. Cicero makes his great oration against Veres burn like fire when it is shown that Veres scourged Roman citizens. Seldom now do we ever hear of a case where a man is dragged out of his house and publicly whipped by officers of the law, just on account of his religion.

3. The next thing was imprisonment. He says, “Oftentimes I had them put in prison.” A thunderbolt couldn’t be more sudden than his approach to a house. Thundering at the door, day or night, gathering one of the inmates up, taking him from the home and taking him to jail. What would you think of somebody coming to your house when you were away in the night, and dragging your wife and putting her in jail, just because she was worshiping God according to the dictates of her conscience? We live in a good country over here. We have never been where these violent persecutions were carried on.

4. He says that when they were put to death he gave his voice against them. He arrested them and scourged them, and then in the Sanhedrin he voted against them.

5. In the next place he compelled them to blaspheme. The Greek doesn’t mean that he succeeded in making them blaspheme, but that he was trying to make them blaspheme. For instance, he would have a woman up, and there was the officer ready to give her thirty-nine lashes in open daylight: “You will get this lashing unless you blaspheme the name of Jesus,” Paul would say. Pliny, in writing about the Christians in the country over which he presided when he was ordered to persecute the Christians, says, “I never went beyond this: I never put any of them to death if when brought before me he would sprinkle a little incense before a Roman god. If he would Just do that I wouldn’t put him to death.”

6. Expatriation, ex , from, patria terra , “one’s fatherland” exiled from one’s country. It was an awful thing on those people at a minute’s notice either to recant or else just as they were, without a minute’s preparation, to go off into exile, father, mother, and children. The record says, “They were all scattered abroad except the apostles.”

7. Following them into exile into strange countries, and cities, getting a commission to go after them and arrest them, even though they had gotten as far from Jerusalem as Damascus.

8. The last thing in connection with the extent of this persecution is to see, first, the size or number of the church. Let us commence with 120 (that is, before Pentecost), add 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, add multitudes daily, add at another time 5,000 men and women, add twice more, multitudes, multitudes, then we may safely reach the conclusion that there were 100,000 Jewish communicants in that first church at Jerusalem. That represents a great many homes. This man Paul goes into every house, he breaks up every family. They are whipped; they are imprisoned; they are put to death or they are expatriated; and over every road that went out from Jerusalem they were fleeing, the fire of persecution burning behind them. The magnitude of the persecution has never been fully estimated.

There are eight distinct references by him in two speeches and four letters that show his own impressions of this sin. One of them you will find in the address that he delivered on the stairway in Jerusalem when he himself was a prisoner (Act 22 ); another one is found in his speech at Caesarea before King Agrippa (Act 26 ). You will find two references in Gal 1 of the letter to the Galatians (1:13, 23) ; there is one in 1Co 15:15 ; another in Phi 3 ; still another, and a most touching one, when he was quite an old man (1 Timothy). We may judge of the spirit and the extent of a thing by the impression that it leaves on the mind of the participator.

Everything that he inflicted on others, he subsequently suffered. He had them to be punished with forty stripes save one; five times he submitted to the same punishment. He had them put in prison; “oftentimes” he was imprisoned. He had them expatriated; so was he. He had them pursued in the land of expatriation; so was he. He had them stoned; so was he. He attempted to make them blaspheme; so they tried to make him blaspheme under Nero, or die, and he accepted death. He had them put to death; so was he. Early in his life, before a great part of his sufferings had yet commenced, we find his catalogue of the things that he suffered in one of the letters to the Corinthians, and just how many particular things that he had suffered up to that time.

Two considerations would naturally emphasize his unceasing sorrow for this sin:

1. His persecution marked the end of Jewish probation, the closing up of the last half of Daniel’s week, in which the Messiah would confirm the covenant with many. From this time on until now, only an occasional Jew has been converted. Paul did it; he led his people to reject the church of God and the Holy Spirit of God, the church which was baptized in the Spirit, and attested by the Spirit. He, Saul, is the one that pushed his people off the ground of probation and into a state of spiritual blindness judicial blindness from which they have not yet recovered.

2. The second thought that emphasized this impression was that he thereby barred himself, when he became a Christian, from doing much preaching to this people. In Rom 9 he says, “I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” “I bear them witness,” he says in the next chapter, “that they have a zeal for God,” and in Act 22 he says that when he was in the Temple wanting to preach to Jews, wanting to be a home missionary, God appeared to him, and said, “Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; because they will not receive of thee testimony concerning me.” That was one of the most grievous things of his life, and we find it, I think (some may differ from me on this), manifested in the last letter of his first Roman imprisonment the letter to the Hebrews. He wouldn’t put his name to it. He didn’t want to prejudice its effect, and yet he did want to speak to his people.

Let us compare this persecution with Alva’s in the Netherlands, and the one following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In a few words, it is this: There were two great bodies of Christian people, so-called, in France the Romanists and the Huguenots. Henry of Navarre was a Huguenot. He became king of France, outwardly abjuring his Huguenot principles, but on the condition that liberty of conscience should be allowed to the people. His grandson, Louis XIV, revoked that great edict of toleration, and by its revocation, in one moment, commanded hundreds of thousands of his people to adopt the king’s religion. If they didn’t, troops or soldiers were placed in their homes with the privilege of maltreating them, and destroying their property, without being held responsible for any kind of brutal impiety that they would commit. Their young children were taken away from the mothers and put in the convents to be reared in the Romanist faith; the men had their goods confiscated, and in hundreds of thousands of instances were put to death. They were required to recant or leave France at once. Before they got to the coast an army came to bring them back, and when some of them did escape, my mother’s ancestors, the Huguenots, when that edict was revoked, came to South Carolina. Some of them went to Canada, some to other countries where there was extradition. The Romanists pursued them, and when they were able to capture them, brought them back to France to suffer under the law. Some of those that reached Canada left the settlements and went to live among the Indian tribes. There they were pursued.

When Alva came into the Netherlands (Belgium and Holland), the lowlands, under Philip, the King of Spain, the inquisition was set up and he entered the homes; he made domiciliary visits; he compelled them to blaspheme; he put to death the best, the most gifted, those holding the highest social and moral positions in the land, to the astonishment of the world. With one stroke of his pen he not only swept away all of their property, but anyone that would speak a kind word to them, or would keep them all night in the house, such a person was put to death. All over that country there was the smoke going up of their burning, and the bloodiest picture in the annals of the world was what took place when Alva’s soldiers captured a city. I would be ashamed before a mixed audience to tell what followed. The devastation was fearful.

This persecution illustrates the proverb, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Whenever Saul put one to death, a dozen came up to take the place of that one. Indeed, he himself caught on his own shoulders the mantle of Stephen before it hit the ground, as God put the mantle of Elijah on Elisha, and as God made John the Baptist the successor in spirit to Elijah. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

The effect of this persecution on the enlargement of the kingdom, and on missions, was superb. Those Jewish Christians in Jerusalem those terrapins would never have crawled away from there, if Saul hadn’t put fire on their backs, but when the fire began to burn and they began to run, as they ran, they preached everywhere. It was like going up to a fire and trying to put it out by kicking the chunks. Whenever a chunk is kicked it starts a new fire. When that persecution came, then Philip, driven out, preached to the Samaritans. Then men of Cyrene, pushed out, preached to Greeks in Antioch, and they opened up a fine mission field. Peter himself, at last, was led to see that an uncircumcised Gentile like Cornelius could be received into the kingdom of God. So it had a great deal to do with foreign missions.

The effect of this persecution in bringing laymen to the front was marvelous. They never did come to the front in the history of the world as they did in this persecution. The apostles were left behind. The preachers right in the midst of the big meeting in which 100,000 people had been converted, were left standing there, surrounded by empty pews, with no congregation. The congregation is now doing the preaching. A layman becomes an evangelist. These people carry the word of God to the shores of the Mediterranean, into Asia Minor, to Rome, to Ephesus, to Antioch, to Tarsus, to the ends of the earth, and laymen do an overwhelming part of this work.

It is well, perhaps, in this connection to explain how Saul, in this persecution, could put to death Christian people, since they, the Jews, had no such authority. In the case of Christ we know that it was necessary for the Jews to obtain Roman authority in order to put to death, but just as this time Pontius Pilate was recalled, the Roman Procurator was withdrawn, and a very large part of the Roman military force and the successor of Pilate had not arrived, so the Jews were left pretty much to themselves until that new procurator with new legions came to the country.

QUESTIONS 1. What of Saul already considered in a preceding chapter?

2. Why did not Saul participate actively in the Sadducean persecution?

3. What five causes stirred him up to become a persecutor?

4. How may we imagine Saul fanning the flame of his bate by his thoughts?

5. What seven things show the spirit of this persecution as expressed in the New Testament?

6. What things show the extent of this persecution?

7. What eight distinct references by him in two speeches and four letters which show his own impressions of this sin?

8. What were his own sufferings, in every particular? Were they such as he inflicted?

9. What two considerations would naturally emphasize the unceasing sorrow for this sin?

10. Compare this persecution with Alva’s in the Netherlands and the one following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

11. How does this persecution illustrate the proverb, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”?

12. What was the effect of this persecution on the enlargement of the kingdom, and missions?

13. What was the effect of this persecution in bringing laymen to the front?

14. How do you explain that, in this persecution, Saul could put to death Christian people, since they, the Jews, had no such authority?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XI

THE OFFICE OF DEACON, THE PHARISAIC PERSECUTION, STEPHEN AND SAUL TO THE FRONT, A NEW ISSUE, AND THE REJECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE ANOINTED CHURCH BY JERUSALEM

Act 6:1-8:3 .

So far in the book of Acts we have considered two leading thoughts: (1) the coming of the Holy Spirit to occupy and to accredit the church; (2) the Sadducean persecution, waged on account of the issue made by the church and the Holy Spirit that Christ was risen from the dead. The topics of discussion in this chapter are very important. We have already noted that the protracting of the great revival commenced at Pentecost (which really lasted three and a half years), detained, in the Holy City, multitudes of the Jews of the dispersion for so long a time that great necessity arose, which was met by a burst of philanthropy never surpassed in the world’s history.

Our first topic is the creation of the office of deacon. The church was composed of Hebrews and Hellenists, or Grecians. The Hebrews were Palestinian Jews, speaking the mixed Hebrew tongue, called Aramaic, and were generally more rigid than the Hellenists in devotion to all the rites and traditions of the past.

The problem of fairly distributing the benevolent fund of the church to all the needy ones now confronted the church. There came up a complaint on the part of the Grecians, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. That was the problem. It would not do to have the church divided on a matter of that kind, and there had to be a solution of that problem. The solution was that the apostles ordered the church as a whole to select a body of men who should attend to this financial, or secular matter; and that they would then be ordained to the work by prayer and the laying on of hands. The church thereupon elected seven men, calling them from among the Grecians, the parties from whom the complaint came, and these seven men took charge of this matter and relieved the apostles from having to consider the temporalities when all their energies should be devoted to preaching the Word. That was the solution of the problem.

Let us connect and explain the following: Act 2:45 , where they had everything common, and out of that common fund provided for all the necessitous cases of the entire congregation; Act 4:35 , where Barnabas and others sold their possessions and put the proceeds of the sale into this common fund; Act 6:1 , where complaint arose about the fairness in the distribution of this fund; Act 11:29 and Act 12:25 , where a contribution was made for the purpose of aiding the poor saints in Jerusalem; 1Co 16:1-4 , where Paul says, “As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store . . . that no collections be made when I come,” this fund to be sent to Judea to help the poor saints; 2 Corinthians 8-9, which is devoted to the same subject; and 1Ti 5:3-11 , where Paul instructs Timothy, who was then at Ephesus, as to what kind of widows to receive on this beneficiary list.

My object in grouping these scriptures is to show more clearly than heretofore in what respect they had “all things common” that it was with regard to the necessity. Those who had abundance either gave money, or sold their property and got money, and put it into a common fund, and that fund had to be distributed among all of the necessitous cases, according as each had need.

When you study this account all the way through the New Testament, you will see that it did not approximate in meaning what the Socialists now claim for it; that it did not mean that all of the property was to be common, but that all should participate according to the ability, to create a fund common to the necessity.

We have here the lesson in church polity, that though the apostles themselves were present, the election of officers must be by the church, being congregational in form and polity, and every member of the church, male and female, being entitled to an equal vote in matters that related to the congregation. We have already found the same thing in the election of the successor to Judas. Here again it is made perfectly plain that even the twelve men, inspired of God, did not assume to elect officers of the church. They directed the church to do the electing, and they participated in the ordination. This was the institution of the deacon’s office referred to in Phi 1:1 , where Paul writes to the bishops and deacons, and whose qualifications are set forth in 1Ti 3:8-13 .

The philosophic ground on which this institution rests is the division of labor. An Old Testament parallel is Jethro’s suggestion to Moses to appoint judges to judge the small matters, and let him (Moses) judge only of matters God-ward. In Christ’s time, Judas exercised the deacon’s office. That college of apostles was a church in embryo, and Judas, one of the twelve, carried the bag, with the result that he extracted from it its contents. “He was a thief,” John says. We may well ask another question: Is there a failure when the preacher exercises the deacon function, and was that the reason for now putting this temporal matter into the bands of laymen?

A preacher can dip a brush In lampblack and swab out all the white in his reputation, if he goes wrong on the use of church funds.

I knew a preacher who wanted all the time to be deacon as well as pastor; he kept all the funds, and there was a great row at the final examination of his financial accounts.

The Methodists and the Romanists both hold that a deacon is an order of the clergy. It cannot be that it was intended to institute a new order in the ministry, for the reason assigned: “We cannot leave the word of God and serve tables; therefore, look ye out brethren from among you, suitable men, to attend to this, and we will give ourselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer.” That makes it perfectly plain that they were not intending to create a new order of preachers, but secular officers to attend to the temporalities of the church.

I heard a sermon by a great Mississippi Baptist preacher, S. S. Lattimore, father of J. C. Lattimore, of Waco, and 0. S. Lattimore, of Fort Worth. The subject was, “We Cannot Leave the Word of God to Serve Tables,” and the position he took was that the deacon is elected to serve tables: (1) The tables of the poor. (2) The table of the Lord’s Supper. (3) The table of the pastor. I thought it a very ingenious division of the table question.

If, then, it was not intended to create a new order in the ministry, what about the preaching of two of these deacons Stephen and Philip? The explanation is that deacons sometimes become preachers. Two of these seven did. We see such things happen now, but they were not elected to the office of preacher in this case (Act 6:1-6 ).

The present classifications in the ministry are: (1) pastors, meaning shepherds; bishops, meaning overseers of the work, which refers to the same office; pastors or bishops are those that have charge of the church; (2) evangelists, or kingdom preachers; (3) missionaries. A missionary may not necessarily be an evangelist. Those can hardly be called different orders in the ministry that is, one is not higher than the other; it is not a graded thing, but it is a classification.

Some people are concerned to know whether a deacon should be a married man and a father. I will say that is better, but I would not consider it absolutely necessary. We certainly cannot infer it from the passage that is usually quoted: “Likewise their wives . . . grave.” The word does not mean “wives,” i.e., the wives of deacons, but it means “deaconesses.” It is better that these men be men of rich religious character and experience, and possessing the confidence of the denomination, as they are going to handle public funds.

The result of the solution of this problem which confronted the church is found in Act 6:7 : “The word of God increased, and multitudes were converted.” There are certain essential elements of the rite or ceremony of ordination indicated here: (1) election by the church; (2) prayer; (3) laying on of hands. Those three things belong to the rite, or the ceremony, or ordination.

These remarks have been preliminary. We now advance in the discussion. A new man came to the front at this time, and his character and work rendered him prominent, not only then, but in all ages since. That man was Stephen, and the character of his work was as follows. The record states (1) that he was full of the Holy Spirit; (2) that he was full of faith; (3) that he wrought miracles and wonders. When it says that he was full of faith, it means that he had a clearer and stronger faith than any other man then living on the earth. No one of the apostles had such clear recognition of the meaning of the kingdom of God and of the church and of the work of the church as this man Stephen. He is the colossal figure in the history of the early church. He presented a new matter to the people which it took the apostles a long time to see.

In Act 6:9 we find a synagogue and some other terms of the verse that need explanation. This was a Jewish synagogue, not for resident Jews, but for Jews of the dispersion, who stayed for a long time in Jerusalem, and as they did not understand the Hebrew language, the ordinary Jewish synagogue in Jerusalem did not benefit them much, so it is called (1) the synagogue of the “Libertines” (Freedmen); (2) “Cyreneans and Alexandrians” Jews from northern Africa, where they had been settled by one of the Ptolemies; (3) “Cilicia and Asia,” the home of Saul; a great many Cilician Jews were in that synagogue. It is implied in their making an issue with Stephen that Stephen himself, being a Grecian, being one of the dispersed Jews, and better able to speak to that class than to the Hebrews, was pushing, particularly among these dispersed Jews, the grand thoughts concerning the kingdom of God that he bore in his own mind. He was very aggressive; he carried the war into the enemy’s territory. Saul of Tarsus was probably the rabbi of this synagogue. He was educated first at home, then he was graduated in their theological school, of which Gamaliel was president, and became a rabbi, and was of this particular synagogue.

The method of resistance to the gospel now adopted by this synagogue, which was entirely new, was to debate the question. There had been no debate heretofore. The Sadducees did not try to debate with them. This young man, Saul, was a trained thinker, speaker and logician, and he did not propose to let this thing go without “tackling” it in debate. So there was a challenge for debate. Stephen was making certain points, and he was making them among these Grecian people. Still young and ambitious, he had his fire; he believed confidently in his ability to beat any man in -the world. They put it up to him to debate the question. And this is the new method of resistance. The two opposing were the rabbi of this synagogue, and Stephen, who was pushing war over into that synagogue. I would like to have heard the discussion. I am sure it was a fight of the giants.

The issue now is not the resurrection of the dead, but on the whole of the old dispensation having served its purpose; it is vanishing and a new dispensation takes its place. Many of the things in the old dispensation were nailed to the cross of Christ. Their great Temple is now an empty house; its veil is rent in twain from top to bottom; a new temple has been anointed, according to the prophet Daniel, in Daniel 9 the anointing of the most holy place the Holy Spirit coming down and filling the house that Jesus built, leaving the other house vacant. Everything in connection with that system that is local and transitory has vanished away. In other words, Stephen was making right there in that debate just exactly the argument that is made in the letter to the Hebrews that in the new dispensation is a greater than Moses, a greater than the angels, a greater than Joshua, a greater than Aaron. That a greater sacrifice than the bullocks, sheep, and goats, offered on Jewish altars, had been offered. There is then the new temple, the new Sabbath also, everything new now; just what the letter to the Hebrews discusses. This is the issue that Stephen made that this Jesus is the one pointed out by Moses and by the prophets as the true Messiah. That is the forward step taken by Stephen.

The result of the debate is given in Act 6:10 : “And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spake.” They could not resist the power of his eloquence, and Saul went down in the fight. A deaf man was once asked why he attended a big debate, since he could not hear. He said he could always tell which side got whipped. “Why?” he was asked. “Because the one that gets whipped gets mad.” So Saul, failing in this new method of resistance by discussion, revived an old one, an account of which we find in Act 6:11-14 . They took up that old “rusty sword of persecution” that the Sadducees had tried. They took this thing into the courts, and brought the power of the council to bear on it, and decided this matter dogmatically.

When they arrested Stephen and tried him before the Sanhedrin there were three charges, and that shows what he had been preaching:

(1) Their witnesses testified that this man Stephen had spoken blasphemous words about their Temple. I have no doubt that Stephen said it was an empty house that had served its day that it was only waiting a short time until it would be blotted out from the earth, and one stone would not be left upon another that it was never to be erected again, never to have the altar of sacrifices again. That is the first charge, and we see how plausible they made it.

(2) That he spoke against the law. I have no doubt that they made plausible proof on that, and yet it was false. He did not speak against the law, but just as Christ said: “I have not come to destroy, but to fulfil it” that the law in all of its types and shadows and ritual had been completed, filled full, and there was no more use for it; that there was a new law, calling for a different Sacrifice, calling for a different Priest.

(3) That he preached that so far as the customs taught by Moses were typical and ritualistic, and pertaining to a past dispensation, they would be changed. I have no’ doubt that he stood there and preached that the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles was broken down and ground to powder. And he had more faith in that than any other man of his time. His appearance and bearing before the Sanhedrin were marvelous. He did not look like a guilty man; he did not look scared. When they looked steadfastly at him they saw a face illumined a face like the face of an angel. The Lord God was the light of his countenance. The light and glory of God was in his eye. He stood there as a king among men. He did not come in like a whipped cur, begging pardon for existence or appealing for pity.

Let us analyze his defense, and especially make clear his charge against them. The defense corresponds to the charge in its three parts Act 6:13-14 . It shows that the Jews misunderstood their own scriptures, which distinctly showed the transitory nature of the old dispensation. He submits his proof: (a) That Moses foretold the coming of a Prophet like unto himself, whose teaching should be final, (b) The prophets foretold the same thing, (c) The tabernacle of Moses was temporary, and succeeded by the Temple, (d) That God had left the old Temple, since he dwelleth in a temple not made with hands. Stephen was preaching a temple not made with hands the church every stone in this new temple being a living stone, or a converted man or woman, (e) That all through the probations of their history they had rejected the definitely appointed leaders. They had rejected Moses; they had rejected God; they had rejected the prophets; they had rejected the Lord himself, when he came in fulfilment of the prophecy of Moses; and now, to cap the climax, they were rejecting the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent from heaven; they were resisting the anointed church which that Spirit accredited. The effect of the defense and the charge on that Sanhedrin was terrific: “They gnashed on him with their teeth.” They were “cut to the heart.” The word of God was a sword in the hands of Stephen. It was living and powerful, and dividing the joints, reaching the marrow and laying bare the soul itself in its nakedness. His face was shining. One of the great painters, Rembrandt, obtained his special style by putting a halo around the face. The photographers adopt that style now, in which the face is flooded with light, and this is exhibited in the picture. We read that the face of Stephen was illumined, and looking up, far above earthly courts, he sees the heavens opened, and the heavenly court. He sees the supreme court of the universe, the glory of God, and Jesus, who is represented as seated on the right hand of God. He has leaped up to his feet. Stephen said, “I see Jesus, standing at the right hand of the majesty on high.”

That vision was according to a prophecy of our Lord. When Christ had been put on oath, about three and a half years before this time, by this same Sanhedrin, having the same officers, he said (testifying under oath that he was the Messiah), “Hereafter ye shall see me at the right hand of God.” They counted that blasphemy when Christ said it. Now Stephen, remembering the words of the Lord says, “I see him. He said he would appear at the right hand of God. I see him there.” His appearance was his demonstration that he was the Messiah. According to what promise of the Lord? Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself.” When the time of a Christian’s death approaches, there is a coming of the Lord. Jesus meets him at the depot of death, and receives him into the everlasting tabernacles. Stephen, the brittle thread of his life about to be snapped in twain, and his soul to be evicted by violence from his crumbling body, says, “I see him; he is standing; he said he would come, and he has come.” What was the reason of the effect on that council? It is that this vision which this man evidently saw was a plea established upon what Christ had said, and, therefore, they were affected instead of this man being affected, and though affected, yet not in love with the truth brought to light. They hated it. The greater its light the more they squirmed; the greater the light, the more they writhed in it. Just like a worm exposed to the light, they could not stand the effect of the light. So they brought in a verdict on the charge of blasphemy, and he was executed as indicated by the penalty, which was stoning. Saul was a member of the Sanhedrin and voted in rendering this verdict, the proof of which is found in Act 8:1 ; Act 26:10 : “Saul was consenting unto his death . . . when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them.” But Stephen made a twofold prayer, which sustains a relation to the words and deeds of our Lord. His first prayer was, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” looking into the face of Jesus, just as we look into any man’s face. Jesus was there, and as the tenement of clay was about to crumble, and the soul was about to be evicted, Stephen said, “Lord, receive my spirit.” What word of Christ does he recollect? “It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The other part of his prayer was, “Lord Jesus, lay not this sin to their charge,” praying for his murderers.. Jesus made intercession for the transgressors: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” So Stephen was talking to the Lord, that he lay not this sin to their charge. Augustine said of this prayer in one of his great homilies:

Si Stephanus non sic orasset, Eccleaia Paulum non haberet.

If Stephen had not so prayed, The Church had not had Paul.

I sometimes think of that prayer and that fiery disputant who was mad because he had been defeated in the debate, and who is now a persecutor, a witness and judge, and of Stephen, looking in the face of the Saviour, and saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to Saul’s charge,” and then I track that prayer until I see it answered.

There is special significance in the fact that the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of Saul. He was the chief persecutor, and as the law required that the witnesses should lay aside their outer cloaks, and cast the first stone, so when they disrobed themselves of their outer cloak in order to stone Stephen, they brought their clothes and put them at the feet of this young man named Saul, showing that everything was being done under his direction and leadership.

The persecution now commenced is unlike the Sadducean persecution. It is the most sweeping transaction that the Jews ever conducted in their history. It includes that most abominable of all exercises inaugurated inquisitorial visitation into the private home, and the dragging of men and women violently before the courts, and then when they were put to death, Saul gave his vote against them. It reached every man, every woman, and every child in the church, except the apostles, and expatriated those whom it did not select. The fire was so hot that they fled in every direction.

A distinct prophetic period here ends according to Daniel, who said that when the Messiah comes, he will confirm the covenant with many for one week; that in the middle of the week he should be cut off that is, he would confirm it for one week of three-and-a-half years during his public ministry, and then he would confirm it three-and-a-half years after his death. This persecution of Saul is the end of the second three and-a-half years. Hereafter the salvation of the Jews is an exception; hence there will be no ingathering of the Jews until they shall say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” It means that the God of salvation is now shut out from their faces. But this persecution affects the church in a broader understanding of its commission. Its members see now, as I will show in a subsequent discussion, that Samaria must have the Word of God; that the Gentiles must also have it, as was seen in the forward step of this fiery Stephen, such as they had never had before, and that no apostle had up to that time. This gives Stephen a prominent place in the transition. He is a keystone figure in the transaction. He is the colossal leader that gets the church out of its rut of preaching to Jews only, and puts the wheels of the carriage of salvation on a graded road and track that will lead to every nation, tribe, tongue, and kindred in the world. Likewise Saul sustained a vital relation to this great transition. He was the man who by that debate and that persecution, just as effectually, though unconsciously, helped to spread the gospel to the whole world, as he did later when he preached it himself. Thus again the wrath of man was made to praise God.

But what of the execution of Stephen on the verdict of a Jewish court, on a Jewish charge, with a Jewish penalty, as compared with what the same Sanhedrin had said three years before to Pilate (Joh 18:31 ) of the unlawfulness of their putting a man to death? Pilate said, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law,” and they said, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.” Here they were putting a man to death, and they were trying him according to their law, and Paul says, “We tried and put to death.” Here is the explanation: This was the year A.D. 37, in which Tiberius, the Emperor, died, and the new emperor had not come in, and as procurators were appointees of emperors, there were no procurators. At this juncture there was no procurator in Palestine, no Pontius Pilate, and, therefore, they took matters into their own hands at the risk of a subsequent explanation of it when the emperor should come to it. Just here the Pharisee persecution ended by the conversion of Saul, and then the church had rest (Act 9:31 ).

Act 7:2-3 ; Act 7:22 ; Act 7:25 ; Act 7:53 shed much light on the Old Testament. Act 7:2-3 says, “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.” The Revised Version of Genesis indicates that God’s call to Abraham took place after he got into the promised land. Stephen here says that that call came before he got to Haran. The King James Version rightly translates Gen 12:1 and the Revised Version “slips up” on it. The Authorized Version says, “God had said to Abraham.” Act 7:22 says, “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.” That throws light on the education of Moses, and also on the public official deeds of Moses. Act 7:25 says, “And he [Moses] supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance.” That throws light on the interference of Moses in Egypt, and shows that God had told him that he was to deliver Israel. He had a revelation which we do not learn from Exodus. He supposed his people understood that they were to be delivered by him. Act 7:53 says, “Ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.” That is light on the Sinaitic covenant that it came through the ministry of angels, later reaffirmed in the New Testament, accepted by Jews, and especially claimed by Josephus. Just here is needed an explanation of Act 7:16 , which says, “And they were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for the price in silver of the sons of Hamor in Shechem.” The only explanation of that is that there is an error in the text of the copyist. Abraham did not buy that land. If we go back far enough we will see that it was Jacob’s and not Abraham’s; and that Jacob claimed that he got it by bow and spear. His sons, Levi and Simeon, got it by as rascally a trick as was ever perpetrated.

QUESTIONS 1. What are the leading topics so far discussed in Acts?

2. What are the themes of this chapter?

3. What is the distinction between Grecians and Hebrews in Act 6:1 ?

4. What problem now confronted the church, and what its solution?

5. Connect and explain the following scriptures: Act 2:45 ; Act 4:35 ; Act 6:1 ; Act 11:29 ; Act 12:25 ; 1Co 16:1-14 ; 1Cor. 8-9; and 1Ti 5:3-11 .

6. What lesson of church polity here taught?

7. Was this the institution of the deacon’s office referred to in Phi 1:1 , and whose qualifications are set forth in 1Ti 3:8-13 ? What the proof?

8. On what philosophic ground does this institution rest, what Old Testament parallel, who in Christ’s lifetime exercised the deacon’s office, and what the result?

9. Was the deaconship, now established, an order in the ministry as taught by some denominations? If not, how explain the preaching of Stephen and Philip, who were deacons?

10. What are the present classifications in the ministry? Give examples.

11. Must a deacon be a married man and a father?

12. What was the result of the solution of this problem, which confronted the church?

13. What are the essential elements of the rite of ordination?

14. What new man now comes to the front, and what character of his work rendered him prominent, not only then, but in all ages since?

15. Explain the synagogue of Act 6:9 and the other terms of the verse, and what is implied in their making an issue with Stephen?

16. Who was probably the rabbi of this synagogue?

17. What entirely new method of resistance to the gospel now adopted by this synagogue, and who were the opposing leaders?

18. What is the issue this time as contrasted with the Sadducean issue, and what great forward step had been taken by Stephen which created this issue?

19. What is the result of the debate?

20. Failing in this new method of resistance by discussion, what old one did they revive?

21. What charges did they bring against Stephen, and what the plausibleness of each?

22. What his appearance and bearing before the Sanhedrin?

23. Analyze his defense; especially make clear his charge against them.

24. What is the effect of the defense and the charge, on the council?

25. What is the vision of Stephen, what its relation to a prophecy of our Lord, also to a promise of our Lord, and what the reason of its effect on the council?

26. Did they render a verdict, and on what charge was he executed, as indicated by the penalty?

27. Was Saul a member of the Sanhedrin, did he vote in casting this verdict, and what the proof?

28. What was Stephen’s twofold prayer, and what its relation to the words and deeds of our Lord?

29. What said Augustine of this prayer in one of his great homilies?

30. What is the significance of the witnesses laying their clothes at the feet of Saul?

31. What is the sweeping persecution that followed, what its signification, what its character, what its extent, and what its result?

32. What distinct prophetic period ends here, and what its meaning to the Jewish nation?

33. How did this persecution affect the church with reference to the commission?

34. What may be said of Stephen’s relation to this great transition?

35. What was Paul’s relation to it?

36. Compare the execution of Stephen on the verdict of a Jewish court, on a Jewish charge, with a Jewish penalty, with what the same Sanhedrin had said three years before to Pilate, and explain.

37. How did the Pharisee persecution end?

38. What light on the Old Testament from Act 7:2-3 ?

39. What light is also from Act 7:22 ?

40. What is from Act 7:25 ?

41. What is from Act 7:53 ?

42. Harmonize Act 7:14 with Gen 46:26 f; Exo 1:5 ; Deu 10:22 .

43. Explain Act 7:16 .

44. Explain the word “church” in Act 7:38 .

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Ver. 1. And Saul, &c. ] It is all one to hold the sack and to fill it, to do evil or to consent to it.

And Saul was consenting to his death ] Gr. , “to his murder;” for it was no better,Act 12:2Act 12:2 ; Act 5:33 . Damnari, dissecari, suspendi, decollari, piis cum impiis sunt communia. Varia sunt hominum iudicia: ille faelix qui iudice Deo absolvitur, saith Erasmus concerning Berquin, the martyr, burnt in Germany. Dorotheus witnesseth, that when Stephen was stoned, there were 2000 other believers put to death the same day. Certain it is, that after Mr Rogers had broken the ice here under Queen Mary, there suffered in like sort, one archbishop, four bishops, 21 divines, eight gentlemen, 84 craftsmen, 100 farmers, servants, and labourers, 26 wives, 20 widows, nine virgins, two boys, and two infants; in all 277. Some say a great many more.

And they were all scattered ] To the Church’s great advantage, which, like the sea, what ground it loseth in one place, it getteth in another. So at Melda in France (10 miles from Paris), Brissonet, the bishop thereof, desirous of a reformation, put away the monks and called in the help of various godly ministers. But being persecuted by the Sorbonists, he soon fell off from the profession of the truth; and those good ministers (Faber, Farelhs, Ruffus, and others) were driven into various other places of France, where they planted various churches; the destruction of one being the edification of many. a Farellus, one of those afore mentioned ministers, was God’s instrument of gaining the inhabitants of Geneva, Lausanne, Novocoma, &c.

a Unius Ecclesiae destructio multarum fuit aedificatio. Scultet. Annal.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 3 .] PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH BY SAUL, CONSEQUENT ON THE DEATH OF STEPHEN.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1. . ] See reff.: and compare his own confession, ch. Act 26:9-11 . From this time, the narrative takes up Saul, and, at first with considerable interruptions (ch. 8, 10, 11, 12.), but after ch. Act 13:1 entirely, follows his history.

. . can hardly mean, as some (Dr. Burton, De Wette, Meyer, Stier) would render it, on that very day , viz. when Stephen was stoned. For what follows, cannot have happened on the same day, but would take some little time: and it is hardly allowable to render ‘ broke out .’ We have . used indefinitely, Luk 6:23 ; Joh 14:20 ; Joh 16:23 ; Joh 16:26 . In Luk 17:31 it has direct reference to a just mentioned.

] Not perhaps literally , or some of them soon returned: see ch. Act 9:26-30 . It may describe the general dispersion, without meaning that every individual fled.

] Connected with Act 8:4 ; this word is not without importance, as introducing the next step in the dissemination of the Gospel , according to our Lord’s command in ch. Act 1:8 .

] Perhaps, from their exalted position of veneration by the people, the persecution did not extend to them: perhaps they remained, as possessed of superior firmness and devotion. But this latter reason is hardly applicable, after the command of our Lord, ‘When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.’ Mat 10:23 . Stier (Reden d. Apostel, i. 253) refers their remaining to an intimation of the Spirit, to stay and strengthen those who were left ( , Chrys.). Mr. Humphry (Comm. on Acts) cites an ancient tradition, mentioned by Clem [52] Alex., Strom. vi. 5 [43], end, p. 762 P, from the Prdicatio Petri (and by Euseb. H. E. Act 8:18 ), that the Apostles were ordered by our Lord to remain at Jerusalem twelve years: , , . But this could not be the case, as we have Peter and John going down, to Samaria, Act 8:14 .

[52] Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 8:1 . . . ., R.V. joins these words to the conclusion of the previous chapter, and thus brings them into a close and fitting connection with Act 7:58 . So too Wendt, Blass, Nsgen, Zckler. : for this characteristic Lucan use of the imperfect of the substantive verb with a participle, see chap. Act 1:10 . The formula here indicates the lasting and enduring nature of Saul’s “consent”. The verb is peculiar to St. Luke and St. Paul, and is used by the former in his Gospel as well as in Acts, cf. Luk 11:48 , Act 22:20 (by St. Paul himself with reference to his share in the murder of St. Stephen), Rom 1:32 , 1Co 7:12-13 . The word is also found in 1Ma 1:57 (Act 4:28 ), 2Ma 11:24 ; 2Ma 11:35 , signifying entire approval; it is also twice used by St. Clement, Cor [213] , xxxv. 6; xliv. 3: “consent” does not express the force of the word “was approving of his death” (Rendall). : used only here in N.T. (on St. Luke’s favourite word , see Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium , p. 22); both verb and noun were frequent in medical language (Hobart, Zahn), see below on Act 9:29 , but the noun in LXX, Num 11:15 , Jdt 15:4 , 2Ma 5:13 , and in classical Greek, e.g. , Xen., Hell. , vi., 3, 5. : another characteristic formula in St. Luke, Friedrich, u. s. , p. 13; here introduces a new section of the history. : (R.V. “on that day” (A.V. “at that time”), cf. Act 2:41 ; the persecution broke out at once, “on that very day” (so Wendt, Rendall, Hort, Hackett, Felten, Zckler, Holtzmann), the signal for it being given by the tumultuous stoning of the first martyr (but see on the other hand Alford, in loco ). Weiss draws attention to the emphatic position of before . .: hitherto as, e.g. , Act 5:11 , the Church has been thought of as one, because limited in fact to the one city Jerusalem, but here we have a hint that soon there would be new Ecclesi in the one Ecclesia, as it spread throughout the Holy Land (Hort, Ecclesia , pp. 53 56, 227, and Ramsay, St. Paul , etc., pp. 41, 127, 377). : “ridiculum est hoc mathematica ratione accipere” (Blass) it is evident from Act 8:3 that there were some left for Saul to persecute. In Act 9:26 we have mention of a company of disciples in Jerusalem, but there is no reason to suppose (Schnecken-burger, Zeller, Overbeck) that Luke has made a mistake in the passage before us, for there is nothing in the text against the supposition that some at least of those who had fled returned again later. : only in St. Luke in N.T., here and in Act 8:4 , and in Act 11:19 . This use of the word is quite classical, and frequent in LXX, e.g. , Gen 9:19 , Lev 26:33 , 1Ma 11:47 . Feine remarks that even Holtzmann allows that the spread of Christianity throughout Juda and Samaria may be regarded as historical. : here rendered “regions”: Blass takes the word as almost = , and see also Plummer on Luk 21:21 , “in the country,” R.V. The word is characteristic of St. Luke, being used in his Gospel nine times, and in Acts eight; it is used thrice by St. Matthew and by St. John, four times by St. Mark, but elsewhere in N.T. only once, Jas 5:4 . It is found frequently in LXX and in 1, 2, 3 Macc. : thus the historian makes another step in the fulfilment of the Lord’s command, Act 1:8 , and see also Ramsay, St. Paul , etc., p. 41. St. Chrysostom remarks , since the persecution became the means of spreading the Gospel, and thus early the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. : characteristic of St. Luke, sometimes as an adverb, sometimes as a preposition with genitive as here and in Act 15:28 , Act 27:22 ; elsewhere it is only found once as a preposition with genitive, in Mar 12:32 , although very frequent in LXX. The word occurs at least thirteen times in the Gospel, four times in Acts, in St. Matthew five times, in St. Mark once, and in Joh 8:10 ; see Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium , pp. 16, 91. This mention of the Apostles seems unlikely to Schneckenburger. Schleiermacher, and others, but, as Wendt points out, it is quite consistent with the greater steadfastness of men who felt themselves to be , as cumenius calls them, in that which concerned their Lord. Their position too may well have been more secure than that of the Hellenists, who were identified with Stephen, as they were held in favour by the people, Act 5:13 , and as regular attendants at the temple services would not have been exposed to the same charges as those directed against the proto-martyr. There was, too, a tradition (very old and well attested according to Harnack, Chronologie , i., 243) to the effect that the Apostles were commanded by Christ not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years, so that none should say that he had not heard the message, Euseb., H. E. , v., 18, 14; nor is there anything inconsistent with this tradition in the visit of St. Peter and St. John to Samaria, since this and other journeys are simply missionary excursions, from which the Apostles always returned to Jerusalem (Harnack). The passage in Clem. Alex., Strom. , vi., 5, 43, limited the Apostles’ preaching for the time specified not to Jerusalem, but to Israel. : our Lord had recognised the barrier between the Samaritan and the Jew, Mat 10:5 ; but now in obedience to His command (Act 1:8 ) both Samaritan and Jew were admitted to the Church, for although the Apostles had not originated this preaching they very plainly endorsed it, Act 8:14 ff. ( cf. Hort, Judaistic Christianity , p. 54). Possibly the very fact that Philip and others were flying from the persecution of the Jewish hierarchy would have secured their welcome in the Samaritan towns.

[213] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Acts Chapter 8

Outwardly also the death of Stephen was the epoch when the murderous spirit, provoked by his solemn and fearless testimony, burst out against all who bore the name of the Lord.

‘And there arose on that day a great persecution against the assembly that was in Jerusalem, and1 they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And devout men buried Stephen and made great wailing over him. But Saul was ravaging2 the assembly, entering throughout the houses, and dragging men and women was delivering [them] to prison. They therefore that were scattered abroad went about evangelizing the word’2 (vers. 1-4).

1 The first hand of the Sinaitic leaves out the copula, with two cursives, which Tischendorf singularly adopts. It is just as necessary as in ver. 2.

2 Laud’s MS., E, gives the aorist here, and adds ‘of God’ at the end of ver. 4, in both faultily, in the latter with several Versions.

Blinded by religious pride and jealousy the Jews were but sealing their guilt irrecoverably. Those who despised the Messiah in humiliation on earth were now rebelling against Him glorified in heaven, rejecting withal the Holy Spirit Whom He had sent down to render a divine testimony to His glory. Man in his best estate is not only vanity but enmity against the God of love. The spirit of the departed martyr they had sent, as one said, to Jesus on high with the message, We will not have this Man to reign over us. So had the Lord once figured the hatred of ‘the citizens’ in the parable of the pounds (or, minas) (Luk 19:11-27 ); and thus were His words punctually verified. That generation has not passed away; nor will it, as He has apprised us, till all things He predicted shall have taken place, and the most tremendous of these woes await the end of the age which He terminates by His appearing in glory.

But the rage then in Jerusalem was so intense and widespread against the assembly there that they were all scattered abroad except the apostles. It was in accordance with the word of the Lord that the testimony of the gospel of grace should begin ‘at Jerusalem’, and so it did. It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to the Jews, and so it was. ‘This salvation of God’ must be sent unto the Gentiles, and they will also hear: but it must go fully to the Jews first, and this was now being done; and the Jews rejected it with a persecuting obstinacy as yet beyond all example on earth. It was reserved for Popery to outdo that day in unrelenting opposition to the word of God and in sanguinary hatred of His saints. ‘They were all scattered abroad’ throughout the neighbouring regions ‘except the apostles’: a persecution as remarkable for its success in dispersing the objects of its fury, as for the exception specified; for those who stayed would naturally be the most obnoxious of all.

This is the more striking because the charge in Mat 10:23 (‘when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next’) was primarily to the twelve so strange it seems that Canon Humphry should take our chapter as a fulfilment of the command of our Lord, though the closing words point rather to a future testimony in the land before the end of the age. Nor is Calvin more happy who will have it that the apostles remained behind as good pastors for the safety of the flock; for it is evident that the sheep were all gone. Still less tolerable is Bp. Pearson’s idea (Lect. in Acta App. iv. x. p. 62, Opera Posth. 4to. Lond. 1698) that the tradition of the second century, mentioned by Clemens Alex. and Eusebius (H.E.), accounts for it; namely, that our Lord forbade the apostles leaving Jerusalem for twelve years! This very chapter later on disproves it. He bade them go and disciple all the nations, yea, go into the world and preach the gospel to all the creation. Remission of sins was to be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem. They were to tarry in the city but it was expressly till they were clothed with power from on high, without a thought of twelve years.

But for the present, in the face of that great persecution, the apostles abide. Divine wisdom ordered all aright. They remain there together unmoved by the storm which dispersed all others, for important purposes which afterwards appear; and the spread of the glad tidings falls under the good hand of the Lord to His scattered saints. No man beforehand could have foreseen such a result of such an ebullition. God was rejected not alone in His unity as of old, but also in His Son, and now in His Spirit. His truth was counted a lie, His saints as sheep for the slaughter. But if the apostles abode, the dispersed brethren went in all directions announcing the glad tidings of the word. It is just the action of the Holy Spirit in the gospel which we see as God’s answer to the people’s full and final rejection of His grace; and this was secured in the best and most unmistakable way by the apostles remaining, while all the rest were scattered, with no other external impulse than the last degree of human hatred from rebellious Israel in the city of solemnities itself. The love of Christ constrained: they believed and therefore spoke.

Meanwhile ‘pious men buried Stephen, and made great wailing over him’ (ver. 2). There is nothing in the epithet to necessitate our regarding these as disciples. They were rather God-fearing Jews whose conscience revolted against the lawless end of a trial that began with the form of Jewish law and was carried on with the corruption of suborned testimony which then characterized the chosen nation. Calvin has missed the point of the account by the assumption that it is for us a lesson of the faithful even in the heat of persecution, not discouraged but zealous in the discharge of those duties which pertain to godliness. Still further did he err in making Luke also commend their profession of godliness and faith in their lamentation, as if they identified themselves with Stephen’s life and death, and testified withal what great loss the church of God had suffered by his decease. The force of this history lies in the raising up decent burial and exceeding lamentation on the part of Jews who were not of the assembly, when those on whom it would have devolved were not there to pay the last offices of love. There is no need with Meyer to render the particle which introduces the account as an adversative. The writer was inspired to give it as an additional feature of the scene, not without interest and profit to the believer who sees and values the gracious care of God even in such circumstances. A Gamaliel stands up for righteous wisdom at the right moment, and pious men bury the martyr with great wailing where it could be least expected.

The true opposition is in what is next told us of his fanatical and bitter zeal who was afterwards to be the most devoted servant of the Lord, who had also to experience what it is in the church to be less loved the more abundantly he loved, spending and spent out most gladly for the souls of men. ‘But Saul was ravaging the assembly, entering the houses throughout, and dragging both men and women delivered [them] to prison’ (ver. 3). Religious rage is of all the most unrelenting; and fresh victims do not satiate but whet its cruel appetite, sex and age being alike disregarded.

It may be well here to remark that ‘to announce the glad tidings’ is ministry of the gospel no less than to ‘proclaim, or preach’, in ver. 5. After Dr. Hammond, Mr. Brewster in his Lectures on this book gives no valid reason for laying stress on the difference, in order to support what he calls ‘regular commission’. First, the former word () is used of our Lord Himself (Mat 11:5 ; Luk 4:18 , Luk 4:43 ; Luk 7:22 ; Luk 8:1 ; Luk 20:1 ), so it is of the apostles (Luk 9:6 , Act 5:42 ; Act 13:32 , Act 14:7 Act 14:15 , Act 14:21 ; Act 15:35 ; Act 16:10 ; Act 17:18 ; Rom 1:15 ; Rom 10:15 ; 1Co 1:17 , 1Co 9:16 , 1Co 9:18 , 1Co 15:1 , 1Co 15:2 ; 2Co 10:16 ; 2Co 11:7 ; Gal 1:8 , Gal 1:11 , Gal 1:16 , Gal 1:23 ; Gal 4:13 ; Eph 3:8 ); surely far more than enough to refute the mean or vague use to which he would confine it. Secondly, the latter word () is so little restricted to an official class, that it is applied to the healed leper and demoniac in their proclaiming what the Lord had done for each of them (Mar 1:45 , Mar 5:20 ), and so to those who published the cure of the deaf and dumb (Mar 7:36 ). Again, it () stands side by side with the former word in Luk 4:18 , Luk 4:19 , Luk 4:44 ; Luk 8:1 ; Luk 9:2 ; Rom 10:15 ; 1Co 1:23 ; 1Co 9:27 ; 1Co 15:11 , 1Co 15:12 ; 2Co 11:4 . Further, the latter word (), not the former, is used of those at Rome, who during the apostle’s imprisonment preached Christ, some even of envy and strife, thinking to raise up affliction for him in his bonds (Phi 1:15 , Phi 1:16 ). Were there an atom of truth in the alleged distinction, there would be just the occasion to employ this supposed expression for mere speaking or irregular work. But it is not so; the apostle describes the preaching of the heartless as well as the true workmen by the term () which Mr. B. will have to be distinctive of the duly commissioned official.

The notion is therefore wholly unscriptural. Difference of course no one denies, for the one means to announce glad tidings, the other to proclaim or publish, but this is wholly independent of the desired confinement of preaching to those ordained for the purpose, an idea purely imaginary and opposed to all the evidence of scripture. Those who had the gift were not free but bound to exercise it in responsibility to Christ the Lord. Elders were chosen by apostles or apostolic envoys, and deacons by the multitude but for other objects, nor did they ever preach in virtue of their proper office. They might be evangelists like Philip. Otherwise they were no more authorized than the rest of the saints, like the dispersed before us. Rules and order even in earthly things are of moment, but quite distinct from preaching or teaching for which ordination is unknown to God’s word.

But Dr. Guyse represents another class which limits ‘all’ scattered abroad to ‘preachers’! This he does by misinterpreting verse 2 of ‘Stephen’s religious friends’, and those ravaged by Saul in verse 3, so as to deny the general preaching by the turning it into the ‘remainder of the 120 that was called the apostles’ own company’ (Act 4:23 ), and perhaps including several other later converts that had received the gift of the Holy Ghost and went about as evangelists to preach the gospel!1 How sad these evasions of the truth on the part of godly men! Power makes itself felt; and gifted men should be the last to silence any Christian who can evangelize. For it is a question of divine qualification, not of human sanction, which last is really a restraint on the Holy Spirit, a slight of Christ’s grace, and a hindrance, so far as man can be a hindrance, to sinners’ salvation. How blessed the grace of God, Who, without design on the apostles’ part or even a hint from any, turned the world’s dispersion of the assembly into scattering far and wide the seeds of gospel truth!

1 Much truer to the word is Doddridge’s note – ‘There is no room to inquire where these poor refugees had their orders. They were endowed with miraculous gift; if they had not been so, the extraordinary call they had to spread the knowledge of Christ wherever they came, among those who were ignorant of Him would abundantly justify them in what they did,’ (Fam. Expos. iii. 105, 106 Tenth Ed.)

Among the great host of those that were scattered publishing the word of the Lord one is singled out by the Spirit of God, who achieved a signal victory for grace where law had utterly failed as always. Samaria was won by the gospel to the name of Jesus; and the good soldier who fought was Philip. He was one of the seven chosen by the saints and appointed by the apostles to do diaconal work in Jerusalem. But the ascended Lord had given him as an evangelist, as we may learn expressly from Act 21:8 ; and here we find him in Samaria engaged in this work for which he had the gift, not in that office to which he had been ordained now that the dispersion of the saints from Jerusalem no longer admitted of its functions. But as gift is in the unity of Christ’s body (Eph 4:11-13 ), so its exercise is above passing circumstances and has ample scope, where a local charge were out of place, as our chapter abundantly testifies. It is the free action of the Holy Spirit exemplified in the details of an individual, as we have already seen it generally in the dispersed.

‘And Philip went down to a city of Samaria and preached to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord gave heed to the things spoken by Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did. For [as to] many1 that had unclean spirits, they went out crying with a loud voice and many palsied and lame were healed. And there was great2 joy in that city’ (vers. 5-8)

1 The true text here is a good instance of the tendency in later copyists to soften down a rugged or peculiar construction and so get rid of the difficulty. The older MSS., ABCE, some cursives, and among the ancient versions the Vulg., Sah., Syrr., et al., support , which gives grammatically an anacoluthon or irregularity of construction by no means uncommon: so 7: 40. We can easily understand the change to in order to make all smooth, supported by but two later uncials (HP) with the mass of cursives et al.

2 The critical reading (not ) seems to refer to the extent rather than the quality of the joy.

The worthlessness of tradition is made manifest, though unintentionally, by Eusebius (H.E. iii. 31; ed. Heinichen, i. 261-263), who cites a letter of Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, to Victor, bishop of Rome, before the end of the second century, speaking of Philip as ‘one of the twelve apostles’, ‘and his daughters’. But what could be expected of a man who could in the same letter interlard the scriptural description of John with ‘who became priest bearing as he did the mitre’ or high-priest’s plate? See also Eusebius H.E. v. 24. So rapid was the loss of Christ’s truth, so inexcusable in presence of plain scriptural facts before all readers. They may ridicule Papias; but what of one bishop who reports the fable, and of another (among the most learned in his day) who uses it more than once in his History of the Church? Such are very early Christian fathers, ignorant of scripture to the last degree, yet idolized by superstitious men who profess to receive the Scriptures as inspired of God.

It is interesting to note that the city in question was the same where the Son of God had made Himself known to not a few Samaritans who confessed Him to be the Saviour of the world (Joh 4:39-42 ).

Now the Christ is preached there by one of whom it could be said in all truth – that after serving well as a deacon, he was gaining to himself a good standing, or step in advance, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus (1Ti 3:13 ). It was meet that both should be rather in Sychar (afterwards Neapolis and Nablous), ancient Shechem and Sichem at the foot of Gerizim, the mountain that vainly sought to rival Jerusalem, rather than in the city of Samaria, lately rebuilt or enlarged by Herod the Great, and named Sebaste in honour of Augustus.3 There the Lord deigned to abide two days, deepening the impression produced by the sinful woman saved from death, and giving them to hear Him themselves and to know the truth in Himself.

3 In no part of this chapter or of the New Testament is the city meant, but the country, containing cities and many villages. Sychar was the religious centre ebaste the capital politically.

The enemy seemed now in possession like a flood; but the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him in the preaching of Philip, confirmed by the signs which he wrought before their eyes. No miracle was needed there when the Lord visited the place and wrought as the great and acknowledged Prophet, though in truth the central object and glorious sum of all prophecy. It was the Father seeking true worshippers through the Son, Who declared Him in a fullness of grace and truth which surmounted the trammels of Judaism; and the word went home in power though not without the Holy Ghost which the Son gives as a divine spring of unfailing enjoyment. But now Satan had sought to efface the truth and set up a rival in sorcery, ever apt to seduce, interest, and alarm those who know not the true God. And the time was also come for God to bear witness in men, the servants of Christ on earth, to His victory over Satan and His glorification on high, as we have seen in previous chapters of this Book. Hence the energy of the Spirit was at work in Samaria in a free herald of the gospel, after the testimony had been refused with an enmity up to death in Jerusalem. On the one hand, the crowds gave heed with one accord to the things spoken by Philip; on the other, from many that were possessed unclean spirits came out with loud outcries, and many palsied and lame were healed. Can we wonder that ‘there was much joy in the city’? But with Luk 8:13 before me I could not affirm so absolutely as J. Calvin (Opera vi. 71) that the joy must be the fruit of faith. At least the ‘faith’ may not be of God, as we see in the flagrant case which the Holy Spirit brings here before us. Indeed not a few remarks in Calvin’s Commentary seem rash.

Yea, such was the power at work that even the main instrument of Satan fell under the general influence of the multitudes he had so long seduced to his lies. ‘But a certain man, Simon by name, was before in the city practising magic and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed from small to great, saying, He is the power of God that is called1 Great. And they gave heed to him, because a long time he had amazed them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip evangelizing2 about the kingdom of God and the name of 3 Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. And Simon also himself believed; and being baptized he continued with Philip and, beholding signs4 and great works of power as they were done, was amazed’ (vers. 9-13).

1 ABCDE, many cursives, and ancient Vv., etc. supply ‘called’, omitted in the Received Text on inferior authority, and probably because the copyists, not perceiving its importance, imagined it was a mere gloss. It is expressive of the egregious assumption of the impostor.

2 On the other hand ‘the things’ is an insertion contrary to the oldest witnesses, which enfeebles the sense here, and in Act 28:23 , though in general a favourite expression of Luke if not peculiarly his.

3 The article, read by a few cursives but adopted in the Text. Rec., has no place here in the best authorities.

4 The best copies and Versions have the order of words here followed as in the margin of the Authorized Version. R. Stephens, Elz., Beza even from his first edition (Tiguri, 1559) are right; not so Erasmus and Colinaeus who read , nor the Complut. Edd. who have . . . . It may be added that the MSS. CD from the primary hand join at the end of the verse in the great blunder of ‘they were’ amazed.

This is the only reliable account of one who prominently figures in the early ecclesiastical writers as a heresiarch most hostile to the truth, but with so much fable surrounding him as to prove how little we can trust their statements. Some object to his being classed with the leaders of heresy, on the ground that he was not a Christian. He certainly was ‘baptized’, as he is said to have ‘believed’, and thus had a better title (as far as profession goes) than his Samaritan master Dositheus, who is said to have been a disciple of John the Baptist, but eclipsed in his leadership subsequently by Simon. Even Justin Martyr who had the double advantage of being a native of Flavia Neapolis which arose out of the ruins of Sychar, and of being born not a century after, seems to have fallen into the blunder of confounding the Sabine deity, Semo Sancus (who had a statue erected to his honour), with Simon Magus. Dr. E. Burton in a note to his Bampton Lectures (Oxford, 1829) endeavours to show the impossibility of such a mistake on the part of Justin, and has put together from various learned men what can be said in favour of Simon’s deification at Rome. If it were so, it is of small consequence. The alleged contests between him and the apostle Peter whether at Caesarea or at Rome, are too absurd to notice, being evidently legends grafted on the inspired history by the unhallowed hands of men whose mind and conscience were alike defiled. Destitute of the truth they betook themselves to marvels of the imagination, which after all rather detract from the solemn effect of sacred history, and add nothing to the dignity of the apostle’s exposure, or to the blind self-condemnatory turpitude of the unhappy man himself.

Whatever the mischievous result of Simon’s sorcery and falsehoods leading to his own blasphemous pretensions – and we are here told of his misleading all around small and great (for what avail rank or education to guard from error?) – all vanished like smoke before the light of the gospel. ‘The kingdom of God’ and ‘the name of Jesus’ annihilated the vain jugglery and impious frauds of the Samaritan.

But it is instructive to notice that there is a difference in the language of verse 12 as compared with 13, and a difference in favour of the men and women in the former as against the latter. They are said simply to have believed the testimony and to have been baptized; the same is said of Simon with the important addition that he attended closely to Philip, and while beholding the signs and great works of power as they were done, was amazed. This was what transported him, not the love of God, not the truth of Christ, nor the grace of the gospel even to such a guilty deceitful wretch as himself, but the wondrous power which wrought before his eyes. Its overwhelming reality struck none so deeply as Simon. Others had their eyes drawn to the kingdom and its holy glories; others in spirit fell down and clasped the feet of their unseen Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, lost in wonder, love, and praise. Simon was in ecstasies, beholding the signs and great deeds of power, the character of which was discerned by none more clearly than himself. He yielded to evidence and believed what approved itself to his mind irrefragably. Not a word implies self-judgment before God, not a word of any gracious action on his heart. Conscience was not ploughed up; nor did the affections flow under the sense of God’s immeasurable grace in Christ to save trim from his sins. On the other hand, it is not said of the men and women in the verses before that they were ‘amazed’, as Simon was in his close attendance on Philip, not to hear the truth more fully and grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but ‘beholding the signs and great deeds of power as they came to pass.’

The Spirit of God thus lays bare to us in this description, it seems to me, the merely natural source of Simon’s faith as distinguished from others. And such is all faith that is founded on ‘evidences’, which the mind judges and accepts accordingly. It may not be in the least insincere, and those who so believe may be the readiest to do battle, if it seem necessary, for their creed. But there is no life, as there is no repentance, no link with Christ formed by the Holy Spirit through the reception of the word, because it is God’s word, discovering God to the guilty conscience and delivering withal through Christ dead and risen.

Still Simon may have fully credited himself with honest conviction of the truth; and, in the warmth and haste of so mighty a work in so short a time, not even Philip saw reason to question his confession. In fact, where it is the mind without conscience, progress is much more rapid, and all outwardly looks promising for a little where a soul thus easily passes into the ranks of Christ. We have not long to wait for the circumstances which betrayed unmistakably the unrenewed condition of Simon’s soul, delivered the saints from what had else been a constant incubus, and gave himself the most solemn warning that his heart was not right with God.

The tidings of God’s gracious work in Samaria could not but make a powerful impression on all saints; and of these none would estimate its importance so deeply as the personal companions and most honoured servants of the Lord in Jerusalem. His will and glory, as well as love to the objects of His grace that they might be blessed more abundantly, drew their hearts to the spot where God had wrought so manifestly. Indeed the Lord risen (Act 1:8 ) had specially named Samaria as a scene of future testimony for the disciples. What a contrast with Jews having no intercourse with Samaritans!

‘Now when the apostles that were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, the which on coming down, prayed for them that they might receive [the] Holy Spirit; for as yet He had fallen upon none of them: only they had got baptized unto the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit’ (vers. 14-17).

Some important principles of truth, too often overlooked, are illustrated here.

The independency of congregationalism is shown to be as far as possible from the will of God. There was no holding aloof on the part of the chiefs in Jerusalem, though we hear of no request for their intervention on the part of the Samaritans. The apostles felt as members of the one body of Christ for the fresh objects of divine grace; and yet the chosen future exponent of that great mystery was still in his sins and unbelief.

Nor was there the smallest jealousy in Philip, because other servants of Christ came whose place in the assembly was so much higher than his own. Love, the ‘way of surpassing excellence’, as yet prevailed; and as the members generally had the same care one for another, in none did this appear so conspicuously as in those whom God set in the church first: for Christ’s sake and according to His word they were in the midst of them serving as bondmen. Nothing was farther from the heart of the chiefs who ruled, than on the one hand to be called Rabbi, Father, and Master, or on the other to affect the lordly style of either patronizing or despising the Gentiles. It was on all sides the power of the life of Christ.

Again, it will be noticed that the apostles sent two of their number, not James (son of Alphaeus) and Thaddaeus, nor Simon Zelotes and Matthias but their unquestionably choicest pair, Peter and John. Can any believer be so dull as to conceive that this had no far-reaching purpose in the mind of Him Who dwells in the assembly and knows the end from the beginning and would give the sure light of His word to such as look to Him for guidance? Not even Satan, I am bold to think, yet indulged in the dream of an exclusive1 chair for Peter’s direction of the church as a whole; still less of a present throne in command of the ‘powers that be’ with a triple crown of pretensions over heaven, earth and hell. On the contrary, without a thought of these vanities of ecclesiastical ambition and most profane assumption, the apostles in love and wisdom send, to those that had received the word of God in Samaria, Peter and John. Who better qualified, were it needed, to judge and report truly? Who could be the bearer of better blessings from on high? or who in fine be more jealous for the glory of the ‘one Shepherd’, in dealing with these ‘other sheep’, which were not of the Jewish ‘fold’?

1 The bare structure of the phrase in the Text. Rec. of the Greek, one article for Peter and John, joins both in a common position here. But the great uncials do not favour its insertion.

And what could more become servants of Christ when they did come down? They ‘prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit’. God had hitherto withheld this, the great and characteristic privilege of the Christian. But the apostles in Jerusalem were in the current of His will and ways. And Peter and John on the spot perceived the lack and spread it out before God, not out of doubtful mind, but reckoning on His faithfulness to make good the promise of the Spirit. Even at Pentecost Peter was led to look beyond the Jews and their children to all that were afar off, as many as the Lord their God might call to Him (Act 2:39 ). ‘For as yet He was fallen upon none of them; only they had got baptized unto the name of the Lord Jesus.’

So plainly then is the situation laid before us that doubt is inexcusable. On the one hand these Samaritans believed the word, as they were also thereon baptized; on the other hand not one of them had as yet been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Jewish saints had at once received on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Yet from the days of the so-called Fathers down to the Reformers, and hence till our own day, not merely the superstitious but men beyond most for godliness, ability, and learning, as to this seem at sea, as if they had no chart. It is indeed one of those deep blanks in traditional theology (Catholic or Protestant, Arminian or Calvinist, being here almost equally at fault), which involves incalculable loss practically as well as in spiritual intelligence, and is nowhere more felt than in the worship of God. The soul’s entrance into the truth has commensurate blessing in its train, as those know who have made the transition from ignorance of this truth into the enjoyment of it.

Thus Chrysostom (Cramer’s Cat. Pat., iii. 136) and OEcumenius speak of the Samaritan converts receiving the Spirit for remission, but not for signs: a manifest departure from scripture which never designates the first gospel work of the Spirit in the soul as ‘the gift of the Spirit’, nor consequently as a question of ‘reception’ (comp. Act 2:38 ; Act 19:2 ).

But leaving the Fathers, one must content the reader with J. Calvin’s remarks as well as Dr. J. Lightfoot’s as a sufficient sample. The former are purposely cited from Beveridge’s edition of the early English version given in the series of the Calvin Translation Society (Acts i. 338-339) ‘But here ariseth a question, for he saith that they were only baptized into the name of Christ, and that therefore they had not as yet received the Holy Ghost; but baptism must either be in vain and without grace, or else it must have all the force which it hath from the Holy Ghost. In baptism we are washed from our sins; Paul teacheth that our washing is the work of the Holy Ghost (Tit 3:5 ). The water used in baptism is a sign of the blood of Christ; but Peter saith that it is the Spirit by Whom we are washed with the blood of Christ (1Pe 1:2 ). Our old man is crucified in baptism that we may be raised up in newness of life (Rom 6:6 ); and whence cometh all this save only from the sanctification of the Spirit’ And finally what shall remain in baptism if it be separate from the Spirit (Gal 3:27 )? Therefore we must not deny but that the Samaritans, who had put on Christ indeed in baptism, had also His Spirit given them (!) And surely Luke speaketh not in this place of the common grace of the Spirit whereby God doth regenerate us that we may be His children, but of these singular gifts wherewith God would have certain endued at the beginning of the gospel to beautify Christ’s kingdom. Thus must the words of John be understood, that the disciples had not the Spirit given them as yet, forasmuch as Christ was yet conversant in the world; not that they were altogether destitute of the Spirit, seeing that they had from the same both faith and a godly desire to follow Christ; but because they were not furnished with these excellent gifts wherein appeared afterwards greater glory of Christ’s kingdom. To conclude, forasmuch as the Samaritans were already endued with the Spirit of adoption, the excellent graces of the Spirit are heaped upon them, in which God showed to His church, for a time as it were, the visible presence of His Spirit, that He might establish for ever the authority of His gospel, and also testify that His Spirit shall be always the governor and director of the faithful.’

This is enough to show where pious and enlightened men are in general as to the truth of the Spirit and indeed of redemption also. They are not aware that the gift () of the Spirit, whilst over and above that communication of life which is common to all saints in Old and New Testament days, is at the same time quite distinct from the gifts () and more especially from powers and tongues, the sign-gifts which the Spirit distributed in honour of the risen Lord Jesus when inaugurating that new thing, the church, the body of Christ, here below. Nor is Christian baptism a sign of life, but rather of sins washed away and of death to sin with Christ. That is, it is a sign of salvation, the demand before God of a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the present clearance of a Christian, and not merely what the heir had in his nonage under law. Then was a perfectly sure promise, now there is full accomplishment for the soul (1Pe 1:9 ) which baptism expresses as a figure. But this is quite distinct from the Spirit, given to the believer as the seal of redemption and earnest of the inheritance; and this distinction in particular the great French Reformer ignored, as people do to this day. Hence in his great anxiety to guard against sacramentalism (though even here his language is unsafe and has been used for evil by the men of that school), he lowers the reception of the Spirit to transient displays of energy and thus involves himself in hopeless antagonism to scripture. The words of John 14-16 go far beyond miracles, healings, or kinds of tongues. They are to be understood of the far different presence of the Paraclete Himself, Who was to dwell with the disciples and be in them; and this is not for ‘a time as it were’, but to abide for ever.

The Samaritan believers were saints then, and children of God, but not yet endued with the Spirit, any more than the Old Testament saints who, though born of the Spirit, never received that great gift, which was not and could not be till redemption, when God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into hearts already renewed, crying, Abba, Father. No doubt sensible gifts then and for a while accompanied the Spirit’s presence thus vouchsafed, but we err greatly if we either confound the gift with the gifts, or deny the new and abiding privilege with what all saints had before redemp

A brief extract from what our learned Dr. Lightfoot says (Works viii. 125-128, Pitman’s edition) will suffice. ‘The Holy Ghost thus given meaneth not His ordinary work of sanctification, and confirming grace; but His extraordinary gift of tongues, prophesying, and the like. And this is evident, by the meaning of that phrase, “the Holy Ghost”, in the scriptures when it denoteth not exactly the person of the Holy Ghost or the third person in the Trinity.’ Here again we have the same confusion of God’s new and distinctive endowment of the church, the ever-abiding gift of the Holy Ghost, with the gifts, some of which took a visible form and others not It is admitted that what is called ‘sanctification of the Spirit’ (1Pe 1:2 ) is different and previous; as it is that vital work of separating a soul to God which takes place in conversion or quickening, and therefore has always been and always must be, as long as God in His grace calls sinners to Himself from among men. This typically is what answered to the washing of the unclean in the Levitical figure; then followed the application of the blood of sacrifice; and lastly the anointing oil, which only is what the New Testament designates the reception of the Spirit, wholly distinct from the new birth (which answers to the water), the blood intermediately being the token of being brought under redemption. The gifts, however important in their place, were quite subordinate, and might be some of them but temporary, though all, of course, were in full force when the Spirit was given at Pentecost.

Are Christians then grown wiser in our day? Let Dean Alford bear witness (The Greek Test., fifth edit. ii. 88, 89), who, like the rest, takes advantage of the accompanying gifts, which might be seen, to ignore the incomparably more momentous unseen gift of the Holy Ghost. Further, he cites the very remarks of Calvin, as ‘too important to be omitted’, which we have seen to be a heap of confusion that might with justice be exposed more trenchantly still were this the task in hand. They all agree in the great error of reducing the gift of the Holy Spirit to the outward ‘miraculous gifts’, instead of seeing along with these the unprecedented and transcendent privilege of Himself given to be the portion of the saints for ever. It is the more inconsistent (and error is apt to be inconsistent) in Dean Alford, inasmuch as he owns in his note on Joh 16:7 , ‘that the gift of the Spirit at and since Pentecost was and is something TOTALLY DISTINCT from anything before that time: a new and loftier dispensation’. His own emphasis is given as he puts it.

One of these objections is that the imposition of hands preceded that gift here as well as in Act 19 , where the apostle Paul laid his hands for a like purpose and with a like result on the twelve disciples at Ephesus. But why should this offend them? They may not like the ritualistic effort to base confirmation on a scripture which gives no real countenance to that ceremony; they may feel grieved at or ashamed of a mere form without power, they may justly censure R. Nelson (or any citing him) for untruly referring to Calvin as if he thought confirmation was instituted by the apostles. For in fact in the Institutes (iv. ch. 19: 76) he disproves the very thought attributed to him. But to deny that it was the Holy Spirit Himself that was communicated at Samaria and Ephesus by imposition of apostolic hands is to fly in the face of God’s word; to construe it into the gifts, and not the gift, of the Spirit, is to prepare the way for the most withering unbelief and the loss of the spring of all true power. For what is the church without the personal presence of the Holy Ghost? and what is the Christian without His indwelling? That which baptizes into unity does not exist otherwise, there is no power adequate to constitute the believer a member of Christ; for both depend on the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Let it be observed that the two main occasions of that gift were to the Jewish believers (Act 2:4 ) and to the Gentiles (Act 10:44 ), on neither of which is there a word expressed or implied about Laying on of hands. Indeed one has only to weigh both accounts (Pentecost being, of course, the fullest and chief) to gather that there could be nothing of the sort on either day. The peculiar cases of Samaria and Ephesus, which some would unintelligently erect into a rule to supersede those more general, were but ancillary as events, though the blessing conferred was of course, as far as it went the same For on each of these where the laying on of hands occurred, the principle was, it would seem, to guard against rivalry, to bind the work of God together, and to put the most solemn sign of divine honour, first on the Jewish apostles, and next on the apostle to the uncircumcision. This was of moment to mark, but we do not find it repeated, save for special reasons and with other features, on Timothy personally (1Ti 4:14 ; 2Ti 1:6 ). But God had taken care at an early day to anticipate and cut off possible misuse by employing a disciple, not the apostle, in the very conspicuous instance of the great apostle himself (Act 9:17 ), as if to break beyond dispute all thought of a successional chain.

It may be well also to say that the effort to make the anarthrous form mean no more than a special gift or particular operation of the Holy Spirit is not borne out by scriptural usage. For we find employed with and without the article, so as to demonstrate that this expression in no way excludes His blessed personality, but only falls under the usual principles of the language. Where it is intended to present Him as a distinct object before the mind, the article appears, where it only characterizes, the phrase is, as ever, anarthrous. Here, to go no farther, we have in verses 15, 17; but in 18 to; pneu’ma. Were it merely previous mention, we should have had the article in 17 as well as 18. The true solution, however, is not here contextual, but the intention is not to present objectively. Where this is not so, the accusative of a transitive verb is regularly without the article, as being only the complement of the notion expressed by the verb, where it is sought to present the governed word as an object before the mind, the article is added. The usage therefore is thoroughly exact. So in Act 19:2 we have twice without the article, but in verse 6 the article in its emphatic duplication; where in seems vain to contend that the Holy Spirit is not meant in all these cases. Is there then not a difference? Unquestionably; but the difference lies, not in the contrast of a special gift with His general influence, as men say, or even with His person, but in the questioned character of what was received in the one case with the definite object before the mind in the other, most suitably accompanying such a phrase as ‘came’ upon the men described.

This is the true key to Act 1:2 , Act 1:5 , not the mere circumstance of the preposition (strangely supposed by some to be exceptional) which serves to define, as the phrase in verse 8 brings the Spirit into an objective point of view. But it is the self-same Spirit in each case; and could a mistake be greater than to allow that Christ only gave injunctions by a particular gift, and that the disciples enjoyed Him in all His fullness? Compare also Act 10:38 with 44. So, on the eventful day when the promise of the Father was fulfilled, we find in Act 2:4 the Spirit both without and with the article, and there according to the principle enunciated: when used to characterize what filled all, it is designedly anarthrous, when the phrase presents a distinctively objective cast of thought, the article is as correctly inserted. The presence or the absence of the article leaves the Holy Spirit untouched and only affects the aspect meant – person or power. Compare verses 17, 18, 33, 38, Act 4:8 , Act 4:31 (a very remarkable expression in the text of the oldest codices); Act 5:3 ; Act 6:5 ; Act 7:55 ; Act 8:29 , Act 8:39 ; Act 9:17 , Act 9:31 ; Act 10:38 , Act 10:44 , Act 10:45 , Act 10:47 ; Act 11:15 , Act 11:16 , Act 11:24 , Act 11:28 ; Act 13:2 , Act 13:4 , Act 13:9 , Act 13:52 ; Act 15:28 ; Act 16:6 , Act 16:7 . The Epistles would only add and confirm by further instances.

Thus were the Samaritans sealed of the Holy Spirit and made members of Christ in full possession of the church’s privileges, no less than the saints at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

The sight of the blessing brought out the true condition of Simon. He was amazed, before the two apostles entered the scene, as he beheld the signs and great deeds of power wrought by Philip. Now that others from among the Samaritans received like power, Satan prompted his unrenewed mind to evil.

‘Now Simon, when he saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, offered them money, saying, Give me also this power that, on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive [the] Holy Ghost. But Peter said to him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou thoughtest to obtain the gift of God through money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and beseech the Lord if so be the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee, for I see that thou art in gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. And Simon said in answer, Beseech ye for me with the Lord that none of the things which ye have spoken come upon me’ (vers. 18-24).

Undoubtedly there was somewhat to be ‘seen’ but this does not hinder the truth that the Spirit was being given inwardly, and not merely ‘gifts’, still less only what men call the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. They, however, point to the fact that this was through the imposition of the hands of the apostles. But why should not God give the Spirit thus if He pleased? It is for Him to judge His own best methods; and God, Who gave the Spirit at Pentecost without the laying on of hands, was pleased now to honour the apostles as the channel. It is a question of His wisdom as well as sovereignty. For mere bishops to imitate the form without the power is without any basis of truth, and is real presumption. Simon saw, in fact, a means of self-exaltation, perhaps also of gain. Certainly he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power that, on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.’ What an insult to God! What is bought with money may naturally be sold for money. But this divine gift, was it to be a matter of traffic among men?

It is a mistake to suppose that Simon wanted the gift for himself. He wished to buy the power of conferring the Holy Spirit upon others. It is very possible, however, that he may not have received the outward gift even for himself, assuredly he was not sealed of the Holy Ghost, which, as we have seen, implies the new birth previously. And Simon manifests not a thought or feeling in communion with God. He was just a natural man, and a man even debased by all his former ways and character, especially those which profanely abused the name of God. The truth he had heard could never have judged his conscience or reached his heart. It was rather stupefaction in presence of transcendent power, and the keen desire to appropriate this power to his own selfish purposes. He judged, as man habitually does, from himself; not, as the believer does, from God. As money is the great means among men, he supposed it must be so with the apostles. Christ was nothing in his eyes; the power that eclipsed his own was desirable to obtain at any price. This was all that he conceived of the Holy Spirit; and it proved in the most conclusive manner where his own soul was.

Simon’s offer filled Peter with indignation, who said to him, ‘Thy money perish with thee, because thou thoughtest to obtain the gift of God with money.’ Christ alone is the procuring cause, and those alone who rest on His blood by faith receive it. The word of Simon betrayed his ruin. He was, as yet, a lost man. There was no real faith, and consequently no salvation in his case. Baptism is an admirable sign where there is life and faith, without these, it is a most solemn aggravation of man’s natural guilt and ruin. It is to perish with a Saviour in sight, with sin and God’s judgment slighted as well as the Saviour. Simon had no share nor lot in this matter, for his heart was not right before God. This does not mean, in my judgment, a lack of share or lot in the sign-gifts but in the Saviour: the gospel was nothing to him. Had the word of truth reached him, his heart would have been purified by faith, for the grace of God is adequate to save the vilest. But no heart visited by grace could have thought of offering money in order to obtain the power of giving the Holy Spirit. Simon was self-convicted of total strangership to God and His grace. The heart of man, though a baptized man, was as perverse as ever, and had broken out into a more daring sin than was possible before. Outward nearness to grace is of all things the most fatal to him who is not subject to the truth of God.

Yet, as he had taken the place of professing the name of the Lord, Peter calls on him to ‘repent’. Repentance is the clear duty and imperative call of God for a sinful man. It was always an obligation since the fall; but the gospel, as it sheds a brighter light upon man’s need, so furnishes the mightiest motives to act upon the heart. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ The highest of duties, then, is to own and honour the Son of God, confessing one’s own sins, which brought Him, in divine love, to the cross. On the other hand, he that believes in the Son has everlasting life; whilst he that disobeys the Son, not subject to Him now fully revealed, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Hence the apostle adds, ‘Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and beseech the Lord if so be the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee, for I see that thou art in gall of bitterness and in bond of iniquity.’ That there is grace in God and efficacy in the blood of Christ to meet any wickedness of man is certain. Peter would have never thus exhorted him had pardon been an impossibility. But the answer of Simon clearly shows that, though alarmed for the moment, there was no sense in his soul of his shameless sin against God and especially against the Holy Spirit; no real reckoning upon grace in God, according to the revelation of Himself in the death of His Son. Peter did not say, ‘Beseech’ God, but ‘the Lord’, for in Him and by Him only can God deliver a guilty soul; and now that He has sent His Son, the only sure and adequate way of honouring the Father is in honouring the Son. ‘He that confesseth the Son hath the Father also.’ Confessing the Father only, not the Son, neither saves the sinner nor glorifies God. So here Peter calls on him to beseech the Lord, Who is ‘the way and the truth, and the life’. But there was no faith any more than repentance in Simon, who said in answer, ‘Beseech ye (it is emphatic) for me with the Lord, that none of the things which ye have spoken come upon me.’

There was confidence, if we can so say, in the channels of power. He who had no faith in Christ confesses his faith in Peter; as millions since have done in saints, angels, or the virgin Mary. This, however, is not really faith but credulity and superstition; for it has no ground, either in the nature of the persons, or in the word of God. Faith in the Lord Jesus has alone a divine resting-place, for God sent Him, His only-begotten Son, into the world that we might live through Him – through none other but Him. ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as propitiation for our sins.’ To all this truly divine and infinite salvation Simon was insensible. But he saw in Peter an instrument of power, without faith in the word he and Philip had preached; and so he entreats the apostles to pray to the Lord for him so that none of the things spoken might befall him. It was future consequences he dreaded, not his present state of ruin and guilt that he felt. Thenceforward, according to scripture, he disappears from our sight; and none could wonder if the worst evil came on the impenitent man. But the reticence of Luke did not suit the ecclesiastical historians who to their own shame detail for their readers accounts which bear the stamp of fable in honour of Peter. And where is the Lord in all this? Wounded, we may say, as so often, in the house of His friends.

But we have a brief word added as to the two apostles. ‘They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned1 to Jerusalem and evangelized1 many villages of the Samaritans’ (ver. 25). It was not a mere transient act, as the common text has it, but a continuous work. Their hearts were toward the Lord, Who had created in them a right and fervent spirit, and needed no entreaty to spread amongst small and great the glad tidings of His redemption. The villages of the Samaritans, and many of them, were not beneath the detailed and repeated labours of the apostles.

1 The most ancient and best copies present here the imperfect, not the mere historical tense or aorist, as in the Text. Rec. following the inferior authorities.

We have next the history of Philip’s evangelistic service resumed, and full of interest and instruction it is.

‘But an angel of [the] Lord spake to Philip, saying, Arise, go southward unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza; this is desert. And he arose and went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch in power under Candace, queen of [the] Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure,1 had come to worship at Jerusalem; and he was returning and, as he sat in his chariot,1 was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip running up heard him reading the prophet Isaiah,1 and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I unless some one shall guide1 me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this –

1 Ap.m. Cp.m. Dp.m. followed by the Vulg. and the Sah. omit (27) though almost all others seem to insert it. It is one of those readings which affect the sense infinitesimally, yet as to which much might be argued on either side. So with other variations in vers. 28, 30, 31, 33, where the numeral is put.

As a sheep He was led to slaughter;

And as a lamb dumb before his shearer,

So He openeth not His mouth.

In His1 humiliation His judgment was taken away.

His1 generation who shall declare?

For His life was taken away from the earth.

‘And the eunuch answering Philip said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other ()? And Philip opened his mouth, and, beginning from this scripture, preached to him Jesus. And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, Behold water: what hindereth me to be baptized?2 And he commanded the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. But when they came up out of the water, [the] Spirit of [the] Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through he evangelized all the cities till he came unto Caesarea’ (vers. 26-40).

2 The great authorities ABCHLP, with more than eighty cursives, the most ancient Latin copies, Pesh-Syr. Sah. Memph., excepting Laud’s MS. 35, do not read ver. 37, which seems from internal evidence also to be spurious. For ‘the Son of God’ would have been a wonderful step in advance, as we see really in Saul, Act 9:20 , but here as decidedly out of keeping with the Ethiopian’s ignorance, as with the development of the history. It was an early interpolation; and we need not wonder that those capable of the deed failed in spiritual apprehension of the truth, and overshot the mark.

A fresh step is taken by Philip. Jehovah’s angel directs him; for there were two roads, and an evangelist would not have chosen the one that was a desert.3 But the object of God’s grace was travelling by this one; and an angel is employed as ever in God’s providence, here objectively that we might not forget the truth or take account only of thoughts and feelings. ‘Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service on account of those that inherit salvation?’ The ready servant of God’s will, Philip leaves the rejoicing multitude to whom he had been blessed in Samaria, and goes promptly, though he only knows the seemingly strange direction of his journey, not as yet its aim. It was a proselyte returning from Jerusalem, unsatisfied but wistful and groping his way in the prophetic word. The blessing is not now in the city of solemnities, the Blesser had been driven away. Samaria is rejoicing in the Saviour of the world. The Ethiopian is soon to stretch out his hands to God, not in prayer only but in praise and conscious blessedness, though Ethiopia must wait till He comes Who is already ascended on high and has led captivity captive. But here it is not an angel but ‘the Spirit’ that said to Philip, Approach and join thyself to this chariot. Angels have to do with circumstances, the Spirit leads as to souls. So we saw in Act 5 ; and so we may see yet more clearly in comparing Act 12 with Act 13 . The reality is as true now as ever, though it was then manifested and is written in God’s word that we be not faithless but believing.

3 All can see that the reference may be to Gaza, rather than to one of two roads which is designated ‘desert’. And Strabo is cited in confirmation of the former thought, which seems to have been the opinion of the A.V. if not of the Revisers though both might be understood of the way as easily as of the town. Not so Mr. T. S. Green, who renders the clause, ‘This road is a lone one’.

With alacrity the evangelist answers to the Spirit’s call, and runs to Candace’s treasurer as he sat in the chariot reading Isaiah, and puts the searching question, Understandest thou what thou readest? Alas! it was then as now in Christendom. The vision of Him Who came to make God known, otherwise unknowable, is handed about from learned to unlearned, as if the divine solution of all riddles were itself the one insoluble riddle. The learned man, when asked to read, says, I cannot; for it is sealed, and on the same appeal the unlearned excuses himself, I am not learned. Faith alone can understand: so it is, and so it ought to be. So it was now that grace took up the returning stranger; for the passage was Isa 53:7 , Isa 53:8 ; and when the answer betrayed his sheer ignorance of the gospel, Philip let him hear the glad tidings of Jesus.

It was not without God that the then passage of Isaiah set out the holy suffering Messiah. Other parts of this very strain, both before and after bear witness to His exaltation; but here it is sufferings simply – the main difficulty to a Jew, who thought exclusively of His glorious kingdom. Hence the propriety of the name of ‘Jesus’ in Philip’s application of the prophecy (ver. 35): the more striking because the inspiring Spirit had said (ver. 5) that Philip proclaimed ‘the Christ’ or Messiah to the Samaritans. Ignorance, learned or unlearned, slights these distinctions, censures those who point them out as refining on scripture, and thus really loses the force of the truth. For God hath not written one word in vain; and spiritual intelligence gleans its sweetest fruit in that too neglected field. The Samaritans needed to hear that the Christ was come: the Ethiopian, to know that the despised and suffering Jesus was beyond doubt the Messiah, whom the prophet introduced with a trumpet note as lofty in Isa 52:13 , as that which closed the passage in Isa 53:12 . Everywhere are bound together His sufferings and His glories after these, but nowhere more than here do we find His meek submission to the wanton cruelty of His guilty people. Now ‘Jesus’ was the right word for this, for on the one hand it expresses what He became in manhood so as to be the object of contempt to rebellious creatures, and on the other it tells out His intrinsic glory Who for us stooped so low. He was Jehovah the Saviour.

The difference in the language from the Old Testament in our hands is due to the Septuagint, or Greek Version then in common use, and especially among the Egyptians and others. The sense remains substantially the same. But we are not to infer that Philip confined himself to this scripture: that he ‘began’ from it more justly implies and warrants that he did not end there but expounded others also. But this was of extreme importance to one in the state of soul which the whole preceding account gives us to see in the treasurer, and it was blessed to the letting in of a flood of divine light into his heart.

Yet the scripture which detected the darkness of the Ethiopian’s mind before Philip sounded the glad tidings of Jesus in his ears that he by faith might ever after be a child of light in the Lord, has fared ill, not merely at the hands of the Fathers of old, but hardly less with Calvin and the like in Reformation times and since. For the great French commentator (to dwell on no others) will have these verses to teach that our Lord was so broken that He appears like a man dejected beyond hope, as is evident, but also that He comes out of the depth of death as a conqueror, and out of hell itself as the author of eternal life.

But to draw this last sense from the words cited in verse 33 (or from the original in Isa 53:8 ) is quite unfounded. The prophet is as far as possible from here saying that Christ should be lifted up from His great straits by the hand of the Father. This is in no way taught by His judgment being taken away. The new beginning of unlooked-for glory is found elsewhere, but not here. Nor does the exclamation of the prophet in the following clause (‘His generation who shall declare?’) import that His victory shall go beyond all number of years, instead of lasting only a little. Sundry old interpreters were not justified in proving hereby the eternal generation of the Word, any more than others who understood it of His miraculous Incarnation. But no perversion seems worse than the deduction from such words as these that Christ’s life shall endure for ever, for the entire passage refers exclusively to His humiliation.

The first clause of v. 33 appears to express the mockery of all righteousness in His judgment, the second, the unspeakable wickedness of that generation, the third, the violent end of His life on earth to which He bowed, which is its proof. Were it a question of Phi 2:6-11 , or of the whole section (52: 13 – 53), and not of these two verses only, Calvin would have been right as now he is demonstrably wrong. And this is confirmed by the Hebrew, which here no more admits of a thought of exaltation than does the Greek. The suffering Messiah is seen only in Jesus, at all cost to Himself the Saviour of the sinful man who believes in Him, let His own people gainsay as they may the blessed report of the faithful

Baptism follows the hearing of faith. And thus, when they come upon a certain water, the stranger asks what hinders his being baptized, and has the privilege conferred on the spot. So Peter asked, in Cornelius’ house, if any one could forbid it, when the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit, even as the believing Jews before them. For the outer mark, worse than worthless without the heart’s subjection to the Lord and His grace, has its importance in ways neither few nor small; as the loss of the truth represented is as manifest in those that despise, as in those that idolize it. They fail to see that life is never attributed to baptism, but salvation is set forth in it, the washing away of sins, and death to sin, the blessed portion to which the gospel bears witness in Christ dead and risen for the believer.

Life the Old Testament saints had, when there was no such thing as Christian baptism. Abel and Abram had it, no less than the Christian; but the Christian by virtue of Christ’s accomplished work has soul-salvation, as he waits for his body to be saved and changed at Christ’s coming. Of this salvation meanwhile, which no Old Testament saint could have, baptism is the sign, to which therefore the believer now submits, as a confession not only that Jesus is Lord, but of deliverance through His death and resurrection. Those who make all subjective, like the Friends, or who make all objective like the Catholics, suffer the consequence of their errors. Neither one nor other owns dogmatically the true present privilege of the Christian as in Christ delivered from all condemnation, freed from the law of sin and death, perfected for ever by the one offering of Christ. This truth to the Quaker and the Papist is dangerous doctrine, both holding, though on different grounds, that whoever is justified is sanctified, and that, as far as he is sanctified, he is so far justified, and no further. Both therefore slight the word of God, and preaching, and faith; as both are wholly ignorant of the gift of the Spirit sealing the believer to the day of redemption, the one crying up ordinances and priesthood to the glorification of the church, the other resting for all on what he calls the inward light, which he contends is given to every man, Jew or heathen, Mahommedan or Christian, whose destiny for ever turns on the use he makes of it. Neither allows eternal life in Christ to faith; neither sees founded on Christ’s work, that quittance of our old state as children of Adam, and entrance into the new state of the Second Man, of which baptism is not the channel but the emblem. Hence they ignore, if they do not falsify even in quotation, such scriptures as Col 1:12 , Col 1:13 . They are striving to be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; they are hoping to be translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Had they read baptism aright, they would be rejoicing in the sense of a present and everlasting deliverance to the praise of Him in Whom they believe.

If true, they are certainly feeble, believers. With the Ethiopian all was simple and assured. For they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him (ver. 38). There was no thought of going before the assembly in Samaria. Baptism is individual, no matter how many souls might be baptized. The church has nothing to do with it. The Lord directed His servants (not the church as such) to baptize; and for this they are responsible to Him, as they are for the preaching of the word. The church does not baptize, any more than preach and teach; the evangelist does, though he may ask another to do it for him, as Peter when he directed Cornelius and the rest to be baptized in the name of the Lord on a later day.

‘And when they came up out of the water, [the] Spirit of [the] Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through he evangelized all the cities till he came to Caesarea’ (vers. 39, 40). The miracle only established the new convert’s faith, as doubtless it was wrought of God to do; for there is not a hint that Philip wished it, still less sought it in prayer. It was God for the honour of His Son in virtue of that Spirit’s power which was working on earth; but surely not without a wise and gracious intent for the witness of it (and he was not alone) returning to his native land with the gospel of salvation. Abyssinia was thus to have the glad tidings of God concerning His Son; as Philip transported to Azotus (or Ashdod) abides the same simple-hearted indefatigable preacher of divine grace (ver. 40). For passing through he was evangelizing all the cities till he came to Caesarea. It is there the inspired history shows him to have lived, and his four daughters, long afterwards (Act 21:8 ).

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Acts

SEED SCATTERED AND TAKING ROOT

Act 8:1 – Act 8:17 .

The note of time in Act 8:1 is probably to be rendered as in the Revised Version, ‘on that day.’ The appetite for blood roused by Stephen’s martyrdom at once sought for further victims. Thus far the persecutors had been the rulers, and the persecuted the Church’s leaders; but now the populace are the hunters, and the whole Church the prey. The change marks an epoch. Luke does not care to make much of the persecution, which is important to him chiefly for its bearing on the spread of the Church’s message. It helped to diffuse the Gospel, and that is why he tells of it. But before proceeding to narrate how it did so, he gives us a picture of things as they stood at the beginning of the assault.

Three points are noted: the flight of the Church except the Apostles, the funeral of Stephen, and Saul’s eager search for the disciples. We need not press ‘all,’ as if it were to be taken with mathematical accuracy. Some others besides the Apostles may have remained, but the community was broken up. They fled, as Christ had bid them do, if persecuted in one city. Brave faithfulness goes with prudent self-preservation, and a valuable ‘part of valour is discretion.’ But the disciples who fled were not necessarily less courageous than the Apostles who remained, nor were the latter less prudent than the brethren who fled. For noblesse oblige ; high position demands high virtues, and the officers should be the last to leave a wreck. The Apostles, no doubt, felt it right to hold together, and preserve a centre to which the others might return when the storm had blown itself out.

In remarkable contrast with the scattering Church are the ‘devout men’ who reverently buried the martyr. They were not disciples, but probably Hellenistic Jews Act 2:5; perhaps from the synagogue whose members had disputed with Stephen and had dragged him to the council. His words or death may have touched them, as many a time the martyr’s fire has lighted others to the martyr’s faith. Stephen was like Jesus in his burial by non-disciples, as he had been in his death.

The eager zeal of the young Pharisee brought new severity into the persecution, in his hunting out his victims in their homes, and in his including women among his prisoners. There is nothing so cruel as so-called religious zeal. So Luke lifts the curtain for a moment, and in that glimpse of the whirling tumult of the city we see the three classes, of the brave and prudent disciples, ready to flee or to stand and suffer as duty called; the good men who shrunk from complicity with a bloodthirsty mob, and were stirred to sympathy with his victims; and the zealot, who with headlong rage hated his brother for the love of God. But the curtain drops, and Luke turns to his true theme. He picks up the threads again in Act 8:4 , telling of the dispersal of the disciples, with the significant addition of their occupation when scattered,-’preaching the word.’

The violent hand of the persecutor acted as the scattering hand of the sower. It flung the seeds broadcast, and wherever they fell they sprouted. These fugitives were not officials, nor were they commissioned by the Apostles to preach. Without any special command or position, they followed the instincts of believing hearts, and, as they carried their faith with them, they spoke of it wherever they found themselves. A Christian will be impelled to speak of Christ if his personal hold of Him is vital. He should need no ecclesiastical authorisation for that. It is riot every believer’s duty to get into a pulpit, but it is his duty to ‘preach Christ.’ The scattering of the disciples was meant by men to put out the fire, but, by Christ, to spread it. A volcanic explosion flings burning matter over a wide area.

Luke takes up one of the lines of expansion, in his narrative of Philip’s doings in Samaria, which he puts first because Jesus had indicated Samaria first among the regions beyond Judaea Act 1:8. Philip’s name comes second in the list of deacons Act 6:5, probably in anticipation of his work in Samaria. How unlike the forecast by the Apostles was the actual course of things! They had destined the seven for purely ‘secular’ work, and regarded preaching the word as their own special engagement. But Stephen saw and proclaimed more clearly than they did the passing away of Temple and ritual; and Philip, on his own initiative, and apparently quite unconscious of the great stride forward that he was taking, was the first to carry the gospel torch into the regions beyond. The Church made Philip a ‘deacon,’ but Christ made him an ‘evangelist’; and an evangelist he continued, long after he had ceased to be a deacon in Jerusalem Act 21:8.

Observe, too, that, as soon as Stephen is taken away, Philip rises up to take his place. The noble army of witnesses never wants recruits. Its Captain sends men to the front in unbroken succession, and they are willing to occupy posts of danger because He bids them. Probably Philip fled to Samaria for convenience’ sake, but, being there, he probably recalled Christ’s instructions in Act 1:8 , repealing His prohibition in Mat 10:5 . What a different world it would be, if it was true of Christians now that they ‘went down into the city of So-and-So and proclaimed Christ’! Many run to and fro, but some of them leave their Christianity at home, or lock it up safely in their travelling trunks.

Jerusalem had just expelled the disciples, and would fain have crushed the Gospel; despised Samaria received it with joy. ‘A foolish nation’ was setting Israel an example Deu 32:21 ; Rom 10:19. The Samaritan woman had a more spiritual conception of the Messiah than the run of Jews had, and her countrymen seem to have been ready to receive the word. Is not the faith of our mission converts often a rebuke to us?

But the Gospel met new foes as well as new friends on the new soil. Simon the sorcerer, probably a Jew or a Samaritan, would have been impossible on Jewish ground, but was a characteristic product of that age in the other parts of the Roman empire. Just as, to-day, people who are weary of Christianity are playing with Buddhism, it was fashionable in that day of unrest to trifle with Eastern magic-mongers; and, of course, demand created supply, and where there was a crowd of willing dupes, there soon came to be a crop of profit-seeking deceivers. Very characteristically, the dupes claimed more for the deceiver than he did for himself. He probably could perform some simple chemical experiments and conjuring tricks, and had a store of what sounded to ignorant people profound teaching about deep mysteries, and gave forth enigmatical utterances about his own greatness. An accomplished charlatan will leave much to be inferred from nods and hints, and his admirers will generally spin even more out of them than he meant. So the Samaritans bettered Simon’s ‘some great one’ into ‘that power of God which is called great,’ and saw in him some kind of emanation of divinity.

The quack is great till the true teacher comes, and then he dwindles. Simon had a bitter pill to swallow when he saw this new man stealing his audience, and doing things which he, with his sorceries, knew that he only pretended to do. Luke points very clearly to the likeness and difference between Simon and Philip by using the same word ‘gave heed’ in regard to the Samaritan’s attitude to both, while in reference to Philip it was ‘the things spoken by’ him, and in reference to Simon it was himself to which they attended. The one preached Christ, the other himself; the one ‘amazed’ with ‘sorceries,’ the other brought good tidings and hid himself, and his message called, not for stupid, open-mouthed astonishment, but for belief and obedience to the name of Jesus. The whole difference between the religion of Jesus and the superstitions which the world calls religions, is involved in the significant contrast, so inartificially drawn.

‘Simon also himself believed.’ Probably there was in his action a good deal of swimming with the stream, in the hope of being able to divert it; but, also, he may have been all the more struck by Philip’s miracles, because he knew a real one, by reason of his experience of sham ones. At any rate, neither Philip nor Luke drew a distinction between his belief and that of the Samaritans; and, as in their cases, his baptism followed on his profession of belief. But he seems not to have got beyond the point of wondering at the miracles, as it is emphatically said that he did even after his baptism. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but was more interested in studying Philip to find out how he did the miracles than in listening to his teaching. Such an imperfect belief had no transforming power, and left him the same man as before, as was soon miserably manifest.

The news of Philip’s great step forward reached the Apostles by some unrecorded means. It is not stated that Philip reported his action, as if to superiors whose authorisation was necessary. More probably the information filtered through other channels. At all events, sending a deputation was natural, and needs not to be regarded as either a sign of suspicion or an act necessary in order to supplement imperfections inherent in the fact that Philip was not an Apostle. The latter meaning has been read-not to say forced-into the incident; but Luke’s language does not support it. It was not because they thought that the Samaritans were not admissible to the full privileges of Christians without Apostolic acts, but because they ‘heard that Samaria had received the word,’ that the Apostles sent Peter and John.

The Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Ghost-that is, the special gifts, such as those of Pentecost. That fact proves that baptism is not necessarily and inseparably connected with the gift of the Spirit; and Act 10:44 , Act 10:47 , proves that the Spirit may be given before baptism. As little does this incident prove that the imposition of Apostolic hands was necessary in order to the impartation of the Spirit. Luke, at any rate, did not think so; for he tells how Ananias’ hand laid on the blind Saul conveyed the gift to him. The laying on of hands is a natural, eloquent symbol, but it was no prerogative of the Apostles Act 10:17 ; 1Ti 4:14.

The Apostles came down to Samaria to rejoice in the work which their Lord had commanded, and which had been begun without their help, to welcome the new brethren, to give them further instruction, and to knit closely the bonds of unity between the new converts and the earlier ones. But that they came to bestow spiritual gifts which, without them, could not have been imparted, is imported into, not deduced from, the simple narrative of Luke.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 8:1 a

1Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

Act 8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death” This phrase concludes Acts 7. It is a periphrastic imperfect active. Paul remembered this experience with great shame (cf. Act 22:20; 1Co 15:9; Gal 1:13; Gal 1:23; Php 3:6; 1Ti 1:13). Some relate this passage to Act 26:10, where it is assumed Paul voted in the Sanhedrin to put Christians to death.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

consenting unto = approving of. Greek. suneu-dokeo. Only here, Act 22:20. Luk 11:48. Rom 1:32. 1Co 7:12, 1Co 7:13. Compare Joh 16:2

death. Greek. anairesis = taking off. Only here and Act 22:20 Compare anaireo, Act 2:23, &c. This clause belongs to the previous chapter.

at = en. App-104

time = day

was = arose

church. App-186

scattered abroad. Greek. diaspeiro. Only here, Act 8:4; Act 11:19. Compare diaspora. Jam 1:1. 1Pe 1:1

throughout. Greek. kata. App-104

regions = districts

except. Greek. plen.

the apostles. They remained at the center of affairs, to watch over the infant assemblies Compare Act 8:14. See App-189

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-3.] PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH BY SAUL, CONSEQUENT ON THE DEATH OF STEPHEN.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 8

We are introduced now to one of the chief persecutors. A zealous young Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, whose name is Saul. And he was standing by, consenting to the death of Stephen, holding the coats of the fellows who were throwing the stones. No doubt, cheering them on. But I have no doubt, that what Stephen’s death and his reaction to it had such a great effect on Paul that he never got away from it. And I believe that it was ultimately the background of Paul’s conversion. For you remember, when Jesus finally apprehended Paul on the road to Damascus to imprison the Christians there, the Lord said, “Paul, it’s been hard for you to kick against the goads” ( Act 9:5 ). And, the death of Stephen was something that was a goad for Paul. Hearing this young man, seeing his face like an angel, and no doubt, that witness that Stephen gave. “Hey, our fathers have been wrong. Joseph was rejected by our fathers, and yet, God had chosen him to be the ruler. Moses was rejected by our fathers, yet God had chosen him to be the ruler. Could it be that we are also guilty of rejecting God’s ruler? And, of course, Peter had said, “The Stone that was set at nought by you builders, the same has become the head cornerstone” ( Act 4:11 ).

When I was speaking at a congress in Jerusalem, in which the purpose was to express the evangelical Christian’s support for the nation of Israel, at that congress, before I had a chance to speak, I received a letter from one of the rabbi’s from the Mea shureem. They’re the ultra orthodox radicals. And the letter was a severe rebuke to me for being involved in a congress that was seeking to promote the peace of Jerusalem. And that’s what the congress was called, “The Peace of Jerusalem Congress”. This rabbi said, “Israel has no right to exist as a nation. We have no right to exist as a nation until we have our temple again. This nation is not a true nation.” And he went on, really coming down on me for supporting the nation of Israel. I have been witnessing to many Jewish people over there who have become friends of the family, and so I took this radical hate-filled letter and I showed it to one of my friends. I said, “Look what one of your rabbis has sent me.” And as he read the letter he got all upset. He said, “Don’t pay any attention to it; they’re crazy. They’re a bunch of radicals. They’re crazy.” I said, “But they are rabbis.” “Oh yeah, but they’re crazy.” And I said, “They are the religious rulers. They are the rabbis.” “Oh, it doesn’t matter, they’re crazy, they’re nuts. They don’t know what they’re talking about.” I said, “That is very interesting. Have you ever stopped to think that it was perhaps men, just like these, who rejected Jesus Christ? Radicals, crazies. And you are still following their crazy, radical conclusions?” He didn’t have anything to say.

Saul was consenting unto the death of Stephen. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him ( Act 8:1-2 ).

It is quite possible that these devout men are not Christians or members of the church. And the reason why I say that is because, “They made great lamentation over him.” A true understanding of what happens to a child of God at death doesn’t really provoke great lamentation. It provokes rejoicing for them, who are now there with the Lord in the Kingdom. It could be that some of the Jews, devout men . . . you see, it doesn’t identify them as Christians at all. Just devout men, and the Jew was usually described by his devotedness. Had taken Stephen’s body and perhaps they lamented that such a fine young man should be so mistreated by the radical crowd.

And as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison ( Act 8:3 ).

So Paul was empowered by the Sanhedrin to imprison those who called upon the Lord, and he was going to the house fellowships and just wrecking havoc among the early church.

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word ( Act 8:4 ).

And so, far from stamping out the witness of the church, all the persecution did was spread the witness all over the place. For everywhere they went, they were preaching the Word of God, and thus, the Gospel began to spread throughout Judea and Samaria.

Jesus had said to His disciples in the first chapter, (verse Act 8:8 ), “And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem . . . ” And remember that they said, “You have filled this city with this Man’s doctrine.” “And in Judea and in Samaria.” And so we find now the next movement of the church as it goes beyond Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria as the result of this persecution. Paul being one of the chief persecutors of the church.

So Philip ( Act 8:5 )

Now we are introduced to a second of the seven who was appointed to the task of waiting tables in the early church and overseeing the church’s welfare program. God is taking another one now, filled with the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom and of good report and is using him now in the ministry of an evangelist. And later on we find, years later, that Philip is living in Caesarea. And he is called there, Philip the evangelist. And we are told that by this time he now has four daughters who possess the gift of prophecy. And as Paul is returning to Jerusalem, he stops and spends a few days with Philip in Caesarea. I imagine that Paul and Philip, as they were there, probably recounted some of the early experiences of Stephen, and of Paul’s being there, because Philip was there and around the situation also. And how their paths had crossed earlier in life, only, then they were going different directions. And how God had brought them together in the communion of the Gospel here now, later on in Caesarea.

So Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them ( Act 8:5 ).

And remember the word “Christ” is the Greek word for “Messiah”. So he preached the Messiah unto them.

The Samaritans were looking for the Messiah. You remember when Jesus met the women at the well there near Shechum, she said to Him, “We know that when Messiah has come He is going to teach us all things.” They were looking for the Messiah. They knew the scriptures that related to the Messiah and they were looking for the Messiah. And you remember that the woman went into the town and started telling people, “Come and hear a man who had told me everything that I’ve ever done. Is this not the Messiah?” And they came out and they heard Jesus, and then they said, “Now we believe, not because of what you have told us, because we have heard and seen for ourselves.” And so the seed was already planted in Samaria, and so Philip went to proclaim the Messiah unto them.

And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and those that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city ( Act 8:6-8 ).

The city of Samaria, the Gospel is now being preached, and the result of the Gospel, in the hearts of the people, is that of great joy. Always the result of the preaching of the Good News.

Now there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and he bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one ( Act 8:9 ):

There was this fellow, probably a warlock. He used sorcery. He had the people convinced that he had great mystical, magical powers.

And all of the people had given heed to him, from the least of them to the greatest, saying, that this man had a great power of God. And to him they had regard, because for a long time he had been bewitching them with these sorceries. But when they believed Philip and the preaching of the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women ( Act 8:10-12 ).

They were freed from the bewitching of this Simon and they were brought to the Gospel and baptized.

Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and the signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John ( Act 8:13-14 ):

Peter and John, interesting companions in the Gospel records. Men of different temperaments. Yet, brought together and very closely associated with each other. But it is interesting that this is the last mention of John in the book of Acts. Peter comes in for further mention. The attention will, of course, later on, turn to Paul and to Barnabus and to others, but this interestingly enough, in the book of Acts, is the last mention of John. Now John did outlive the rest of the disciples. And, of course, in the later years wrote his gospel, his three epistles, and the book of Revelation. But later on, as we are dealing with the church in Jerusalem, and the issues that come up before the church counsel, John strangely is not mentioned in any type of a role. The witness is silent concerning John. And I really don’t have any real suggestion for that, except that it’s just not there, and I don’t know why. But as John said in his Gospel, “I suppose that if everything were written that should be written, all of the books in the world could not contain the things that should have been written about these things.”

So when the church or the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Now that would take away the idea of Peter being the pope, because he was sent by the apostles. He was sent by them. It didn’t say, “He had the pontifical authority and was giving the orders.” But that he was sent by the apostles.

Who were, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ( Act 8:15-16 )

Now it is interesting how that this has been a problem to so many Bible commentators. The fact that they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. That He had not fallen upon them as yet. It is commonly acknowledged that a person is baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. And no man can call Jesus Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. And the moment a person receives Jesus Christ and is baptized, the Holy Spirit comes into their lives. We know that you cannot receive Jesus without receiving the Holy Spirit into your life. And so this poses a great problem to the majority of Bible commentators when we find that the people in Samaria had believed and were baptized in water, and yet, the apostles sent them down that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not yet fallen upon any of them. I am surprised that with all of these scholars, who are so problemed over this particular text, that they have not noted the Greek preposition. You remember Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit to His disciples, “For He is with you and shall be in you.” But later Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Now this is the same Greek preposition epi that is used here. The Holy Spirit had not yet fallen, epi, upon them. So the commentators have difficulty trying to say, “Well, they were not filled with the Spirit; this was some special case in Samaria, because this was the first time out of Jerusalem and all.” And they really wrestle and do all kinds of foolish things with this text. Because they do not want to acknowledge that there is an empowering experience of the Holy Spirit apart from conversion. But yet, that is exactly what the text does prove. That yes, we do receive the Holy Spirit in us when Christ comes into our lives. But there is an empowering experience subsequent to our salvation, where our lives are endued with the power of God’s Spirit, as He comes upon us, anointing us for power to serve God. And it’s a very simple, obvious solution, but it is one that most of the Bible commentators really stumble heavily over this. And I am amused at the various explanations they try to give of this particular text when the answer is so simple.

They had received Jesus Christ; they were baptized, so obviously the Spirit was dwelling in them. But they had not had an empowering experience like the apostles experienced on the day of Pentecost. For He was not yet fallen upon any of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit ( Act 8:17-19 ).

When Simon saw that through the laying on of hands that the Holy Spirit was imparted, there must have been some kind of visible or audible evidence that they were being empowered with the Holy Spirit, or else, why would he ask for that power? If they would just lay their hands on them and say, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit,” and there was nothing visible, or audible to signify that the gift was being imparted, there wouldn’t be this great desire by Simon to possess the same kind of power. No doubt, there was some kind of evidence that these people were receiving an empowering of God’s Spirit upon their lives. And I really do not doubt but what they were speaking in other tongues, and perhaps, prophesying, as was the case in Ephesus in the nineteenth chapter. So it is not here declared, I personally feel that this probably was the case. And that is why Simon desired to purchase this power. Now his desire to purchase this power, or a position in the church, is where the name for that evil which later permeated the church was originated-simony. That is, the purchase of a position within the church. And unfortunately, the church went through a very dark period of history where positions in the church were auctioned off to the highest bidder. And there were times where the pope and his position was actually auctioned and purchased by the highest bidder. That awful evil known as simony, that did come into the church. That purchasing of position or authority.

This is a common practice among magicians. If a magician has a good trick, other magicians will seek to buy that trick, how it is done. And there are those who are practicing that art of leger de main, the common practice of selling the tricks to one another. And so Simon, being a sorcerer, being a deceiver, bewitching the people, having in his past purchased various types of information thought that he could purchase now this gift of God.

But Peter said unto him, Your money perish with thee, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money ( Act 8:20 ).

What a horrible thing.

You neither have part or lot in this matter: for your heart is not right in the sight of God ( Act 8:21 ).

And so Peter exercising now this gift of discernment begins to really deal with the issue of Simon’s heart.

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity ( Act 8:22-23 ).

Now, though he had followed Philip and was a great admirer of the works that he was doing, yet within in his heart there was the gall of bitterness. Probably bitter over the fact that he was no longer looked up to by the people as he had once been. Bitter over the fact that the people were now following a new leader, even Jesus Christ, whom Philip had declared unto them. And that his little crowd had turned from him unto another, and that bothered him deep down in his heart. Though outwardly he was there with Philip and followed Philip and was baptized. Inwardly it was eating away. The bond of iniquity, the gall of bitterness. What a terrible thing bitterness is. How sad it is that a person would harbor bitterness in their heart. Bitterness can only hurt you. It only does you harm. You really can’t afford bitterness. And he was told, “Pray that God might forgive you of this, for down in your heart you have bitterness, the bond of iniquity.”

Then answered Simon, and he said, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things that you have spoken will come upon me ( Act 8:24 ).

He asked for prayer, and I believe that he was sincere.

And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and they preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans ( Act 8:25 ).

So John and Peter became evangelists. And as they were returning back to Jerusalem, they stopped in the villages of Samaria and preached the Gospel unto many.

And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet ( Act 8:26-28 ).

Now this is interesting in several respects. First of all, it is interesting because it gives us an insight into how God leads us by His Spirit. So many times I have people say, “I wish I knew what the will of God was for my life.” And usually by that, they are saying, “I wish God would, sort-of, show me on a screen my future. I like to know what my future holds. I would like to know what God has planned for me. Then I can determine whether or not I want to do it.” But in wanting to know the will of God, usually we want to know the next year, five years from now. We want our five-year program, our ten-year program, our twenty-year program. “Now, God, you know, lay it out.” But God only said to Philip, “Go down to the road that is going from Jerusalem to Gaza, toward the desert.” He didn’t tell him anymore. That’s the first step in the will of God.

God did not speak unto him again until he had taken the first step. So many times when God has given us the first step we don’t want to go until He gives us the second step and the third step and the fourth step. We are prone to say, “Lord, why in the world do you want me to go to Gaza? There’s nobody down there. That’s a desert area, Lord. Why would you want me to leave this great meeting here in Samaria? Lord, you’re making a serious mistake here. There are hundreds of people that are being saved. They’re coming and they’re listening to the Gospel. This is exciting, Lord. Why should I go to Gaza?” And I want the Lord to tell me why He has given me the first step. I want to know the whole plan, the whole program that God is doing. But God, so often, only gives us step one. And step two does not come until step one had been taken. And I am certain that, had he stayed in Samaria, arguing with God, seeking to have further clarification of this call, that he would have never received it. God would’ve sent someone else to meet that Ethiopian eunuch. One step at a time, that’s how God usually directs our lives. That’s how God has directed my life. Just one step at a time. It used to bother me. It used to bother me severely that God would only lead me one step at a time. Now I find it rather exciting. And I always like it when it’s God’s move.

You know, when I make my move, and then I say, “Okay, Lord, it’s Your move,” I’m obedient to what the Lord told me to do and now I wait to see what the next instruction is from Him. I don’t like it so much when it’s my move. I have difficulty many times with my move. But it’s always great when I’ve made my move and I turn and say, “Okay now, Lord, Your move again.”

Philip obeyed the first move. He left. No doubt he had many questions in his mind, but he left Samaria, the great revival, and he went down to this area, from going from Jerusalem to Gaza to the desert place.

Notice that this man had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was returning, sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. I believe that this man was a sincere seeker for God. In his heart he was really seeking after the Lord. For, no doubt, the Spirit had been drawing him. And in his search for God he came to Jerusalem, the center of the worship. Coming from Ethiopia they were familiar with Judaism. Because when the Queen of Sheba returned from her visit with Solomon, she took back to Ethiopia the Hebrew religion. There began then, in Ethiopia, the fillan jess movement. Those Ethiopians who were Jewish in their faith and practices. According to their traditions, the Queen of Sheba also took back to Egypt, in her womb, a son of Solomon. Who, they aptly called “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” And Hal-e-so-lassie the . . . recently, a few years back, deposed leader of Ethiopia, did claim to be a direct descendent of Solomon and the king of Judah and the head over this faction in Ethiopia who followed Judaism. Thus, Judaism was well known in Ethiopia, and Jerusalem was the center of Judaism.

In the search of this man for God, it would only be natural that his search would bring him to Jerusalem. The tragedy is that while in Jerusalem, he did not find what he was searching for. And now he is returning to Ethiopia just as empty as he came. A heart still yearning after God. But God saw the yearning heart. I believe that God sees every yearning heart. And that God will take measures to bring His love and truth to every true seeker after God. If a person is genuinely seeking after God in his heart, I believe that God will reveal the truth even by miracles or whatever. And I think such is the case. God saw this man, and so He stirred the heart of Philip in the midst of the revival and said, “Go down to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, that desert place.” When he got there, he saw the chariot, and the man sitting in the chariot, and the Lord said unto him,

Go near, and join yourself to this chariot ( Act 8:29 ).

Step two, but step two did not come until he was fully obedient to step one.

And Philip ran up to him, and he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you read? And he said, How can I, unless some man should guide me? And he requested that Philip would come up and sit with him [there in the chariot]. And the place in the scripture where he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgement was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the eaRuth ( Act 8:30-33 ).

Isa 53:1-12 , that prophecy of Isaiah, of the Servant of God, who would be despised and rejected. The Servant of God whose life would be taken away. Who would be slain as a sheep without really responding to the charges.

And the eunuch said, I pray thee, whom is the prophet speaking this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and he began [at that verse] the same scripture, and he preached unto him Jesus ( Act 8:34-35 ).

And as we pointed out this morning, it wouldn’t have made any difference where the man was reading in the Old Testament, it would’ve been possible at that very scripture or to start from anywhere in the Old Testament and preach Jesus. For the Old Testament is the story of Jesus from beginning to end. Jesus said, “You do search the scriptures for in them you think you have life. But actually, they are testifying of me. I have come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, O Lord.”

But he opened at that scripture and began to preach unto him Jesus. Jesus expounded to the disciples on the road to Emmaus all that Moses and the prophets said of the things concerning Himself. How He must suffer and die and rise.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And so he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both of them into the water ( Act 8:36-38 ),

I guess he didn’t just sprinkle him.

both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, that the eunuch saw him no more: but he went his way rejoicing ( Act 8:38-39 ).

Philip had a ministry that brought joy to people. You remember in Samaria the result of the ministry. The city was filled with joy. Now he’s ministered to this man who continues his journey, no longer searching. He has found, as a result of finding a real relationship with God, he is rejoicing. And from that time in history, there has always been a church in Ethiopia. He had, no doubt, a great influence on the establishing of the Gospel and the church in Ethiopia. “He went his way rejoicing.”

Now here’s a interesting thing about Philip: “The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip.” Now, by what means, I don’t know. There have been times that I have wished that the Spirit of the Lord would catch me away. When I’m facing a long hike back and you’re weary and tired.

But Philip was found at Azotus ( Act 8:40 ):

It would appear from the language that it was sort of a miraculous catching away. That’s what the language would indicate. But, of course, nothing is really mentioned as far as the methods. So to speculate is worthless. Why make guesses? Who knows? We don’t!

But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all of the cities, till he came to Caesarea ( Act 8:40 ).

In a chapter or two, we’re going to find Peter going down to preach to the church in Lydda and healing a certain man by the name of Aeneas who had been in bed for several years. And then we find that the church in Joppa, when they hear that Peter was in Lydda, sent to him a request that he would come quickly to Joppa because a certain woman, Dorcas, had died. And so Peter went then to Joppa and ministered to Dorcas. Now how is it that there was a church in Lydda and in Joppa? If you will look at that the map and find Gaza, and then Azotus, and we are told that he went from Azotus, in all of the cities preaching till he came to Caesarea. I believe that these churches in Joppa and Lydda were probably established by the evangelist Philip, because these are some of the cities that he would be passing through going from Azotus to Caesarea. I think that his ministry there resulted in the birth of these churches. In these same areas that Peter had come down and minister to.

It seems that when he came to Caesarea, that he made Caesarea his home. I can surely understand why. It is a beautiful seaport city, sitting on the Mediterranean. The water on the Mediterranean takes on a very special blue, the beaches are gorgeous, and if I had a choice of places to live, Caesarea wouldn’t be a bad choice at all.

And so, Philip stayed there in Caesarea establishing his home there. Years later, Paul visited with Philip there in Caesarea, remaining with him there in his home before he continued his journey to Jerusalem. We’ll come back to Philip’s house in Caesarea later on in the book of Acts. We’ll return to his house, and we’ll visit for awhile with Paul. That’s why I emphasize his house in Caesarea, because we are coming back to this house before we’re through with the book of Acts.

As we go on into chapter nine next week, we will get to the conversion of Paul, and the interesting aspects of his conversion. Then, Peter’s visit to Lydda and to Joppa, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in chapter ten on the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius in Caesarea, where Philip ends up. It is interesting that God would call Peter for this work. It could be that Philip was not in Caesarea at this time, or it could be that again he had planted seed, and that’s why Cornelius was such a devout man.

Let’s pray.

Father, we thank You for Your Word and the excitement that it has generated in our hearts when we see men so used of the Holy Spirit. And we realize that they are just common men like us. And so, Lord, we desire that our lives be used by the Holy Spirit to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world around us. Lord, we offer You tonight our lives, our bodies as living sacrifices that we might, O God, be instruments in Your hands doing Your work, touching the needy world around us. O Lord, we recognize that we need that power of Your Holy Spirit to do any work that is truly effective. So Lord, anoint us with Your power in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

May the Lord bless and give you a beautiful week, fill you with His love and Spirit, and may He use your life as His instrument accomplishing His work, in Jesus’ name. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Stephen had been stoned to death; but with his latest breath he prayed for his murderers. Then this chapter begins:

Act 8:1. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Saul, having tasted blood in the murder of Stephen, became more and more furious in his persecution of the Church of Christ at Jerusalem, and the brethren had to escape for their lives. They all did so, except the apostles, who were specially cared for by divine providence.

Act 8:2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentations over him.

As well they might, for his death was a serious loss to the Church. He was one of the best workers for Christ of that day; and when he was thus put to death by the judicial murder of stoning, the devout men who were spared to mourn his loss made great lamentation over him.

Act 8:3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

At first, we can hardly believe that this was the very man who afterwards became the greatest preacher of the gospel, and the builder up of the Church of Christ, but it was even so. He was always earnest in whatever he did. When he persecuted, he did it with all his might; and when he became converted, then he preached with all his might. He was a thoroughgoing man. I like these thoroughgoing men; they are worth saving. When they are converted, they bring great glory to God. The next verse tells us one effect of the havoc wrought by Saul:

Act 8:4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

They might have stopped at Jerusalem, and made a comfortable and strong church there, if they had not been persecuted; but, being scattered abroad, they were like seed in every furrow of the field: they went every where preaching the word. Now, out of this church, there is a continual drain of brethren and sisters, who leave their native land to go to distant colonies; such are the exigencies of the times, that many have to go abroad. I charge you, wherever you go, carry the holy seed with you. Be yourselves a seed for Christ in every land.

Act 8:5-11. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

And there are those in all ages who set up to be prophets, and who seek to draw men after them, of whom it is well to beware.

Act 8:12-13. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also:

Simon believed after a certain style and fashion. He saw that there was a real power about Philip, which he did not himself possess, and he was obliged to bow down before the manifest presence of God.

Act 8:13-17. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

That is to say, they received a share of those miraculous gifts which attended the introduction of the gospel of Christ. It has therefore been supposed that certain superior persons should visit the churches, and lay their hands upon people. So they should, if they have the power to bestow such a gift as Peter and John gave; but to lay empty hands on the heads of men and women, is a vain ceremony. When the apostles laid their hands on these converts in Samaria, they received the Holy Ghost.

Act 8:18-26. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. And they when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

Philip, who had been so useful to the multitude, must now be of service to a solitary individual. My dear brethren, if you can gather a crowd of people together, preach the gospel to them; but if you cannot do that, preach the gospel to one person, if you can only reach one. It was a desert, but the angel of the Lord bade Philip go there.

Act 8:27. And he arose and went:

Not demurring, but at once obeying. If the Lord should send you to the wilderness, depend upon it that he will send somebody else there for you to bless; go, therefore, without fear.

Act 8:27-28. And, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

He was a devout man, a studious man, a Bible-reading man. We do not often find such persons in great authority under queens; but here was one.

Act 8:29-31. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how can I accept some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

See how God honours the Christian ministry by making even his Word to be in some respects insufficient for some men; at any rate, they need that some living voice should come and guide them into the meaning of it. Oh, that he would bless our voice tonight, that some who have gathered with us in this Tabernacle might be brought to understand the Scriptures through our guidance!

Act 8:32-35. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

It seems that, wherever Philip went, he had but one subject. When he went down to the city of Samaria, he preached Christ to them; and now that he talks to this Ethiopian eunuch, he preaches unto him Jesus.

Act 8:36-37. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

That is the great confession of faith that is to be made by all who have believed in Jesus.

Act 8:38-39. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

The Holy Spirit will not permit us to depend too much upon men as our teachers. The Spirit of the Lord did not take away the Bible: that was left to the eunuch. He only caught away Philip after the evangelist had furnished the enquirer with the key with which he could open the Scriptures, then he could unlock the Word himself. That he did so, if history is to be believed, is very clear. He went home to Ethiopia, perhaps to Abyssinia, and the people there heard the gospel from him, and to this day there are some traces of our holy faith in that land.

Act 8:40. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

We know quite well what he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea, although it is not mentioned here. Wherever he went, he had but one theme: the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ. So may it be with us wherever we go.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Act 8:1. , Saul) This is closely connected with what goes before. Is Stephen stoned? It is with Sauls consent. Is there a persecution of the Church taking place? He, the same, is assisting in it: Act 8:3.- on that day) The adversaries did not put it off a day.-, persecution) The one wave is followed by more.-, all) the teachers: Act 8:4-5. For others, and, for their sakes, the apostles, remained: Act 8:2-3.-, were scattered) So the Gospel was more widely propagated. The wind increases the flame: Act 8:4.-, except) On that account the apostles were in the greater danger; and yet they did not consider that they ought to consult for their safety above the rest. They ought to withstand (endure) dangers, who have attained a greater degree and measure of faith than the others: although much seems to depend on them (on their lives).

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Act 8:1-2

DEATH of STEPHEN

Act 7:54-60 and Act 8:1-2

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death.-Saul is later the apostle Paul; he was present when Stephen was stoned and held the clothes of those who stoned Stephen. He was not only consenting unto his death, but the Greek shows that he approved of it and that he took pleasure in the death of Stephen. Later he so confessed (Act 22:20), and encouraged the killing of the first Christian martyr (Rom 1:32). Saul was willing to be known as really participating in the transaction. The first picture that we have of Saul is that he is engaging in the murder of the first Christian martyr. At that time he is described as a young man (Act 7:58), which may be interpreted as thirty or forty years old; this term and kindred ones were used with greater latitude than we now use them. In Pauls letter to Philemon (verse 9) he calls himself the aged; this letter was written probably in A.D. 62 to 64. The martyrdom of Stephen is generally placed in A.D. 34 or 35. If Paul was between sixty and seventy years of age when he wrote to Philemon, he was between thirty and forty at the death of Stephen.

And there arose on that day a great persecution-This was the first of a number of waves of persecution that swept over the early church. This persecution of Stephen was the first of such violent opposition to the church; the martyrdom of Stephen acted like the first taste of blood to a wild beast. They were all scattered abroad; the word all is used in a general sense, meaning, in popular language, very many. They were scattered throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria. Samaria was the middle division of Palestine at that time, and was just north of Judea; it lay between Judea on the south and Galilee on the north. Except the apostles; that is, all were scattered except the apostles who remained with the small remnant of the church in Jerusalem. We are not told why the apostles remained in Jerusalem at this time; they were guided by the Holy Spirit, and God had some purpose in their remaining at Jerusalem.

2 And devout men buried Stephen,-Devout comes from the Greek eulabeis, and is used only four times in the New Testament. (Luk 2:25; Act 2:5 Act 8:2 Act 22:12.) Devout, as used in Act 10:2, comes from the Greek eusebes. It is not known whether these devout men who buried Stephen were Christians; some think that they were Jews who were kindly disposed toward Christianity. However, others think that they were Christians because they made great lamentation over him. Lamentation here comes from kopeton, and means to beat the breast. This is the only place it is used in the New Testament. This was a distinguished honor paid to Stephen; there were those who deeply lamented his death and willingly bore testimony to his worth.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The popular outburst against Christianity evidenced in the martyrdom of Stephen was general. Members of the Church at Jerusalem were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. How dark the day seemed to be for the infant Church. Nevertheless, the overruling hand of God is seen in the movement. As they were scattered, the members did not cease their work. They went through Judea and Samaria preaching the Word.

Philip, one of the recently chosen deacons, went to the city of Samaria. There a great company of the people believed, but there was something lacking in the work, for they did not receive the Holy Spirit. This gave Simon the sorcerer an opportunity. When Peter and John came the gift of the Spirit was bestowed, and Simon was summarily dealt with.

Then we have an account of the spreading of the movement. The apostles returned to Jerusalem, preaching on the way in many of the villages of the Samaritans. Philip, acting under a direct guidance, took a journey of at least thirty miles, and on the way declared the Word to an Ethiopian eunuch. Thus the truth was presented to the first of the dark-skinned sons of Africa. After his teaching of the eunuch, Philip went to Azotus; and, in turn, journeyed through Judea and Samaria, as far as Caesarea, preaching in all the cities.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Fruits of the Scattered Seed

Act 8:1-13

Evidently Stephen was beloved outside the precincts of the Church, for it would seem that the devout men who lamented his early death and carried his poor body to its burial were godly Jews who had been attracted by his earnest character. In the furious persecution that ensued under the leadership of Saul, neither sex nor age was spared. According to the subsequent statement of the arch-persecutor, the disciples of Jesus were dragged before the magistrate, thrust into prison, exposed to cruel torture, and compelled to blaspheme His holy Name. During those terrible days scenes were enacted which were destined to fill the heart of the future Apostle with most poignant sorrow.

This persecution was overruled to scatter the Church, which had grown too prosperous and secure, and needed to be reminded of the Lords injunction to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The light must be diffused; the salt must be scattered. How often God has to drive us by trouble to do what we ought to have done gladly and spontaneously! It was impossible to keep the deacons to the office of serving tables. Philip must needs go to Samaria, and that city welcomed what Jerusalem had refused. Here we enter upon the second circle of Act 1:8.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

God sometimes has to act through disagreeable circumstances in order to compel His saints to work in accordance with His plan for them. We have seen, in studying this book of Acts, that at the very beginning the Lord Jesus Christ laid out a program for the evangelization of the entire world. He said, Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Up to the present then we have found the gospel going out in the city of Jerusalem and throughout Judea, but the disciples were very, very slow in fulfilling the rest of the program. God, however, waited in wondrous grace for them to fulfill His mandate. He desired that any in Israel who were prepared to bow their hearts in repentance should receive the message first and then it was to go out into the rest of the world. So He permitted what we call the transitional period, before the work was carried to the nations generally.

I remind you that when I use the words transitional period I am referring to a period that must be understood as in the mind of man- not in the mind of God. The moment the work of the cross was finished and the Holy Spirit came to empower believers to preach the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, Gods mind was toward all men everywhere, but it took His servants some time to understand His viewpoint. He was very patient with them.

Persecution Increases (Act 8:1-4)

The apostles had been preaching for a number of years in Jerusalem and Judea, and many Jews had been brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But so far no one had carried the message beyond the confines of Israel.

Following the death of Stephen, God allowed greater persecution to break out in Jerusalem and Judea in order that His Word might be scattered abroad, that His purpose might be fulfilled. There was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Thus Christians went out into the whole land of Palestine-except the apostles-the very ones who had been commissioned to preach to every creature. For some reason they remained behind in Jerusalem while the rest of the disciples (those who had been converted under them) fled from the persecution and carried the gospel wherever they went, but at first only to the Jews.

We note that Stephen was buried by godly Jews, perhaps not actually by the disciples themselves, for the term may refer to pious Jews who repudiated the act of stoning Stephen.

But now Saul, the bitter persecutor, made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Thus many were hearing the gospel who might otherwise have been left in ignorance of it.

Philip in Samaria (Act 8:5-25)

The Philip referred to in these verses was not Philip the apostle, but one of the seven deacons who had been appointed to help in distributing bread among the Christian converts. He was another man who used the office of a deacon well! He was set apart to minister in the temporal affairs of the church but he had been so faithful, true, and conscientious in carrying out his responsibilities that the Spirit of God committed to him a greater ministry (see 1Ti 3:13). We saw that the same was true of Stephen also. The Spirit sent Philip out to preach Christ to the people of Samaria. I call your attention to his message. He did not go to them with what some people call the social gospel, and he did not go to talk to them on political subjects. Philip had one message and one Person to present to the people: the message of redemption and the Person of Christ who accomplished that redemption. The message of Gods servants today should be the same as his, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God (1Co 1:18).

These poor, despised Samaritans, hated by the Jews because of their religious differences, with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. God granted mighty signs to accompany him as he ministered the Word, For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

It was a wonderful awakening. Undoubtedly the city of Samaria was largely prepared for it because our Lord when on earth passed through Samaria on various occasions and ministered to the people. Many indeed had already been brought to accept Him as Messiah. Therefore, when these Jewish missionaries came to them and told them that the same Christ who had died for them was living to save them, they gave heed. Moreover, they saw how the mighty God was working in healing the sick and demoniacs; and many who believed were baptized.

But we are told, There was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery. This Simon Magus was what we would call a magician, a charlatan, who had bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. Such men as he were very common in the Orient not only before and during the days when our Lord was here on earth, but afterwards, when the gospel was first being carried to the different nations of the world outside of Palestine. This sorcerer was operating inside the land of promise; not exactly among the Israelites, but among these people whom the Jews considered a mongrel nation. Probably Simon was himself a renegade Jew and had heard of the great works of Jesus. At any rate, he claimed to be a miracle worker and by his trickery and so-called magic had deceived the people: To whom all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Philips message naturally turned them away from Simon. Now that they had heard the truth, they turned away from the false. Simon therefore decided he had best join this new movement. So we read, Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. It is important for us to remember there is a belief that results in salvation, but on the other hand, there is a belief that may not result in salvation. In other words, it is possible to accept many facts concerning Jesus Christ from a merely historical standpoint. One can believe a great deal about Him and yet not be saved. But you cannot believe in Jesus as your personal Savior without being numbered among the redeemed. These Samaritans heard Philip and trusted the Savior he proclaimed, Even Simon listened and believed many things Philip said, and came forward to be baptized. Philip baptized him because it was Gods appointed way of separating His people outwardly from the unsaved. In the beginning it was Gods way of separating the remnant of Israel from the nation that was under His judgment. In Samaria it was Gods way of separating believers from the prevalent religious system.

Because Simon was baptized does not necessarily mean that he was born of God. I know there are people who believe baptism and salvation are one and the same thing. Simon was a man who seemed just like the others, but there was no real faith in his soul, no true repentance toward God. I am afraid there are a great many people in Christendom today who have been baptized and have given intellectual assent to the truths of Gods Word but have never faced their sins before God. They have never committed themselves to Him and trusted Christ as their own Savior. If you are resting on the fact that you have joined a church, or been baptized, or partaken from time to time in the communion of the Lords supper, face your condition honestly before God! Ask yourself: Have I as a repentant sinner, turned to God in faith? Have I trusted Christ as my Savior? Is He the Lord of my life? If these things are not true, if you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, then the fact that you have been baptized and are outwardly linked with the people of God does not make you a Christian. You are not yet saved, nor born again.

We see in Simon a baptized man, a religious professor, who had not been regenerated. He simply wanted a place in the Christian company. He despaired of winning these people back unless he could come in among them and pose as a Christian leader. Then he hoped to gain them to himself. So when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

Notice that up to this time matters in Samaria had been moving along just as in Jerusalem at the beginning. But these Samaritan believers had not yet received the Pentecostal blessing, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We read,

When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John [two of their outstanding leaders]: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them [the Samaritan believers], that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) (Act 8:14-16)

The expression in the name of always implies by His authority. It does not mean they were not baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, for that is what Jesus told His disciples to do (Mat 28:19). They were baptized in the name of, or by the authority of, the Lord Jesus. But they had not yet received the Holy Spirit; they had not been baptized into the body of Christ.

When these disciples came down, they laid their hands on them, thus identifying this new church in Samaria with the work in Jerusalem. So when they laid their hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit, and doubtless there were many outward signs.

Why did not these Samaritans receive the Spirit of God the moment they professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Later in Acts, when we read of Peter going to the house of Cornelius, we are told that the moment Peter spoke the words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word. But here we have an interval between the time the Samaritans accepted the message preached by Philip and the time they received the Holy Spirit. The reason, I think, is perfectly clear. For something like five hundred years the temple at Jerusalem and the temple at Mt. Gerizim had been rival sanctuaries. The Jews in the south and the Samaritans north of Jerusalem had each claimed to be Gods chosen people, and there was intense rivalry between them. One can understand that if the Spirit had immediately fallen on these Samaritan believers, when they received the Word, then the strife between the Jews and Samaritans might have been perpetuated. There might have been down through the centuries two different groups of Christians, each claiming to be the true church. But when the apostles came from Jerusalem and identified themselves with the believing Samaritans, and God gave the Holy Ghost to them in answer to the prayers of the apostles, the work was recognized definitely and openly as one. There was only one body, whether Jews in Judea or Samaritans in Samaria. All were joined into one body of which the risen Christ was the Head. There was not the same danger of rivalry between two groups when the gospel was brought to the Gentiles whose pagan religion was very different from Judaism.

And now Simon was looking on, and when he saw what was taking place he offered the apostles money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. This shows how little Simon had entered into the truth of the gospel. If he had understood, he would have known God gives freely, without money and without price. No spiritual blessing can ever be purchased. I think Christendom today has largely forgotten that. I have heard of people on their deathbeds calling in preachers or priests and offering to turn over properties if their sins might be forgiven and a place assured them in Heaven. It is a delusion! The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And the Holy Spirit coming to indwell believers is as truly a gift of God as the blessed Son He gave to die on the cross was His gift for the redemption of guilty man.

So when Simon offered the apostles money for the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter looked at him with indignation and said, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Notice the strength of that! If the gift of God could be purchased with money, it would not be a gift! God is saving men without money on the basis of the finished work of His beloved Son. And because Jesus has been glorified, He has sent forth the Holy Spirit to empower believers to proclaim the gospel.

Peter continued, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, was able to see through all the pretense and camouflage, through all the outward profession of this man Simon Magus. Philip, the deacon, was deceived by him. He did not have the gift of discerning of spirits, but Peter saw into the very depths of the mans being and declared, Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Many of us do not have that ability of discerning, but we can at least see that if anyone thinks he can purchase the gift of God, that heart is not right in the sight of God. Such an one may not be as great a hypocrite as this man Simon, but he has not yet faced things honestly in the sight of God.

Peter called on Simon to repent. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness. We have pointed out that this word repent means to change the mind, that is to change the attitude. Peter was saying in effect, You need not go on like this. Change your attitude. Face things honestly before God. Repent of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord (the best versions read, the Lord Jesus Christ) if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven.

Peter continued, For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. There is something exceedingly solemn here: a man outwardly in fellowship with the church of God, but whose heart is not right with God. There are many like this; many who need the same admonition that Peter gave to Simon: Repent of this thy wickedness! Simon did not seem to be very much affected. Instead of turning to the Lord himself, he said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. And that is the last we hear of him in the pages of Holy Scripture. We hear about him a great deal in early church writings-that he became the first antichrist, and went from place to place opposing the gospel. But he turned here to Peter and said, I want you to pray for me. Did you ever hear of people doing that? He said, Peter, I put my case in your hands. A lot of people are doing that today. If you do not go directly to Christ, Peter cannot do anything for you, nor can any of the saints; not even the virgin Mary, the mother of our blessed Lord. Remember, there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Why not go directly to Him and put your case in His hands!

This incident closes with verse 25 in which we are told that, when they had testified and preached the Word of the Lord, the apostles returned to Jerusalem. On their way there, they preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. Thus we see them reaching out to the second group of which our Lord had spoken (Act 1:8). As we pursue our study of Acts, we will see the river of grace ever widening until it reaches the uttermost part of the earth.

The Conversion of the Ethiopian (Act 8:26-40)

Gods ways are not our ways. He often interrupts our plans and our service in very remarkable ways that we find perhaps difficult to understand. I think we have such a case here. Just when things seemed to be at their best, when revival was spreading through the Samaritan villages, the Lord laid His hand on Philip and spoke to him through supernatural methods (the angel of the Lord), saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. One would not have been surprised if the record stated that Philip sought to reason with the angel and that he might have said, See the wonderful work going on here! I do not think that my work is finished by any means. Should I leave these fruitful fields and go to a desert-a desert actually and spiritually, too?

But there was no objection; he went immediately at the command of the angel and was led to a man in a chariot. Now you must not think of this as if Philip had just met a single individual driving a chariot across the desert. Undoubtedly what Philip saw was a great caravan-soldiers, merchants, retinue-and in the midst a chariot (which would stand out over everything else), the chariot of the treasurer of Candace queen of Ethiopia. The man in that chariot had gone to Jerusalem on a spiritual quest. He was an Ethiopian Gentile, not a Jew; but he had it in his heart, apparently, to know the God of Israel and had come all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship the true God. He was probably a proselyte to Judaism. He had accepted the revelation God gave Israel so far as he understood it. But you can imagine his heartsickness when he came to Jerusalem and found there nothing but cold formality. If he had been asking in his heart, How may I, a poor sinner, come into fellowship with God? there was no answer. He was returning to his home a disappointed-and doubtless disillusioned-man. Yet he had obtained in Jerusalem one thing that was of great importance-a portion of Gods holy Word.

He had acquired the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Ethiopian was so interested in it, so anxious to find out what it had to say to his own heart and conscience that, as the horses jogged along dragging the chariot across the desert, he read from that book. How wonderfully God times things! The man had read to a part that filled his mind with questions and stirred his heart, and at that very moment he saw a stranger coming across the sands to the side of his chariot. For the Spirit had said to Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. The man was reading aloud the words we find in Isaiah 53.

Philip, leaning over the side of the chariot, said, Do you understand what you are reading? The Ethiopian looked at him, doubtless in amazement, saying in effect, How can I? I am a poor ignorant man from Ethiopia. Oh that I had someone to explain the words to me! He invited Philip to come and sit with him and then pointed to the passage: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. The form in which these words come to us shows that the manuscript the Ethiopian held was not the original Hebrew. He probably could not read the Hebrew of the Jews: he was reading Greek, for this is from the Greek translation of the Old Testament-the Septuagint. The Greek idiom had become almost universal for business transactions.

As the eunuch pondered the words he wondered who the one could be who silently stood like a lamb dumb before his shearer. Who was this man whose judgment was taken away and evidently died a sacrificial death for others? He turned to Philip and asked earnestly, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? No, the words did not refer to the prophet himself, even though Isaiah had been a great sufferer for the testimony of the Messiah. We are told in Jewish history that he was sawn asunder for his faithfulness. Jewish scholars tried to apply this passage to the prophet Jeremiah, saying he was the one despised and rejected of man. But on the other hand, the greatest of Jewish doctors down through the centuries have declared these words refer not merely to some prophet or ordinary servant of God, but to His supreme Servant, the Messiah, who was to come in due time for Israels deliverance.

Philip understood this Scripture and knew the truth of God. So he opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. What a wonderful message to give to a poor seeking soul! And oh, how many thousands through the centuries since have been brought face to face with the Savior through Isaiah 53.

I think this Ethiopian accepted Jesus the first time he ever heard of Him. There is no evidence that he had heard previously. Doubtless many questions were asked and answered. Philip probably told the whole story-how Jesus came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived His holy life, was anointed by God, went about healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching the kingdom of God. Finally He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah and died on Calvarys tree, bearing the weight of our iniquities. Then, Philip would have gone on to say how Christ was buried with the rich-in Josephs tomb-and how He came out of the grave and commissioned His disciples to carry the gospel message, baptizing those who believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. I imagine that it was at that climax of the message that the Ethiopian stopped him and said, Wait! Look! Here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? It was his way of saying, I believe! I acknowledge Christ as the Savior; I want to confess Him publicly as my Savior.

Scholars generally agree that Act 8:37 is not recognized as part of reliable Scripture. But inasmuch as it was found in many manuscripts dating back to the early Christian era, it tells us the attitude of the early church concerning this question. Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This is the confession that God calls on every sinner to make. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom 10:9-10).

And so we are told that the eunuch commanded the chariot to stand still, and a most informal and lovely service took place. One can imagine the people in that caravan gathering around, looking on in wonderment and surprise as Philip and the Ethiopian descended from the chariot, laid aside their outer garments and went down both into the water.. .and he baptized him.

Philips work is now done. We read in the next verse that When they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. The Ethiopian did not need the servant any more-he knew the Master. He did not need the evangelist, for he knew the One of whom the evangelist preached-Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. So he went on his way rejoicing.

You see, it takes so little to save a sinner! It may seem like a long process, but the moment the poor lost sinner looks into the face of Jesus and trusts Him as Savior, he is a new creature. If the Ethiopian had possessed one of our hymnbooks he would have doubtless gone on his way singing:

Oh happy day that fixed my choice

On Thee, my Savior and my God!

Well may this glowing heart rejoice

And tell its raptures all abroad.

Tis done; the great transactions done-

I am my Lords and He is mine;

He drew me, and I followed on,

Charmed to confess the voice divine.

(Philip Doddridge)

Many hundred of years were to roll by before such a hymn as that was to be written. But I am sure it expresses the joy in the heart of this dear man who had gone to Jerusalem only to find an empty temple, yet on his way back found the Lord of the temple through the prophet Isaiah and Philip the evangelist.

In the meantime, Philip, who had accomplished his work, was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. And thus the message was going out farther and farther as the stream of grace broadened and deepened and thousands more were brought into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Act 8:3

(with Act 14:19; Act 9:1; Act 23:12, etc.)

The Smiter Smitten.

We learn from these texts:-

I. That a man’s life comes back upon him.

II. That a man’s Christian experience must be affected by the unchristian life he has lived. In reviewing these statements in the light of history and revelation we see (1) that the distribution of penalties is God’s work and not man’s; (2) that under all the apparent confusion of human life there is a principle of justice; (3) that the greatest sufferings may be borne with patience and hopefulness.

Parker, City Temple, vol. ii., p. 113.

Act 8:3

(with Act 20:28)

Saul and Paul.

The change in the heart and life of Paul shows:-

I. The marvellous power of the grace of God.

II. The difference between sanctifying human energies and destroying them.

III. The possible greatness of the change which awaits even those who are now in Christ.

Parker, City Temple, vol. ii., p. 173.

References: Act 8:5-8.-New Outlines on the New Testament, p. 84. Act 8:5-13.-E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, p. 234.

Act 8:8

A Christian City.

It is manifestly true that an aggregate of individuals may possess, in its own peculiar way, the spiritual character which the individual possesses, and a city, like a man, have and exhibit Christian faith and Christian righteousness and Christian love.

I. Look first at faith, then. Perhaps this seems hardest to establish. Look at this city where you live. It is a Christian city, a believing city, and why? How do you know it? It is not because an occasional document is solemnised with the name of God, it is not because a few verses of your Bible are read in your public schools; it is because that spirit which has never been in the world save as the fruit of Christian faith prevails in and pervades its government and social life-the spirit of responsibility, of trust in man, and of hopefulness for the great human future. Those are the real spiritual results of Christian believing. They are not found in heathenism. It does not come by accident; it has entered into us through the long belief of our fathers, which we ourselves do still keep, in spite of all our ecclesiasticisms and disputes,-the believing in a humanity created by God, redeemed by Jesus Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit. If we doubt this, we doubt whether a city can have and show a Christian faith.

II. Righteousness. Every city has a moral character distinguishable from, however it may be made up of, the individual character of its inhabitants. This is seen in two ways: first, in the official acts which it must do-acts of justice or injustice, of deceit or candour, by which it appears as a person acting with official unity among its sister cities. But even more, its moral character appears in its power and influence, in the moral atmosphere which pervades it, and exercises its power upon all who come within it. A Christian city is not all a dream. Already we have a city with enough of Christ in it feebly to turn away from its gates some vices which once came freely into the old city. Very far off, but still in the same direction, we can see the city so completely filled with Christ, that no sin can come in, nothing can defile it, “neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie.”

III. Love. The charity of a city is a distinct testimony to one thing which has been wrought into the convictions of that city, and that one thing is the value of a man, and that conviction has come nowhere except out of Christian faith. Deepen a city’s Christianity, and the city’s charity must deepen and widen too.

Phillips Brooks, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 369.

References: Act 8:8.-C. J. Vaughan, Church of the First Days, vol. i., p. 280. Act 8:9-25.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 429. Act 8:14-17.-Bishop Barry, Cheltenham College Sermons, p. 24. Act 8:14-26.-E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, p. 254. Act 8:17.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 225; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 2nd series, p. 131. Act 8:21.-G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 424. Act 8:22.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 39; C. J. Vaughan, Church of the First Days, vol. i., p. 298. Act 8:26.-G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 55. Act 8:26-30.-E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, p. 276. Act 8:26-39.-E. Bersier, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 98. Act 8:30.-Outline Sermons to Children, p. 218; Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 305; Contemporary Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 27; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 52; C. J. Vaughan, Church of the First Days, vol. i., p. 316. Act 8:30, Act 8:31.-J. Baines, Sermons, p. 241; E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, pp. 295, 313. Act 8:30-33.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx., No. 1792. Act 8:31-36.-E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, p. 336. Act 8:32, Act 8:33.-E. M. Plumptre, Church Sermons, vol. i., p. 337. Act 8:35.-E. Cooper, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 17; W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, vol. i., p. 87. Act 8:36.-T. Thain Davidson, Sure to Succeed, p. 147; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 56. Act 8:37.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 240. Act 8:39.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. viii., p. 220; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 13; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 10th series, p. 186. Act 8:39, Act 8:40.-E. M. Goulburn, Acts of the Deacons, p. 361.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Part II

The Witness to Samaria.

Sauls Conversion and Peters Witness in Caesarea.

Chapters 8-12

CHAPTER 8

1. The first great persecution (Act 8:1-3).

2. The preaching of the scattered believers. Philip in Samaria (Act 8:4-8).

3. Events in Samaria (Act 8:9-24).

4. The Gospel in many villages of Samaria (Act 8:25).

5. Philip and the Eunuch (Act 8:26-40).

The final testimony to the rulers of the people had been given. It was rejected, and the Spirit filled messenger killed. The last offer had therefore been completely rejected. The Gospel is now to be sent to the Gentiles. The eighth chapter gives the record how Samaria heard the Gospel.

Saul, the young Pharisee, was consenting unto Stephens death. Later he refers to the scene, which must have been impossible for him to erase from his memory. When the blood of Stephen was shed, I was standing by and keeping the garments of them that slew him (Act 22:20). Concerning Saul the Lord said to Ananias, I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my names sake (9:16). What was done unto Stephen was done unto Saul. The Jews and Saul with them, as we believe, disputed and resisted Stephen in the synagogue. The Jews disputed with Paul, resisted him, and rejected his testimony. Stephen was accused of blasphemy; so was Paul (Act 19:37). Stephen was accused of speaking against Moses, the holy place and the customs; so was Paul (Act 21:28; Act 24:6; Act 25:8; Act 28:17). They rushed upon Stephen with one accord and seized him. The same happened to Paul (Act 19:29). Stephen was dragged out of the city. So was Paul (Act 14:19). Stephen was tried before the Sanhedrin; so did Paul appear before the Sanhedrin. Stephen was stoned and Paul was stoned at Lystra. Stephen suffered martyrdom; so did Paul in Rome. And yet, with all the sufferings that Paul had to undergo, he rejoiced. His eyes rested constantly upon that glorious One, whom Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, beheld in Glory. Later we hear him crying out from the prison in Rome, That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death (Php 3:10).

The first great persecution then broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Saul was evidently the leader (Act 26:10-11; 1Co 15:9; Gal 1:13). But the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. God permitted this persecution that His Word might now be scattered abroad by the suffering saints. Philip, the Grecian Jew, one of the chosen seven, not an Apostle, is mightily used in preaching the Gospel in Samaria. The first missionary move to extend the Gospel was, therefore, not brought about under apostolic leadership, nor by the decree of an apostolic council, but by the Lord Himself. He led Philip to Samaria, where He Himself had been, yea to the very city of Samaria, Sychar (Joh 4:1-54). Great results followed the preaching of the Gospel. Miracles took place. Unclean spirits were driven out, many taken with palsies, and those who were lame were healed, so that there was great joy in that city. Simon Magus was a sinister instrument of Satan. He bewitched the people of Samaria, claiming to be some great one.

The hour of deliverance came for the Samaritans when Philip preached the Word, concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Signs and great miracles followed, and the Samaritans believed and were baptized. The miracles were done to show the power of God, to attest the preaching of the Gospel by Philip, and to expose the counterfeit powers of Simon. And he, like the sorcerers of Egypt, had to own that this was the power of God. He was amazed when he beheld the great miracles. But more than that, he also believed, was baptized, and then continued with Philip. But his faith was not through the Word of God. Gods Word alone can produce faith in man, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Simon was captivated by the miracles he had seen. Philip was deceived by him, but not Peter, who uncovered his Wickedness.

That the Holy Spirit had not been given to the Samaritans and that He was received by them after Peter and John had come from Jerusalem and laid hands on them, has puzzled many earnest students of the Word. It has also led to erroneous teachings, as if the Holy Spirit must be received in a special manner after conversion.

The Samaritan believers had to be identified with those in Jerusalem, so much the more because there was a schism between Samaria and Jerusalem. Samaria had denied both the city of Jerusalem and the temple. This had to be ended and could no longer be tolerated. It was therefore divinely ordered that the gift of the Spirit in their case should be withheld till the two apostles came from Jerusalem. This meant an acknowledgment of Jerusalem; if the Holy Spirit had been imparted unto them at once it might have resulted in a continuance of the existing rivalry. And Peter is in the foreground and uses the keys of the kingdom of heaven here with the Samaritans as he did on the day of Pentecost with the Jews, and later with the Gentiles. Nowhere in the church epistles, in which the great salvation truths and blessings in Christ Jesus are revealed, is there a word said about receiving the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, or that one who has trusted in Christ and is born again should seek the gift of the Holy Spirit afterward.

The conversion of the Eunuch is full of blessed lessons. Philip was obedient to the call of the Lord and the Eunuch, the prominent Ethiopian, Queen Candaces treasurer, who had returned from Jerusalem, an unsatisfied seeker, believed on the Lord Jesus and went on his way rejoicing. Act 8:37 is an interpolation and should be omitted. Philip was caught away and was found some twenty miles north of Gaza, at Azotus. From there he started out anew preaching the Gospel. In many cities his voice was heard. These coast cities were inhabited by many Gentiles and included larger places like Jamnia, Lydda, Joppa and Antipatris. The day of Christ will make known the labors and also the reward of this great Evangelist. Then he came to Caesarea. But did he stop with that? We do not know. Twenty years later we find him there and Paul was then his guest.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

23. IS YOUR HEART RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD

Act 8:1-25

The eighth chapter of Acts is a historic narrative. It records a brief, but very important segment of church history, showing us how the early church endured persecution from its beginning. This chapter also records the rapid spread of the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Samaria and to Africa. However, this inspired, historical narrative was not designed by the Holy Spirit simply to satisfy our curiosity about the history of the early church. Like all other parts of Holy Scripture, this historical narrative was written to give us spiritual instruction in the gospel of Christ. Five lessons taught in the first twenty-five verses of this chapter demand the attention of all who are concerned for their immortal souls, the souls of perishing sinners, and the glory of God.

First, THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS AN OFFENSE TO MEN (Act 8:1-4). This is a lesson often repeated in the Book of Acts. We need to be frequently reminded of it. The offense of the cross has not ceased (Gal 5:11). To those who believe not, the cross (the doctrine of free justification through Christ, the sinner’s Substitute) is not only foolishness (1Co 1:21-25), it is an aggravating offense that stirs up the wrath of man. Any man, any church, and group of men who faithfully preach RUIN BY THE FALL (The total depravity of the whole human race), REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD (The effectual atonement of Christ for the sins of his people), and REGENERATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (Life and faith in Christ as gifts of God’s sovereign, irresistible grace), will meet with relentless opposition from lost, religious men.

Secondly, THE LORD OUR GOD HAS A PEOPLE WHOM HE WILL SAVE (Act 8:5-12). The gospel of Christ has never been popularly received by men. It has always been in the minority. Human opinion and religious tradition have always been opposed to the message of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. Most people who hear the gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit go on to hell as though they had never heard the message of redeeming blood and saving grace. But the purpose of God is not frustrated. God has a people whom he will save (Rom 3:3-4; Act 18:10). His elect are scattered among all nations and through all generations; but they shall be saved. God will gather his own to himself (Jer 32:37-40). Not one of God’s elect shall perish. Not one of those redeemed by Christ shall be lost in the end (Joh 6:37-40).

Thirdly, GOD ALWAYS CAUSES THE SINNER HE HAS PURPOSED TO SAVE TO HEAR THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (Act 8:4). The preaching of the gospel is, in the purpose of God, as necessary for the salvation of sinners as election, redemption, and regeneration (Rom 10:13-17; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23-25). By the wondrous, mysterious workings of providence God always brings his elect to hear the gospel at his appointed time. He rules and overrules all things for the salvation of his chosen (Joh 17:2). He even allows reprobate men to persecute and scatter his church that they may be forced to carry the word of grace to chosen, redeemed sinners!

Fourthly, ALL SUPERNATURAL, APOSTOLIC GIFTS CEASED WITH THE APOSTLES (Act 8:14-17). Though Philip had received and exercised the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (Act 8:6-7), he was not able to communicate them to anyone. Only the Apostles could communicate the gifts of the Spirit to others. If no one but an apostle could communicate these gifts to men, (No one else ever did!), then the gifts must have ceased once the apostles had all died. When the gifts were no longer needed they ceased to be. They were needed to prove the credibility of the apostles as the messengers of Christ (Heb 2:3-4). But since we now have the complete, perfect Revelation of God, (the Bible), there is no need for the imperfect, temporary signs the apostles possessed (1Co 13:10; 2Pe 1:19-21).

Fifthly, WHEREVER THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED BOTH TRUE BELIEVERS AND CARNAL PROFESSORS OF FAITH WILL BE FOUND (Act 8:12-13; Act 8:20-21). Every church is a mixed multitude of true believers and false professors. Wherever Christ plants wheat, satan plants tares (Mat 13:24-30). Wherever the Lord gathers his sheep, satan gathers some goats. Along with those who were truly born again by the Spirit of God, Simon Magus professed to believe. But of him Peter said, “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.” Simon believed the same doctrine the others believed. He was baptized like the rest. He certainly saw and recognized the power of the Holy Spirit. But Simon had one fatal deficiency. His heart was false! His heart was not right in the sight of God. He was a hypocrite at heart. By profession he was a believer, but at heart he was an infidel.

Is your heart right in the sight of God? It is not enough that we believe the truth, worship God in the correct manner, and obey his commands. Our faith, worship, and obedience must arise from a true heart, a heart that is right in the sight of God. The Puritan, Thomas Manton, once said, “Though thou pray with the Pharisee, pay thy vows with the harlot, kiss Christ with Judas, offer sacrifice with Cain, fast with Jezebel, sell thine inheritance to give to the poor with Ananias and Sapphira, all is vain without the heart, for it is the heart that enliveneth all our duties.”

First and foremost God requires our hearts (Pro 23:26; Pro 4:23). Christianity is a religion of the heart. It is a heart union with the Son of God. Man by nature is content with an outward form of religion: doctrinal knowledge, a moral code, works of righteousness, ritualism, ceremonialism, and emotionalism. But God requires heart worship and heart obedience. The state of a person’s soul depends upon the condition of his heart (Pro 23:7). God looks not at our religious works, but at our hearts (1Sa 16:7; Pro 21:2). He “weigheth the spirits.” He says, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins” (Jer 17:10). We may give God a bowed head, a serious look, a strict adherence to religious duty, faithful attendance at the house of worship, and a firm commitment to doctrinal truth, but until we give him our hearts our religion is an abomination to him (Isa 1:10-15; Isa 66:2-3; Lk. 16:45).

Salvation is a heart work (Psa 51:17). It is “Christ in you the hope of glory.” All those things spoken of as essential to salvation are matters of the heart: Conviction (Act 2:37), Repentance (Luk 13:3), and Faith (Act 8:37). But all men and women by nature have an evil heart of unbelief, departing from the living God (Ecc 9:3; Jer 17:9; Gen 6:5; Mat 15:19). The one common way the Holy Spirit identifies the heart of men is by calling it “a stony heart” (Eze 11:19). “A stony heart” is a hard, cold, barren, dead heart.

Only God the Holy Spirit can make a man’s heart right in the sight of God. Only he can open the heart. Only he can reveal Christ in the heart. Only he can create in you a new heart. David was a man after God’s own heart (Act 13:22), because God had given him – A new heart (Eze 36:26; 2Co 5:17) – A broken and contrite heart (Psa 51:17) – A heart of faith in Christ (2Sa 23:5; Rom 10:10) – A praying heart (2Sa 7:27) – A heart of gratitude and love for Christ (Psa 34:1-10). A heart that is right in the sight of God is a heart in which there is a constant warfare with sin (Psalms 73; Gal 5:17; Rom 7:14-24); but it is a heart that honors God and seeks his glory above everything else (Psa 51:1-4; Psa 40:16).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

sin

Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

And Saul: This clause evidently belongs to the conclusion of the previous chapter; there is scarcely a worse division of chapters than this. Act 7:58, Act 22:20

there: Act 5:33, Act 5:40, Act 7:54, Mat 10:25-28, Mat 22:6, Mat 23:34, Luk 11:49, Luk 11:50, Joh 15:20, Joh 16:2

the church: Act 2:47, Act 7:38, Act 11:22, Act 13:1

and they: Act 8:4, Act 11:19-21, Mat 5:13, Phi 1:12

Samaria: Act 8:14, Act 1:8, Joh 4:39-42

except: Act 5:18, Act 5:20, Act 5:33, Act 5:40, Exo 10:28, Exo 10:29, Neh 6:3, Dan 3:16-18, Dan 6:10, Dan 6:23, Heb 11:27

Reciprocal: Neh 6:11 – Should such Hos 2:23 – I will sow Zec 10:9 – sow Mat 5:10 – are Mat 10:5 – of the Samaritans Mat 10:23 – when Mat 16:18 – my Mat 23:13 – for ye shut Mar 13:9 – take Luk 13:34 – killest Joh 16:32 – that Act 6:5 – Stephen Act 8:5 – Philip Act 9:31 – the churches Act 13:50 – and raised Act 22:4 – I persecuted Act 26:10 – I also Gal 1:13 – how 1Th 2:14 – even Heb 10:32 – ye endured Jam 1:1 – scattered

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

NOT CONTENT WITH slaying Stephen, the religious leaders in Jerusalem at this point launched the first great persecution against the church, and in this Saul was especially prominent. He ravaged the church like a wolf, invading the privacy of homes to secure his victims. In result, the disciples were scattered abroad through the provinces of Judaea and Samaria. Now, according to the Lords words to His disciples in Act 1:8, these provinces were to come after Jerusalem, and before their mission widened out to the uttermost parts of the earth; so again it was a case of God making mans wrath to serve His purpose. Yet, remarkably enough, the Apostles, to whom the commission was given, were the exceptions to the rule. They still remained in Jerusalem.

This being so, the narrative leaves them unnoticed and continues with those who went everywhere evangelizing, and particularly with Philip, another of the seven. He went to the city of Samaria and preached; the power of God was with him, and wonderful blessing followed, as is always the way when a servant of God moves in the direct line of Gods purpose. The sowing among the Samaritans had been done by the Lord Himself, as recorded in Joh 4:1-54. Then many had said not only, Is not this the Christ? but also, This is indeed the Christ. Now Philip, coming to them, preached Christ, as the One who had died, was risen again, and now in glory; as a consequence, a great time of reaping took place. There was great joy in that city.

Philips message being received, he began to preach among them, the things concerning the kingdom of God, and this led to multitudes being baptized. Amongst them was Simon the sorcerer, who also believed and was baptized. He found himself, as verse Act 8:7 shows, in the presence of a Power far mightier than the unclean spirits, with whom he formerly had traffic.

The remarkable thing about the work in Samaria was that although so many had believed the Gospel, and been baptized, none had received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The order that Peter had propounded in Act 2:38, was not observed in the case of the Samaritans. God so ordered, we believe, for a special reason. There had been religious rivalry between Jerusalem and Samaria, as Joh 4:1-54 witnesses, and therefore there must have been a strong tendency to carry over into the new conditions this ancient prejudice. This would have meant a Samaritan church independent of, if not in rivalry to, a Jerusalem church; and thus any practical expression of the one body would have been imperilled even before the truth of it had been revealed. As things were, they only received the Spirit when Peter and John had come down and laid hands on them, thus formally identifying the Apostles and the church in Jerusalem with these new believers in Samaria. The oneness of the church was preserved.

When the Holy Ghost was given, there was the drawing of the line between reality and unreality. Not all baptized prove to be real, but the Spirit is only given to those that are real. Hence at Samaria the baptized Simon was left without the Holy Spirit. Verses Act 8:12; Act 8:16 show us that the baptized person professes an entrance into the kingdom of God, and to take upon himself the name of the Lord Jesus, as his new Master, just as Israel of old were baptized to Moses-see 1Co 10:2. Simon submitted to all this, nevertheless, when the test came, reality was not found in him. He would never have said, Give me also this power, had he already possessed it. Nor did he understand it, as proved by his offer of money.

It must have been a great blow to Simon, who formerly had dominated the people of Samaria by his supernatural doings, to find a multitude now possessing a power, in the presence of which his own dark acts were as nothing. They possessed the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he had been left out. This led him to expose himself very thoroughly by offering money to the Apostles. He wished to purchase not only the Spirit for himself but also the power to convey Him to others by the imposition of his hands. He felt doubtless that if such a power as that could be his, any money laid out in its purchase would prove a very profitable investment.

This is the third recorded uprising of evil within the circle of those who had been baptized: first, Ananias; second, the murmuring as to the neglected widows; third, Simon the sorcerer. In each case, you notice, money was involved. In this third case we see the beginning of the Satanic endeavour to turn the pure faith of Christ into a money-making religion. In Samaria it was but a trickling stream, flowing through one man. It soon increased into a flood, sweeping immense riches to Rome. In the religious system which has its centre there, everything which is supposed to be a gift of God may be purchased with money.

Peter did not spare Simon the sorcerer. He told him plainly that this atrocious thought of his meant that his heart was not right with God, that he was entirely outside the true faith of Christ, and that both he and his money would perish. Peters words surely were prophetic of the doom that ultimately will overtake the great ecclesiastical system, which through the centuries has turned Christianity into the religion of money.

There was a ray of hope for Simon, which Peter held out for him, in verse Act 8:22. He might repent, and therefore forgiveness for him was still a possibility. Notice how the very thought of his heart is characterized as wickedness, without referring to his words; an illustration this, of the statement, that, the thought of foolishness is sin. Being still in bondage to money, he was still in the bond of iniquity and bitterness. The love of money being the root of all evil; that is, of every kind of evil, a large part of the bitterness which fills the earth, springs from it. Peter told Simon to pray to God; but from his answer, recorded in verse Act 8:24, it looks as if he lacked the repentance which would lead him to pray for himself, and wished to make sure of Peters intercession on his behalf without paying for it. Multitudes since that day have paid handsome sums hoping to obtain the intercession of Peter!

The Apostles had been slow to go forth from Jerusalem, as verse Act 8:1 of our chapter told us. Philip had been the pioneer at Samaria, but now that Peter and John had come down they further ministered the Word to the converts, and also evangelized in many Samaritan villages on their return journey. However there was more pioneer work to be done, and as to this the angel of the Lord spoke not to the Apostles but to Philip.

Philips ready and simple obedience to the Lords instructions is very striking. He was told to leave the place of his successful labours and depart to the desert region south west of Jerusalem. The record is that told to, Arise and go, he arose and went, though his brethren may have thought him misguided and eccentric in doing so. If he did not know, when starting, the object of his journey, he soon discovered it, for his steps were guided so that he should intercept an important Ethiopian official who was a seeker after God. This man had taken a toilsome journey to Jerusalem according to the little light he had. He arrived there too late to get any benefit from the temple, for as the house of God it had been disowned. He was too late to find the Lord, for He had been rejected and had gone to heaven. He did however get an important book of Old Testament scripture, and he was on his return journey needing but one thing more.

That one thing more Philip was sent to supply, for God was not going to allow an Ethiopian to stretch out his hands to Him without getting an answer. He needed New Testament light, so, as the New Testament was not yet written, Philip was sent with the New Testament message. The Spirit of God was in control, hence everything moved to time with smooth perfection. The Ethiopian had just reached the middle of Isa 53:1-12 when Philip addressed him, and his keen mind was filled with the question which that chapter inevitably raises in the thoughts of every intelligent reader- Is the prophet speaking of himself, or of some other man? The Ethiopian raised his question: Philip found there his text, and preached unto him JESUS.

All that Philip told the Ethiopian is summed up for us by Luke in that sacred Name, and this is easily understood when we remember how Mat 1:21 introduces us to it and to its significance. All that the man needed-the light and the salvation-was found in JESUS; and while Philip was speaking he found it! Now Isa 53:1-12 presents Jesus as the One who died an atoning and substitutionary death, the One whose life was taken from the earth, and the Ethiopian, who evidently knew something of baptism and its significance, desired to be identified with Him in His death. In baptism we are identified with Him in the likeness of His death (Rom 6:5), and he felt that nothing hindered him being identified in this way with the One on whom he now believed. Verse Act 8:37 is to be omitted as lacking any real manuscript authority: nevertheless nothing did hinder, though he was not a Jew, and Philip baptized him.

In this way the first Gentile was reached and baptized and sent on his way back to his own people with the knowledge of the Saviour. Philip disappeared from his sight more rapidly than he had appeared but, since he had believed not on Philip but on Jesus, this did not unduly disturb him, and he went on his way rejoicing. His faith was not entwined around Philip but around the One whom he had preached. For him it was not Jerusalem but Jesus, and also it was not Philip but Jesus. To be enamoured of the preacher makes for weakness: to be enamoured of the Saviour makes for spiritual strength.

As for Philip, the supernatural way in which he was removed to Azotus did not disturb him. He travelled north to Caesarea preaching in the cities as he went. Seven times in this chapter is preaching mentioned, and in five of these occasions the word used is one we have carried over into our language as, evangelize. The occasions are in verses Act 8:4, Act 8:12, Act 8:25 (second occurrence), 35, and 40. In three out of the five it is Philip who evangelizes, so we need not be surprised that presently he is designated, Philip the evangelist (Act 21:8).

The conversion of the Ethiopian was a sign that the time for the blessing of the Gentiles was at hand. He was like the lonely swallow in transit, betokening the advent of summer. In chapter 9, is recounted the call and conversion of the man who is to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. As is so often the case the Lords choice fell upon the most unlikely person. The arch-persecutor of the saints is to become the pattern servant of the Lord. To this end he was dealt with in an unprecedented way. The Lord Himself dealt with him directly, excluding in all essential things any human instrumentality.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

The Great Persecution

Act 8:1-9

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

We approach today the scenes that immediately followed Stephen’s death. Satan, encouraged by Stephen’s martyrdom, thinks to press on with fire and with flood, with stoning and with sword to exterminate the Christians. Let us consider how his tactics prospered.

I. A GREAT PERSECUTION AROSE (Act 8:1)

Prior to this time there had been persecution; Peter and James had been thrown into prison; Stephen had been stoned. Now, however, the persecution began to take on a more general nature. Everyone who named the Name of Christ was called on to suffer for Christ’s sake. The persecution which had centered against the leaders was made to include all believers.

Paul wrote plainly, “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

Christ said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” and the Spirit, in His Letter to Timothy added, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Does the interest of these words prevail in the twentieth century? Or, has the Church advanced so far in her conquest of the world, that the days of persecution are past?

We wot not.

The Church has ceased to suffer because the Church has grown worldly, The Church has set aside the offense of the Gospel. For a great part the Church and the world are walking together. However, where believers stand firm for the whole Gospel, and where they take their stand outside the camp, they still find themselves bearing reproach.

Persecution in some parts does not carry the same method; martyrdom has not prevailed, but persecution under the form of isolation, and segregation; persecution under the form of misrepresentation and insinuation does prevail. Saddest of all-it is the religious world, it is the ecclesiastical hierarchy that heads the present-day persecution.

Christianity is grouped under separate and distinctive ecclesiastical systems, and practically all ministers are inveigled in one of those groups. Persecution is most keen within these groups, commonly known as denominations; and it becomes dominant when any one minister or church, refuses to fall in line with the leaders who exercise authority in those denominations.

Loyalty to the denomination, abject obedience to the authority of men, the hearty support of every program fostered by the Church, has supplanted loyalty to Christ, and obedience to the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

The individual believer can scarcely think for himself, or follow Christ as the Spirit leads. He must bend the knee to men, he must support human leadership.

If preacher or pew-holder dares to step aside from the denominational program, he is at once a speckled bird, unloyal and worthy of debasement. For the most part denominationalists have accepted the yoke of human authority and leadership, and they are allowing men, and not God, to direct their steps.

The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free is lost, and the preacher who is unwilling to wear the yoke of some distinctive denominational headship is destined to suffer for Christ’s sake.

Stephen filled with the Holy Ghost and power, bucked the Sanhedrin; he cast off the fetters of synagogal authority; he refused to bow to the dictates of Judaistic authority; he would not wear the yoke of an ecclesiastical system that rejected Christ: as a result he was martyred for his faith; martyred for his loyalty to Christ; martyred because he spoke the truth; martyred because he exposed error.

II. A SCATTERING ABROAD OCCURRED (Act 8:1, l.c)

Satan no doubt thought that, with cyclone effectiveness, he was sweeping the land clear of the Christians. Before the onrush of persecution the Christians were scattered in every direction, Satan, however, was deceived. Instead of depleting the Church, he increased it. As the wind carries firebrands helter-skelter, and each brand starts a new conflagration, so the saints scattered, were the saints increasingly effective. Wherever the Christians lighted, they started a new testimony for Christ. The Gospel spread with speed. New converts were made and new churches sprung up over night. The Gospel prevailed and the power of God was manifested.

Throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria the message of life and liberty was carried.

In all of this persecution, with its sequence of scattered saints, we cannot fail to see the hand of God working out His own will. God was using the wrath of man and the strategies of Satan to praise Him; God was forcing them to work His will.

The parting command of the Ascending Christ was, “every creature.” The wall of partition had been broken down. It might remain “the Jew first,” but not, “the Jew all the time.” It might have been, “beginning at Jerusalem.” but not, “stagnating at Jerusalem.” Christ had said, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The import of this command failed to awaken any response in the hearts of the Apostles and the Church. They had begun in Jerusalem, and they were staying in Jerusalem.

We have this conviction-that if the Church had immediately pressed out to the ends of the earth with their testimony, the persecution that was waged might not have been so sudden and so severe.

Thus, as we stand at the bier of the martyred Stephen, we cannot but feel that from his tomb the seeds of missionary endeavor sprang. Thus also we feel, that, in the persecution that followed, the seeds of missionary endeavor greatly multiplied.

Christians with Christ in their heart, and with the pulsings of a living testimony on their lips, being scattered themselves, scattered also their testimony.

Persecution became the “Missionary Board” of the early Church, thrusting out missionaries to unevangelized centers.

Persecution became the method by which God forced His people into obedience to His command.

Persecution became the power of God in carrying the message of God to Judaea and Samaria, and ultimately on to the ends of the earth.

Thank God, then, for the far-reaching ministry of Stephen’s death. Like Samson, he slew more in his death, than in his life.

Thank God for the persecution that broke up homes, discommoded families, brought great financial loss, and sent saints fleeing in all directions. Mark the words of Act 8:4, Then “they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word.”

Of old, Joseph sold to the Ismaelites, was Joseph sent to Egypt as a missionary of God’s grace and glory, and Joseph sent ahead to preserve his own father and seed. That of which Jacob said, “All these things are against me,” was indeed, for him.

The little maid stolen away from her Jewish home by a marauding Syrian band, became the little maid who waited on Naaman’s wife; became the little maid, a missionary of God’s grace and glory to the leprous Naaman who was captain of the hosts of the king of Syria. The parents of the little maid were crushed with the news of their kidnapped child-but God was working in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; God was pressing into service a missionary to a faraway land.

So also in the days of the persecution that followed the death of Stephen, God was using the testings and the troubles of those dark days to send out heralders of His grace. The heart of God reached beyond the sequestered streets of Jerusalem-all men everywhere need to repent.

Let the Church learn its lesson. A missionary church is a God-owned and a God-honored church. Years ago the Baptists split on the missionary call to the Church. The anti-missionaries after the years, number if anything less than when the split occurred. The missionary Baptists have been increased many, many fold.

The church, or the individual, that wants the blessings of Heaven, must catch the spirit of the Master and carry the words of the Master to the end of the earth.

III. A GREAT SINNER WAS CONVICTED (Act 9:5)

When God struck down the stalwart Saul, as with letters of authority he journeyed toward Damascus seeking to bind saints and bring them to Jerusalem, the Lord said to Saul, “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” We come now to the goads which pricked Saul. Mark three striking statements that are before us.

1. “And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.” These are the words of Act 7:58.

2. “And Saul was consenting unto his death.” These words are found in the opening of chapter eight.

3. “As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison,” These words are in Act 8:3.

One would not easily detect any conviction for sin settling on the heart of the young persecutor, Saul of Tarsus. Yet, it must have been so. Saul may have hid any yearning and burning in his spirit from the Jewish Sanhedrin, and from the rabble; but, he did not hide his groanings from God. O Saul, it was hard, hard, hard, to hold out against the Lord.

What have we here? We are still following the results of Satan’s strategies against the saints; we are still seeing how Satan outdid himself. Satan brought about the death of Stephen-prominent in that stoning was the young man Saul, who guarded the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen. Satan knew Saul, knew his training at the feet of Gamaliel, knew his power with the Sanhedrin, knew his popularity in leadership. Satan felt that his interests were safe in the hands of Saul.

Beyond doubt Saul was a peer among persecutors. He hated the Christ and hated the Church. He was a vassal of evil men. His power and usefulness in Satan’s cause was enhanced by the fact that concerning the Law, he was blameless. He was a youth who was extremely religious; he was an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was a “Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the Law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless.”

Satan thought himself entrenched with so great a leader. Nothing suits the devil better than to link up, in his work against God, men who are, supposedly, sponsoring the things of God. Satan delights when he can get into the very citadel, and hold the keys of the tower in his own hands.

This, however, was one time that Satan ignominiously failed in his purpose. Saul was too sincere a man, too honest, too true, to be held by the evil one. To be sure his heart was as hard as adament; his eyes were blinded by religious prejudice; and for a while he verily thought that he was doing God’s will. However, ultimately, he could hold out no more. Through the mist that covered his eyes the light began to shine. Let us see how it all came about.

First, there was the death of Stephen, Saul did more than guard the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen-Saul saw a shining face, he beheld a forgiving spirit, and he caught the words of a tremendous testimony. There was something about Stephen that was so distinct, so different. His words seemed borne on the wings of a faith that was unwavering; they were carried by a power that was all-convincing. Saul knew this.

After Stephen’s death, after the noise of the yelling mob had subsided, after the excitement of the hour, Saul was left with an arrow of conviction pricking his heart. Saul could not forget the triumphant death of God’s martyr; he could not erase the memory of the vision that Stephen said he saw-the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Saul could not forget the words that marked the collapse of Stephen’s strength,-the words were loud, and they would not grow faint in the memories of Saul-Stephen had said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”

Have you ever been to Rome? Have you stood mid the ruins of the old Coliseum? There, in the days of old, the helpless Christians were thrust out into a lion-infested arena. The great crowds that thronged the galleries looked down. The elite of Rome and of Italy and of the nations were there. The cultured and the educated, the members of the Roman Senate were there. They all looked down and saw helpless men and women, facing sure death without a tremor. They knew that the saints in the arena could have obtained their liberty and safety by uttering one word-“we recant”; but no, they were willing rather to die. The throngs saw their faces shining as the faces of angels; they heard their prayers; caught their dying flights of faith.

Truly the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. From the old Roman arena, from every martyr’s funeral pyre, from the dying of Stephen men were born again-the Christ of the martyrs became the Christ of some who saw the martyrs die.

Thus with Saul-the goads began to prick. Saul sought to resist the pricks. He did no less than to increase his madness against the Church. First, he guarded the clothes of Stephen’s persecutors; then, he consented to his death; then, he made havoc of the Church, rushing everywhere and dragging men and women to jail. In another sermon we will show the ultimate of all of this-Saul’s conversion on the Damascus road.

IV. A GREAT FIDELITY OF THE APOSTLES WAS SHOWN (Act 8:1)

It is most significant. Hear the words of Act 8:1, “They were all scattered abroad * * except the Apostles.”

There are two considerations dominant here.

1. The fidelity of the Apostles. We remember how Peter had once quailed and trembled before the onrush of the enemy. Now Peter knew no fear, and showed no sign of retreat. We remember how the Apostles, as the mob came into Gethsemane, all forsook Christ and fled. Not so, now. The days of desertion were past.

The Apostles had a dauntless courage that held them fast. The ship might sink, but they would die with their hands on the helm. They would not take to the boats.

In this is much to strengthen our faith, The men who knew God were willing to pay for their trust, with their blood. Should not we be willing to do as much?

God needs men who will not swerve; men with iron in their blood; men who will be stone walls, and iron pillars.

2. The failure of the Apostles. We would not take one iota of glory from the vision of their courage, but we would not fail to observe the seeming lack of their obedience to the command of Christ. They were not willfully disobedient, they did not mean to lag behind.

God wanted the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem only until the coming of the Holy Spirit, then they were to press their way to Judaea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. This they did not do. The Spirit came, and still they tarried. The believers in Jerusalem were greatly multiplied, and still they tarried. Great funds of money were laid at the Apostles’ feet, and still they tarried.

The fuller meaning of the rent veil; the deeper vision of “all nations,” and “every creature,” they failed to grasp.

There was a hanging on to the old Judaistic conception of Jew first, Jew second, and Jew all the time. The Apostles were trying to keep intact the middle wall of partition which the Lord had torn down. They failed to grasp that the Gentiles were now fellow citizens with the saints; they who once were afar off, had been made nigh by the Blood of the Cross.

When Christ died He brought the Gentiles into a new position by grace. They were no longer strangers and foreigners, but together with the believing Jews, they had access, by one Spirit, unto the Father.

Our last word for today is a plea that the churches of Christ may press on, never being content with another man’s line of things made ready to their hands. The regions beyond, must ever be our goal.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

1

Act 8:1. Consenting is from SUNEUDOKEO, which Thayer defines at this place, “To approve together,” and Robinson gives virtually the same definition. Paul verifies the definition in his statement in chapter 22:20. At this time is rendered “on that day” by the Englishman’s Greek New Testament. Like a ravenous beast that. gets a taste of blood, these murderers became infuriated by the case of Stephen and started a general persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The disciples were scattered on account of the danger to their lives. A Christian has the right to save his life when he can do so without compromising any truth. I do not know why the apostles did not have to flee.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

General Persecution of the Church by Saul, 1-4.

Act 8:1. And Saul was consenting unto his death. These words were no doubt often heard by Luke from the Paul of later days, for we find them repeated by the missionary apostle himself years after (Act 22:20). They serve here to introduce the narrative of the persecution of the Christians which arose after the death of Stephen.

At that time. The literal translation of the Greek words is the best: On that day, for it sets before us a clearer picture of what then took place. Returning from the scene of blood, Saul, armed with the authority of the jealous Sanhedrim, at once commenced his savage work, and in a very short time the little flourishing Church of Jerusalem was dispersed.

They were all scattered abroad. This expression should not be understood literally; but as many of the great body of Christians, amounting at this time to some thousands, obliged by the violence of the persecution to leave the city, betook themselves to a distance, we can well imagine that the various congregations for a time were dispersed, and also that the elaborate organization of charity alluded to in chap. Act 2:44-45, Act 2:34-35, and especially in Act 6:1-3, was broken up. This partial dispersion of the new sect, this breaking up of their organization, is roughly designated by the words, they were all scattered abroad.

Except the apostles. But while many left the city, the apostles remained: it is not impossible that the veneration with which the people had now long regarded these teachers, who had worked so many and such beneficent works in their midst, preserved them from violence. But whether or no they were exposed to danger, they felt they had no right to quit the holy city, which they regarded as their post of duty. There is an old tradition contained in the apocryphal Preaching of Peter, that our Lord once said to the apostles, If any one of Israel wishes to repent, and through My name to believe in God, his sins shall be forgiven him. After twelve years, go ye forth into the world, lest any one say, We have not heard. See also Eusebius, H. E. v. 18.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Subdivision 1. (Act 8:1-25.)

The free choice of the Spirit: individuality and independence.

The Spirit, as we know, has come, and in signs and miracles of power is testifying to the Risen Christ. But until Stephen, and apart from speaking with tongues and prophesying, these seem to have been confined to the apostles themselves (Act 2:43; Act 5:12). With Stephen, who is used of God to give the final testimony to the rulers of the Jews, and in whom appears the anticipation of the impending change, the “wonders and great signs” seem more the fruit of faith and grace with which he is filled. Yet even in Stephen there might appear to be a connection of these with the office given to him, to which he had been set apart by apostolic hands. Now this is to be quite manifestly altered; the time for the free action of the Spirit has come; and He is to be seen as the true Vicar of Christ upon earth, not only energizing, but disposing and directing. Although there has been no doctrine of it yet, the Body of Christ is formed; and the various gifts which this implies manifest themselves under the constraint of divine love, in the various ability of which their possessors become conscious in the ministry to which love moves. For the possession of the gift brings the responsibility to use it; -a responsibility which is, first of all, to God. The gift is a “manifestation;” and “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (1Co 12:7). The simple rule, intelligible to all, of imparting for the need anywhere what each might have to supply it with, -the adaptation in spiritual things of the rule with which they began in temporal things, -this they found amply sufficient, under the Spirit’s guidance, as the general principle of service; which the apostle formulates for them afterwards in the exhortation that “as every one has received the gift,” they were “so to minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Pe 4:10). This is the principle of a “body,” -a living organism; in which there is no useless member, but the individuality of each one is maintained; individuality without independency, -things which are contradictory of one another: to affirm the latter, as to deny the former, is equally to destroy the thought of the body altogether.

There was no doctrine of the body of Christ as yet. The love that united these disciples to one another taught them the practice doubtless; just as it taught them in temporal things not to say that anything was their own. There was no law to prohibit such ministry as any one was capable of; and they would no doubt have thought such a law as unreasonable in one case as in the other.

While all were thus free to minister, there was of course an inspired teaching which was carefully distinguished from all other. “They continued,” it was said of these early disciples, “in the apostles’ doctrine.” There were men accredited as appointed and qualified of the Lord to lay the foundations on which, and according to which, all the building was to be. As yet there were probably not even the rudiments of any New Testament Scriptures; although one could not say that there was no beginning of such attempts at relation of things most surely believed as Luke afterwards refers to, encouraging his more perfect account. Who can say when Matthew began to write? But all must be the merest conjecture as to this. While yet at Jerusalem, with so many living witnesses as were around them, the need for written records would not be felt as afterwards; and yet it is hard to think that with the intense interest attaching to events then fresh in so many memories, there would be even then no effort to preserve these with the accuracy that writing alone could ensure.

But God had taken care that “scriptures” the infant Church should possess from the beginning; scriptures by which the words of the primitive evangelists would be, and were (with the emphatic approbation of the inspired historian) carefully tested. These Old Testament Scriptures had, as we know, been opened by the Lord Himself after His resurrection to others beside the apostles, and their understandings also opened to understand them. Under such teaching, and with this divine assistance, how much of New Testament truth would they be able to anticipate in those “living oracles” of which Stephen speaks, and which, all through His life on earth, the Lord so constantly referred to and upheld. It is not even yet needless to insist upon the honor which God has always put upon His written Word, even in days in which there were inspired teachers in the Church; who themselves, as we see, constantly referred to it. The Church never taught: it was rather that which was to be profited by teaching. It was at all times in subjection to Scripture, not above it; as were also its inspired teachers. What cause have we for thanksgiving for that which puts into every hand that by which alone the apostolic rule can be observed, to “prove all things, hold fast that which is good!”

1. At this juncture, when the Church is beginning, (as yet, one may say, unconsciously,) her exodus from the Jewish limitations in which, as yet, she had been held, God manifests His overruling power in a very striking way. The tiger-spirit in people and rulers, which had been restrained hitherto, that the new-born child might gather strength, is permitted now to manifest itself; and having tasted blood in Stephen’s martyrdom, rages against the followers of the Lord. The Church at Jerusalem is scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, with the notable exception of those whom the priests and rulers had most cause to dread! The apostles, guided of God, no doubt, alone remain. The seed of the gospel is thus scattered abroad, presently to spring up with plentiful fruit; while the absence of the apostles necessitates the rising up of new leaders in these various movements. All are cast with more simplicity upon God alone, to learn as the unfailing consequence, each for himself, the resources that are in Him. The weaning-time of Isaac is fairly begun; though unbelieving Ishmael may mock the more; all which will only hasten the casting out of the bondwoman and her seed.

On the other hand Saul is seen in the very forefront of the persecution, ravaging the flock. Who could have foreseen that here the great apostle of the Gentiles was also getting his education in the omnipotent wisdom of God? But so it was. A Pharisee of the Pharisees was learning in himself, in the most effectual way possible, the spirit of Pharisaism; while he was sharpening the axe which was to smite his self-righteousness to the ground, and prepare him as the chief of sinners to be the humblest of scholars in Christ’s school of grace. Thus God works! How marvelous are His workings! How well we may trust Him to carry out His purposes for the glory of Christ! Saul is already helping to scatter the seed which by and by he will be foremost in sowing. Now he is in agreement with Stephen’s being taken away; yet the glory in Stephen’s face is to have its part in his own transformation into another witness to the Son of man at the right hand of God; himself converted by the gospel of that glory!

The martyr too is buried by devout men, who without being as yet Christians, are penetrated with the sense of the mockery of all justice in his cruel death, and are thus brought into indignant opposition to the heads of their own nation. We may see in them how the blood of the martyrs will be the seed of the Church, as after-generations have proved abundantly. Here too God is working: defeat is victory, and the dead are workers still. They have not failed, who have fertilized the soil of the gospel with their life-blood. The Church is scattered; and those who are thus sent abroad proclaim, with all the emphasis of their suffering undergone for Him, the value to them of the Christ to whom they testify. Who could bribe these tongues to silence, when the Spirit of glory and of God rested upon the confessors of His Name, the more endeared to them? How could the “glad tidings of the Word” find better evangelists?

2. It is in this connection that another of the Seven comes before us, Philip, next named after Stephen, whom we find now, his office at Jerusalem having come to an end by reason of the persecution, preaching Christ in Samaria, among a people with whom (as another has said) law had failed utterly as always. The Gospel of John has shown us the Lord already there, and many believing through His word; while in the beginning of the Acts itself He names distinctly, after Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria as a place in which the apostles were to be His witnesses (Act 1:8). Hitherto, however, it had not been visited by them; and we can understand how the reception of disciples from that schismatic region, with which the Jews had not even ordinary dealings, as the woman of Sychar reminded the Lord, would have created difficulty which it might have been hard for Jews to meet. Now, when driven out from Jerusalem, the opposition there seemingly hopeless to be surmounted, these circumcised worshippers of the One God could hardly fail to be among the first thought of, with the Lord’s example and His word before them. Samaria accordingly is the first place now to be evangelized.

“The opinion,” says Lechler, “that this Philip was one of the twelve, was entertained already by Polycrates in the second century, by the authors of the Apostolical Constitutions, in the third century, and by others; it was suggested not only by the sameness of the name, but probably also by the special character of the labors of Philip, since these appear to be such as the apostles exclusively performed. This latter view seems, indeed, to be sustained by the expression, he preached (ekerusse) the Christ; inasmuch as it was originally applied to the proclamation of a herald, and denotes therefore here that a public declaration was made in a more than ordinarily solemn manner, and by special authority, while in the case of others, merely the terms euangelizesthai [evangelizing] (Act 8:4; Act 11:20) and lalein ton logon [speaking the word] were employed. The evangelizing labors of Philip, therefore, undoubtedly seem to be of a different kind from those of the latter. But they do not on this account assume a decidedly apostolical character, in which case didaskein or didache [teach, teaching] would have been the term employed, as in 4: 2, 18; 5: 25, 28, 42; comp. 2: 42. The word kerussein, in the present verse, constitutes, as it were, an intermediate grade, or occupies a position between the specifically apostolical didaskein and the general Christian euangelizesthai, or lalein ton logon. This view is in the strictest accordance with the opinion that Philip was one of the Seven, as these men really did occupy an intermediate position in their respective relations to the apostles, and to the disciples in general.” (See Lange’s Commentary the Acts).

If such, indeed, is the language of the Word, it is right that we all should understand it. We must agree with Lechler that the Philip here spoken of is not the apostle, and for the double reason that the connection shows that the apostles were at this time all at Jerusalem, and because the visit of Peter and John to Samaria afterwards is inexplicable if Philip were of the same standing with themselves. As to the rest, there is no ground for the attempted distinction. Apostles “taught” indeed, and with peculiar authority; but they also “preached” (Act 9:20; Act 10:42; Act 20:25, etc.), “evangelized” (Act 8:25; Act 14:7; Act 14:15; Act 14:21, etc.), and “spoke the Word” (Act 8:25; Act 14:25, etc). The word used with regard to Philip here, and which means “to publish, or proclaim,” is used with regard to those who preached Christ of envy and strife, supposing to add affliction to Paul’s bonds (Php 1:16); and also with regard to the leper’s publication of his leprosy which the Lord had healed, but where assuredly he had no “special authority” to do so, but on the contrary, was expressly forbidden by the Lord (Mar 1:45). While as for the “teaching,” said to be “specifically apostolical,” it is the word used when Christians generally are exhorted to be “teaching and admonishing one another” (Col 3:16). It seems even impossible to believe that Lechler means to assure us that there were no rightful teachers except the apostles! Yet his words seem to have no meaning, if they do not mean this.

The whole interest of such arguments clearly is in support of the claim which used to be more openly advocated than at present, that all preaching should be in the hands of a special class of men ordained for this, to which Philip could be then assigned, because of apostolic hands laid upon him; ignoring the fact which is so plain in the history here, that Philip was set apart, with the rest of the Seven, to “serve tables,” and that there is no such thought as that of ordaining to preach or teach, -by apostles or any other, -in all the New Testament. We are not going out of our way now, to take this up; but we must not shun what purport to be arguments from the word of God, as to this or any other matter.

The signs which accompanied Philip’s preaching were never granted to all; and as intended to bear witness to the Risen. Lord, naturally would go with the proclamation of the Word. At first, they seem, for the same reason doubtless, to have been confined to the apostles, to whom was confided a special testimony to the Resurrection. The wider sphere in which now this testimony was going out would imply a corresponding enlargement in the range of such conferments. There is nothing apparently in this which demands very special explanation. God was acting in all this for the glory of Christ, and in behalf of the gospel of His grace which was now about to shine out in deeper, fuller, sweeter significance than it had ever exhibited before.

The miracles at once gain the attention of the people; but only as making way for the Word, which holds them. The power over unclean spirits is marked; and Samaria appears in more than this respect as largely under the power of the enemy, spite of its professed worship of the true God. It may well be that the truth which had begun to work among them had stirred up special resistance on the part of one who knew its power; and Simon the sorcerer had been his special agent to distract and turn away the minds of the Samaritans from the truth. He had dazzled them with a wonder-working, the source of which he was content mysteriously to hint at as some preternatural greatness in himself, which left their imaginations to go further than his cautious claim. For them he came to be “The power of God which is called great;” but before the true power of God all this collapsed, and a great mass of the people followed Christ, and were baptized, both men and women.

A more notable thing follows. The stronghold of Satan’s power is itself shaken, and Simon the sorcerer becomes by conviction and profession a disciple of Christ! Simon also himself believed, and having been baptized, remains constantly with Philip, as much astonished as he had astonished others, beholding the signs and great works of power taking place. So, apparently, the gospel had triumphed everywhere; in a sense, had done so; but it had to be realized that even victories of the truth in a world fallen away from God, are not always or wholly the triumphs that they seem.

3. Spite of the power manifested, and the joyful reception of the gospel in so many hearts, there was still a lack among these baptized believers which must have been felt greatly. The testimony at Jerusalem had been, “Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And so it came to pass. But at Samaria, where the conditions then announced had been evidently fulfilled, the effect did not follow: “as yet the Spirit was not fallen upon any of them.” It was not simply an absence of the signs that then followed those who believed. It was not only that the gifts failed, but the “Gift.” Manifestations of the Spirit regularly declared the Spirit’s presence; but here they were absent; and the inconceivably greater Gift -that of the Spirit itself, -had not been conferred.

That this was the Pentecostal gift none can surely doubt; and the Lord Himself defines this as the Baptism of the Spirit (Act 1:5). The apostle Paul assures us that by this we are brought into the Body of Christ (1Co 12:13). This is certainly neither the effect nor the accompaniment of water baptism, as with the ritualists: for at Pentecost the hundred and twenty were not baptized with water, and the converts here in Samaria had all both faith and baptism, yet had not the Spirit. Moreover, while in Jerusalem baptism was a prerequisite, in the case of the Gentiles afterwards the Spirit fell on them before the baptism (Act 10:47). Thus every way there have been distinguished for us things which should never have been confounded. The analogy between them manifestly is, that as water-baptism introduces into the outer sphere of profession, so that of the Spirit introduces into the inner circle of the Church of God.

With new birth or conversion it would again seem almost impossible to confound the Pentecostal Gift. The apostles were neither converted nor born again at Pentecost, but long before; and the Samaritan believers were likewise, as in every other case, converted first.

Finally, the gifts received for testimony were quite distinct from that indwelling of the Spirit personally which the Lord emphasizes for us in the Gospel of John as that which would be the result of His going to the Father (Joh 14:20; Joh 16:7). Signs and works of power the disciples had been commissioned to do before (Mat 10:8), and many others had done them in Old Testament times.

It only remains to enquire why the gift of the Spirit should be delayed in the case of the Samaritans, and why it should have been communicated by means of the apostles. We have not heard of the latter at Jerusalem, nor do we in the case of Cornelius and his friends; a thing which again quite overthrows the ideas which ritualism has associated with it. We find nothing like an ordinance which could only thus be administered, but on the contrary, a quite exceptional dealing with the Samaritans, repeated, as far as we know, but in one case (Act 19:6). The rule among Gentiles seems to have been different (Gal 3:5). And if apostles’ hands were indeed necessary for such a communication, where are the apostles, authenticated as the early apostles were, by whose hands alone it can be effected? Thank God that He has not tied His grace to anything of this kind!

With regard to Gentiles also, the necessity of baptism as a prerequisite is done away. Who will assert that in the very first case of their admission to the Church the link between things which God intended to be kept united could be thus broken through? Baptism for those who had openly rejected the Lord as come to them would be there an open reception of Him, -the fit accompaniment of that repentance which was now preached to them in His Name. Here also, where there had been a long schismatic denial of the city and house of God at Jerusalem, that this should be ended by the acknowledgment on their part of Jerusalem in those who had to come from Jerusalem to communicate the Gift which they so imperatively needed, seems in keeping with His ways. For, as the Law pointed forward to the gospel, the necessity of which it so distinctly showed, so does the gospel in its turn confirm the Law. God’s dispensations have one common Author, who is to be acknowledged in them all. The Gentiles were a people “without God in the world” (Eph 2:12), but a circumcised and orthodox nation must own the institutions of the God they worshiped. All seems here consistent and in place.

4. But the wondrous Gift, while perfecting the true disciples in what they lacked, unveils the unhappy Simon as still in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. Wondering at this new power displayed, he covets for himself the ability to bestow it, and would make merchandise of the divine vouchsafement; it was in full reality, -even in the extremest form of it, -the “trader in the House of the Lord” (Zec 14:21), -the sin of which Christ had indignantly purged His Father’s House, and of which Judas himself was but the highest expression. What was afterwards called “simony” was necessarily a feebler manifestation of the same spirit, which may take forms, moreover, not covered by this word. The carnal mind intruding into divine things will necessarily seek to use them for fleshly advantage; -necessarily, for it knows nothing better: the only full victory over it is with him who has found in Christ Himself the satisfaction which frees him from self-enslavement, and makes it a delight henceforth to pour out upon His feet its most precious ointment.

The fervid heart of Peter bursts forth at this offer on the part of a professed disciple, and he denounces it with terrible severity, as if to prevent the possibility of any recurrence of so great a crime. “Thy money go with thee to destruction,” he says, “because thou hast thought that the Gift of God might be obtained with money.” It was indeed a bold attempt on the part of Satan, if it were not too foolish to be taken as one of his, to regain the ground that he had lost in Samaria. He had in fact insulted the Lord in as evil a fashion in the temptation in the wilderness; and in his worst malice his utter folly is most manifested too. And this poor tool of his, who had seemed to have escaped from his hand, had only demonstrated now how near it was possible to come to the Saviour and His salvation without ever having really “part or lot in the matter” of the Holy Spirit at all. The apostle urges upon him, therefore, repentance and supplication to God, if perhaps the thought of his heart might be forgiven. The doubt arises, not from the limitation of divine mercy, but rather from the hardened condition of the man himself, whom he cannot but regard as in the bitterness of gall itself, and as in the bond (some would say, “bundle”) of iniquity. Nothing of all that he had seen and owned as to the power of God manifest there, and bowing so many souls before God, had changed him from the sorcerer he had been before, who would now but use the wondrous power he was witness to, to bring men under his own control and make himself to others the centre which he was to himself! This is man still, with the devil’s deceit clinging to him, “Ye shall be as God;” -which was in this way, that, as there cannot be two Gods, man must displace God, and feign himself in the empty throne! Antichrist at the end will be the full exemplification of this; and, as the Lord intimated to the Jews, for those who refuse Him who comes in His Father’s Name, the alternative must be that they will receive Antichrist. He is only the incarnation of their own desires, although like Saul of old he may be a head and shoulders taller than any of his followers.

Simon’s answer to the apostle shows that, though alarmed, there is no repentance with him. He asks that they would supplicate the Lord that nothing of the things of which they have spoken may come upon him. He is alarmed as to what may come, and that is all; there is no consciousness of his great inward need, no confession that we read of Like the devils, he believes and trembles, but he does not turn to God on his own account. And so he passes out of the inspired history. There is a legendary one about him, which speaks of him as returning to his old arts as a magician, but with inveterate hatred of that from which he has turned; but there is no certainty about anything beyond what is written here.

The apostles help on the work in Samaria with their own testimony, and themselves evangelize many other villages; but there is no record given as to the success of their labors. The work is confirmed by their visit to Samaria, and fellowship established between this and what has been the headquarters of the Jewish work. A great step forward has plainly been accomplished.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

– TRANSITION PERIOD

We explained in the last lesson the meaning of the transition period which continues to chapter 13. The first sentence in chapter 8 is more properly the concluding one of chapter 7, although it introduces the account of the persecution following in which Saul was the leader (Act 8:1-3). With the account of this persecution (compare Heb 10:32-34), and for Sauls part in it, see Act 22:4; Act 22:19-20; Act 24:10-11 and parallel places.

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, as the results in Act 8:4-8 bear witness. Notice in this case that everyone was a preacher, somewhat as in the later instances of the Waldenses and Huguenots.

Joh 4:42 shows how the soil had been prepared in Samaria. Miracles were in order here because the New Testament had not come into existence, but in our day faith in the Word of God is substituted for them.

Simon, or Simon Magus, was one of Satans instruments to anticipate the coming of the gospel and counterfeit Gods power (Act 8:9-11). See 1Th 2:9 for the multiplication of such persons towards the end of the age. His pretended faith deceives even Philip (Act 8:13).

Act 8:14-17 have lead to error in two directions. Some teach from it that one may believe in Christ and yet not possess the Holy Spirit, and whose reception it is claimed is distinct from conversion. Others affirm that the laying on of hands as in the rites of confirmation and ordination are needful to His reception. The correction of these things is found in the dispensational character of this part of the book. The Samaritans who had a controversy with the Jews (Joh 4:19-24) had to be identified with those in Jerusalem, after their conversion, hence the gift of the Holy Spirit was withheld in their case till Jerusalem sent the apostles to them.

Peter uses the keys here as with the Jews on the day of Pentecost and the Gentiles later in the case of Cornelius (Acts 10). Nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that the believer on Christ should seek the gift of the Holy Spirit afterward, nor that He is to be received only by the laying on of hands. The believer may be filled with the Spirit many times, but the Spirit comes to dwell in him once and forever.

Simony is the name given to the offence of the impostor recorded in v. 18-24, and it stands for any attempt to make merchandise of the gifts of God. In so far as Christian Science, claiming to be a divine religion, seeks pay for its healing benefits, it is guilty of this sin.

The remainder of the chapter is quite plain. All must be impressed with Philips obedience (Act 8:26-27), tact, intelligence (Act 8:30-35) and success (Act 8:38) as a soul-winner, but the explanation is that he was full of the Holy Ghost (Act 6:3). Act 8:37 is omitted in the Revised Version as not belonging to the text. It states a great and important truth, but it anticipates the later teaching of Christianity which was given Paul to reveal (Act 9:20; Gal 1:12). The catching away of Philip (Act 8:39) suggests 1Th 4:17, and is a type of that which will occur when the church as a whole has finished her labors here, and will be translated to meet the Lord in the air.

We include the conversion of Saul in this lesson, as the opening of chapter 9 leads us back to that of chapter 8, showing the intervening narrative as a parenthesis. With the exception of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the conversion of Saul is the most important event in the book. For something of his early history see Act 22:3; Act 22:28; Act 23:6; Gal 1:13-14; Php 3:5-6. What happened on the way to Damascus was unique (Act 9:3-7), and will not be repeated until Zec 12:10 is fulfilled at the end of this age. It is related twice again, and with more detail, in Act 22:5-16; Act 24:12-18. The light out of heaven (Act 9:3) was doubtless the Glory of the Lord, but later on it is the Lord Himself who appears unto Saul. For proof of this cross-reference verse 5 with verses 17 and 27 of the same chapter (also Act 26:16; 1Co 9:1; 1Co 15:8-9).

Note the identification of the Lord and His people, the Head and the members of the body in the words, Why persecutest thou Me? Note the correspondence in the two visions to Saul and to Ananias (Act 9:6, Act 9:10-16), which establishes the actuality of the occurrence. Note the particularities of Gods knowledge of man, the name of Ananias, the city, the street, the house in which he dwelt, the name of Saul, his birthplace, his present occupation! How real and startling it all is! And Ananias is an ordinary disciple, not an apostle, to whom the great commission is accorded (Gal 1:1). Note the first indication of what Pauls mission is to be (Act 9:15). Note that he was first filled with the Spirit and afterward baptized (Act 9:17-18), which was different from Act 2:38; Act 8:16; Act 10:44. Evidently had there been uniformity in all these cases it would have resulted in the belief that to receive the Spirit, the same method always must be followed, which has to be avoided. It is to be remembered that these cases were all unique as taking place in the Jewish and the transition stages, while the present method of receiving the Spirit is revealed in Eph 1:13.

We pass over the remainder of this story except to notice Act 9:23. The many days doubtless included the journey to Arabia and back spoken of in Gal 1:17, and which will be treated when that epistle is reached.

QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by the transition period?

2. Have you carefully examined the other scriptures referred to in this lesson?

3. What is now substituted for miracles?

4. In what two directions as the translation in Act 8:14-17 led to error?

5. In what is the correction found?

6. What is simony?

7. What marks Philip as a soul-winner?

8. What is suggested by his being caught away?

9. What comparison is made between the conversion of Saul and other events in this book?

10. How is Gods knowledge of our intimate life shown in this lesson?

11. What did we note about receiving the Holy Spirit?

12. What is included in the Many days of Act 9:23?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

That is, St. Stephen’s, mentioned in the close of the last chapter; how far he consented to his death, the text tells us, He kept the garments of them that stoned him, they laid down their clothes at his feet. Act 7:58. His hand did not throw one stone at the holy martyr’s head, but his will concurred with others in that bloody act: and this denominated him guilty.

Learn hence, That God chiefly inspects the heart, and if the vote be passed there, he looks upon the man as guilty, though he proceeds no farther. ‘Tis easy to murder another by silent wish, or passionate desire. In all moral actions God values the will for the deed, and reckons that man an actor, that is an applauder. Consent unto the sins of others makes their guilt our own: Saul was consenting unto his death.

Observe here, 1. How the spite and cruelty of the church’s adversaries was not quenched, but rather inflamed by the blood of Stephen: From whence arose a bitter persecution against the church at Jerusalem, upon which the multitude of believers fled from thence. Persecution scatters the professors of religion; but God makes scattering the way to increasing, and what was intended for the hindrance, God over-ruled for the furtherance of the gospel: As God overpowers the devil, so he outwits him too. This scattering persecution at Jerusalem, which was designed to another and suppress the gospel, did propagate and spread it more and more.

Observe, 2. How God sets bounds and limits to this sharp persecution: though the believers were scattered, yet the apostles continued at Jerusalem; They were all scattered, except the apostles. The twelve stay there untouched in the midst of the fiery furnace of persecution, to comfort and cherish the church in that sad and doleful day, maugre the malice of angry men, and of enraged devils; and those who were scattered, carried the light of the gospel among the Gentiles. Thus out of the darkness of persecution, God bringeth forth the light of the gospel, providing at once for the safety of some by their flight, and for the calling home of others by their dispersion: They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

The Church Persecuted by Saul

Luke told Theophilus that Saul, by holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen, had given consent to his death. Immediately following this violent act, an intense period of persecution followed. The apostles remained in Jerusalem, but other disciples were driven to every corner of Judea and Samaria. God’s providence can be seen in the safety of the apostles, who would have been the most visible leaders in the church. He can also be seen as working through the terrible acts of wicked men, who were persecuting the church, to spread the gospel over a broader territory.

Luke observed that “earnestly religious,” or devout, men buried Stephen and greatly mourned his death. A couple of observations arise out of Luke’s simple record. First, the brethren, or some God fearing men among the Jews, still had enough faith in God to openly bury a Christian who had died such a violent death for preaching the gospel. Second, the Sanhedrin must have recognized how wrong their actions were since their custom would not allow an individual grave and lamentation for one who had been judicially stoned.

Saul operated as the agent of an angry Sanhedrin which was intent upon wiping the church off the face of the globe. Boles thinks it probable that these events took place in A.D. 37.

,,,this was the year in which Tiberius died and Caligula succeeded him. There was a time when there was no Roman governor in Judea, and the Jewish factions reigned supreme. Hence, the opponents of Christianity visited Christian homes and thrust Christian men and women into vile prisons and then brought them before the elders in the synagogue, who tried to force them to deny Jesus; on their refusal some of them were put to death ( Act 22:4 ; Act 26:10 ), others were beaten ( Act 26:11 ), and all suffered many outrages ( 1Ti 1:13 ).

The church’s response to the death of Stephen and the persecution which followed is both understandable and puzzling. The fact that Christians fled the area of Jerusalem and Judea is not surprising. However, that they preached the gospel wherever they went despite the trouble such preaching had given rise to is remarkable ( Act 8:1-4 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Act 8:1-2. And Saul was consenting , was consenting with delight; to his death Or, more literally, was well pleased with his slaughter; for he was so full of rage and malice against the Christian name, that he thought no severities were too great to be exercised on those who thus zealously endeavoured to propagate it. And at that time , in that day, in the very day in which this inhuman murder was committed on Stephen, who leads the van in the glorious army of martyrs; there was a great persecution Which continued to rage for some time; against the church at Jerusalem

Which was no sooner planted than it was persecuted, as Christ had often intimated, signifying that tribulation and persecution would arise, because of the word, particularly at Jerusalem, that city having been formerly famous for killing the prophets, and stoning them that were sent to it, Mat 23:37. And now the adversaries of the Christians, having tasted blood, were the more eager to shed it. And they were all scattered abroad Not all the church, for if so, who would have remained for the apostles to teach, or Saul to persecute? but all the teachers, except the apostles, who, though in the most danger, stayed with the flock. And devout men Who feared God more than persecution; carried Stephen to his burial Having the courage to show themselves openly as the friends of that holy man, whose blood had been so unrighteously shed; and made great lamentation over him Mourning that the church had lost so excellent an instrument of usefulness, though he himself was so much a gainer by it, as to be the object of congratulation, rather than condolence.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

VIII: 1-4. The enemies of the disciples had now tried and exhausted all the ordinary methods of opposing the truth. Under the leadership of the Sadducees they had tried, first threatening, then imprisonment, and then stripes. They were about to follow this with the death of the twelve, when the milder counsels of the yet unexasperated Pharisees had prevailed, and resort was had to discussion. But the cause which had prospered under the imprisonment and scourging of its chief advocates bounded forward with astonishing rapidity when the strength of its plea was brought before the people in open discussion. Its learned opponents were completely discomfited. Foiled in their efforts, the Pharisees were now ready to unite with the Sadducees in a common persecution. They selected Stephen as the first victim, because he had been their most formidable opponent in the discussion. They had determined to proceed in their bloody purpose with the forms of law; but, in a moment of frenzy, they had broken loose from all restraint, and dispatched their victim with the violence of a mob. Once embarked in this mad career, nothing less than the utter extermination of the Church could satisfy them. Hence the historian proceeds to inform us that, (1) On that day there arose a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (2) Yet devout men carried Stephen to burial, and made great lamentation over him. (3) But Saul wasted the Church; entering into the houses, and dragging forth both men and women, he committed them to prison. (4) Nevertheless, they who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.

The grief of a community at the loss of a good man is more intense when he falls in the performance of some part characteristic of his life. But it is most intense when death, at such a moment, is precipitated by injustice and violence. It is not surprising, therefore, that the burial of Stephen should have been attended with great lamentation. The perilous condition of the congregation-some of whom were being hourly cast into prison, and most of whom were contemplating flight-could but deepen their grief. The funeral services were soon followed by a general dispersion of the disciples. With much bitterness of heart, they left behind them their native city and their individual homes, to seek refuge among strangers. But the bitterness of their temporal loss must have been slight, to the truly devoted among them, compared with the disappointment of their brightening hopes concerning the speedy triumph of the gospel. How bitter, too, must have been the disappointment of the twelve, at suddenly finding themselves left alone in the great city, the congregation of many thousand disciples whom they had collected-all scattered and gone! While the thought of the brethren and sisters fleeing for life, and of the many already languishing in prison, they could have but regarded their own lives as in imminent danger. But, supposing that the time for which Jesus had limited their stay in Jerusalem had not yet expired, they courageously stood at their post, regardless of consequences.

The present distress and flight of the disciples had resulted, not from the mere fact that they believed in Jesus, but more especially from the zeal and persistency with which they pushed his claims upon the attention of others. Seeing that they had now lost everything, by this course, a worldly prudence would have taught them to be, thenceforward, more quiet and unobtrusive in the propagation of their faith. Even the interests of the cause itself, which had been jeopardized by the boldness with which Stephen had attacked the prevailing iniquity, might have been urged in favor of a change of policy. But this time-serving expediency was reserved for the disgrace of a later age. It never took large possession of the heroic hearts of the early disciples. On the contrary, the scattered disciples went everywhere preaching the word. The result was the rapid spread of the gospel into the cities of Judea, and even into Samaria. Thus, the apparent ruin of the single Church in Jerusalem resulted in the springing up of many Churches throughout the province-proving, for the thousandth time in the world’s history, how impotent is the hand of man when fighting against God. As the blows of the blacksmith’s hammer upon the heated iron scatter the scintillations in every direction, so the effort of wicked Jews to crush the Church of Christ only scattered its light more widely abroad.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Acts Chapter 8

Saul was present at Stephens death, and consenting to it. [14] This is the end of the first phase of the assembly of God-its history in immediate connection with Jerusalem and the Jews, as the centre to which the work of the apostles related, beginning at Jerusalem; carried on, however, in a believing remnant, but inviting Israel, as such, to come into it, as being nationally the object of the love and care of God, but they would not. Some accessory events follow, which enlarge the sphere of labour and maintain the unity of the whole, previously to the revelation of the call of the Gentiles, as such, properly speaking, and of the assembly as one body, independent of Jerusalem, and apart from the earth. These events are-the work of Philip in the conversion of Samaria and of the Ethiopian; that of Cornelius, with Peters vision that took place after the vocation of Saul, who himself is brought in by a Jew of good report among the Jews as such; the labours of Peter in all the land of Canaan; and, finally, the connection established between the apostles at Jerusalem and the converted Gentiles at Antioch; the opposition of Herod, the false king of the Jews, and the care which God still takes of Peter, and the judgment of God upon the king. Afterwards comes the direct work among the Gentiles, having Antioch for its starting-point, already prepared by the conversion of Paul, through means and with a revelation that were quite peculiar. Let us follow the details of these chapters.

After the death of Stephen persecution breaks out. The victory, gained by a hatred the accomplishment of whose object was allowed by Providence, opens the floodgates to the violence of the Jewish leaders, enemies to the gospel. The barrier that restrained them once broken, the waves of passion overflow on all sides. People are often held back by a little remaining conscience, by habits, by a certain idea of the rights of others; but when the dykes are broken, hatred (the spirit of murder in the heart) satiates itself, if God permit, by actions that shew what man is when left to himself. But all this hatred accomplishes the will of God, in which man would perhaps otherwise have failed, and which in some respects he could not or ought not even to have executed, that is to say, the will of God in sovereign judgment. The dispersion of the assembly was Israels judgment-a judgment which the disciples would have found it difficult to declare and to execute by the communication of greater light to them; for whatever may be the blessing and energy in the sphere where the grace of God acts, the ways of God in directing all things are in His own hand. Our part, too, in His ways as to those without, is in grace.

The whole assembly then, except the apostles, is scattered. It is questionable also, that the apostles did right in remaining, and whether a more simple faith would not have made them go away, and thus have spared the assembly many a conflict and many a difficulty in connection with the fact that Jerusalem continued to be a centre of authority.[15] The Lord had even said with Israel in view, When they persecute in one city, flee into another; and after His resurrection He commands them to go and disciple all nations. This last mission we do not find executed in the history of the Acts and the work among the Gentiles, and, as we see in Gal 2:1-21, by a special agreement entered into at Jerusalem, it fell into the hands of Paul, being placed on an entirely new footing. The word tells us nothing of the accomplishment of this mission of the twelve towards the Gentiles, unless it be the slight general intimation in the end of Mark. God is mighty in Peter toward the circumcision and in Paul towards the Gentiles. It may be said that the twelve were not persecuted. It is possible, and I say nothing decided on the point; but it is certain that the passages which I have quoted have no fulfilment in the Bible history, and that another arrangement, another order of things, took place in lieu of that which the Lord prescribed, and that Jewish prejudices had in fact an influence, resulting from this concentration at Jerusalem, from which even Peter had the greatest difficulty to free himself.

Those who were scattered abroad preached the word everywhere, but only to the Jews, before some of them arrived at Antioch (chap. 11:19).

Philip however went down to Samaria, and preached Christ to them, and wrought miracles. They all give heed to him and are even baptised. A man who until then had bewitched them with sorcery, so that they had said he was the great power of God, even he also submits to the power which eclipsed his false marvels, and convinced him so much the more of its reality as he was conscious of the falseness of his own. The apostles make no difficulty with regard to Samaria. The history of Jesus must have enlightened them in that respect. Moreover, the Samaritans were not Gentiles. Still it was a Hellenist who preached the gospel there.

A new truth comes out here in connection with the regular process of the assembly-namely, that the apostles conferred the Holy Ghost by means of prayer and the laying on of hands: a very important fact in the history of Gods dealings. Moreover Samaria was a conquest which all the energy of Judaism had never been able to make. It was a new and splendid triumph for the gospel. Spiritual energy to subdue the world appertained to the assembly. Jerusalem was set aside: its day was over in that respect.

The presence of the power of the Holy Ghost acting in Peter preserves the assembly as yet from the entrance of hypocrites, the instruments of Satan. The great and powerful fact that God was there manifested itself and made the darkness evident which circumstances had concealed. Carried along by the strong current, Simon had yielded, as to his intelligence, to the authority of Christ whose name was glorified by Philips ministry. But the true condition of his heart, the desire of his own glory, the complete opposition between his moral condition and all principle-all light from God-betrays itself in presence of the fact that a man can impart the Holy Ghost. He desires to buy this power with money. What a thought! It is thus that the unbelief which appears quite to pass away, so that the things of God are outwardly received, betrays itself by something which, to one who has the Spirit, is so grossly contrary to God that its true character is manifest even to a child taught by God Himself.

Samaria is thus brought into connection with the centre of the work of Jerusalem, where the apostles still were. Already the Holy Ghosts being bestowed on the Samaritans was an immense step in the development of the assembly. Doubtless they were circumcised, they acknowledged the law, although the temple had in a certain degree lost its importance. The body of believers was more consolidated, and, so far as they still held to Jerusalem, it was a positive gain; for Samaria, by receiving the gospel, entered into connection with her ancient rival, as much as the apostles themselves were so, and submitted to her. Probably the apostles, during that time of persecution, did not go to the temple. God had opened a wide door to them outside, and thus made them ample amends in their work, for the success of the rulers of Israel who had stopped it in Jerusalem; for the energy of the Spirit was with them. To sum up: that which is presented here is the free energy of the Spirit in others than the apostles, and outside Jerusalem which had rejected it; and the relations maintained with the apostles and Jerusalem by their central action, and the authority and power with which they were invested.

Having accomplished their work, and themselves evangelised several villages of the Samaritans, Peter and John return to Jerusalem. The work outside goes on, and by other means. Philip, who presents the character of prompt unquestioning obedience in simplicity of heart, is called to leave his prosperous work with which all his personal importance (if he had been seeking it) was connected, and in which he was surrounded with respect and affection. Go, said the angel of the Lord, toward the south, unto the way that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. It was a desert. Philips ready obedience does not think of the difference between Samaria and Gaza, but of the Lords will: and he goes. The gospel now extends to the proselytes from among the Gentiles, and makes its way to the centre of Abyssinia. The Queens treasurer is admitted among the disciples of the Lord by baptism, which sealed his faith in the testimony of the prophet Isaiah; and he goes on his way, rejoicing in the salvation which he had taken a toilsome journey from a far country to seek in legal duties and ceremonies, but with faith in Gods word, in Jerusalem. Beautiful picture of the grace of the gospel! He carries away with him, and to his home, that which grace had bestowed on him in the wilderness-that which his wearisome journey to Jerusalem had not procured him. The poor Jews, who had driven away the testimony from Jerusalem, are outside everything. The Spirit of the Lord carries Philip far away, and he is found at Azotus; for all the power of the Lord is at the service of the Son of man for the accomplishment of the testimony to His glory. Philip evangelises all the cities unto Caesarea.

Footnotes for Acts Chapter 8

14: We may remark here, that the sanctuary, so to speak, is open to all believers. The veil indeed was rent by the death of Christ, but the grace of God was still acting towards the Jews, as such, and proposed to them the return of Jesus to the earth; that is to say, outside the veil, in the event of their repentance, so that the blessing would then have been upon the earth-the times of refreshing by the coming of Christ, which the prophets had announced. But now it is no longer a Messiah, the Son of David, but a Son of man in heaven; and, by the Holy Ghost here below, an opened heaven is seen and known, and the great High Priest (standing as yet) at the right hand of God is not hidden behind a veil. All is open to the believer; the glory, and He who has entered into it for His people. And this, it appears to me, is the reason why He is seen standing. He had not definitely taken His place as seated (eis to dienekes; in perpetuity) on the heavenly throne, until the testimony of the Holy Ghost to Israel of His exaltation had been definitively rejected on earth. The free testimony of the Spirit which is developed, here and afterwards, is highly interesting, without touching apostolic authority in its place, as we shall see. As to the Jews, till the High Priest comes out, they cannot know that His work is accepted for the nation; as, in the day of atonement, they had to wait till he came out that they might know it. But for us the Holy Ghost is come out while He is within, and we know it.

15: This is no wise prevents the manifestation of the sovereign wisdom of God. The development of the doctrine of the assembly in its oneness, and as the body of Christ, was but so much the more perfect and unmixed, as we find it taught by Paul; who was called outside of Judaism by the revelation of a heavenly Christ. Neither do these ways of sovereign wisdom in God make any change at all in the responsibility of man. The outward unity of the assembly was also preserved by this means, by the connection kept up between the other places and Jerusalem, until the work among the Gentiles outside Judaism made these connections extremely difficult and precarious. This, however, rendered the grace and the wisdom of God but so much the more apparent.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

1, 2. Pursuant to the time-honored custom of the Jews, to mourn over the dead seven days, devout men buried Stephen and made great mourning over him.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Act 8:1. At that time there was a great persecution against the church. With regard to this very tremendous storm which suddenly burst on the infant church, Cardinal Baronius, in his Ecclesiastical Annals, gives us an extract from a discourse of Dorotheus, a priest of Antioch, written in the second century, who states that two thousand persons were at this time massacred in Jerusalem, and in Judea; and that their bodies were mangled, and exposed in the fields to be devoured by vultures and beasts of prey. The fury of the jewish priests seemed to know no bounds. The poets have represented Jupiter as riding on a thunder cloud, and shooting his arrows as a tempest of hail, while the affrighted people fled before him as sheep pursued by the wolves. The like tempest seemed now to burst on the Redeemers flock. But the apostles kept their ground, proving that they were the true shepherds of the sheep. Perhaps this gave rise to the tradition recorded in the fifth book of Eusebiuss history, and at the end of the fifth chapter, that the Lord had commanded the apostles to remain twelve years with the churches in Judea; and no doubt to strengthen and confirm the faithful in Samaria, in Galilee, and Csarea. And, it would seem, that they did not leave Palestine, the ground hallowed by the Saviours feet, till the twelve years had expired.

Act 8:3. Saul made havock of the church. This word, when used in war, designates a cry for general carnage. We have English laws in existence prohibiting any soldier from using it in pursuit of a routed army.

Act 8:4. They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Not only in Syria, and all Roman Asia, but along all the shores of the west. Baronius affirms that fifteen thousand christians left Judea, and established themselves in Spain, in Marseilles, and in Aix. This statement cannot be doubted, for St. Paul purposed to visit the churches in Spain. Rom 15:24; Rom 15:28. With these emigrations Joseph of Arimathea reached the south of France. Ireland likewise, in the apostolic age, received the faith. In the fifth century the Spaniards sent their children to be educated in Ireland, Erin being then called the land of saints. The sound of their feet went into all the earth, into all the Roman empire, and their words unto the ends of the world. Rom 10:18. Ireland very early sent missionaries to Cornwall, who planted the churches of Gullzinny, Gurrno, Breage, and Zinny; for these are not Cornish but Irish names. To write Sithnay for Zinny, is a corruption of the ancient pronunciation. Thus this dreadful storm of persecution, which at first seems to becloud the cares of providence over the church, discovered the brightest counsel of heaven. The church of the firstborn in Jerusalem were a chosen generation of prophets, kings, and priests to God. They were protected amidst all their foes by the terrors of God on the crucifiers of their Lord, for the space of almost two years. Now, it was full time for their dispersion. This was as a stroke on the smiths anvil, which makes the sparks fly in all directions, and kindle wherever they fall. The disciples were driven out from a land accursed for its crimes, to take root among the rich cities of the gentiles, and to flourish in the earth.

Act 8:5. Then Philip went down to Samaria. Eusebius and all the catholic writers say, that this was Philip the deacon, and that he went to Samaria to enforce celibacy. Chrysostom says it was Philip the apostle; and the distinguished favours of heaven conferred upon him, are worthy of the first of apostles. Philip the deacon is named as an evangelist in chap. Act 21:8. Eusebius intimates that three of the apostles were married, Peter, Philip, and Paul; and that Philip had four daughters, who prophesied and edified the churches, so as to be entitled to praise in the scriptures. A field of glory opened to Philip in Samaria: the seeds, first sown by the Saviour, now whitened for harvest. Joh 4:38.

And preached Christ to them, as the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of God. Happy for the church that there was this retreat for the saints. The Samaritans embraced the mercy rejected by the Jews. The earth, at Gods command, still helps the woman in her flight. Rev 12:16.

Act 8:9. Simon used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria. He was afterwards baptized, and continued to bear the christian name till the arrival of Peter and John. To them he offered money, to purchase what he thought the magic power of conferring the Holy Ghost. Peter addressed him according to the power of the Spirit of holiness: Thy money perish with thee. These words were the curse of excommunication inflicted on him with just indignation: yet not so as to exclude the hope of repentance and forgiveness. From him the word simony, or the purchase of ecclesiastical preferment, is derived.

After this, Simon travelled, and infected the world with his errors. He formed the sect of the Simonites, of which the fathers complain bitterly, because they and the Gnostics gave great annoyance and scandal to the christian name. He affected divinity, that he might command the greater reverence from the rich and the poor. Justin Martyr from Iren. lib. 1. cap. 19. Epiph. heres. 21. Augus. heres. 21.

Act 8:16. Only they were baptized. Better to say, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act 8:27. Behold, a man of Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians lived on the eastern shore of the Red sea. Zerah was king over those who fought against Asa with a countless army, and was defeated. 2Ch 14:9-12. Some suppose that queen Candace reigned in the island of Moro, formed by the rivers of Ethiopia. But Gaza, to which the noble eunuch was travelling, is in the direct road for Egypt. Therefore the land of Chush or Ethiopia proper, is here understood. On this subject Eusebius says, Divine providence brought out of the land of Ethiopia, a man high in office under Candace, queen of that country, for those nations, conformably to ancient usages, are accustomed to be governed by a woman, who being the first of the gentiles that was made partaker of the divine word, was also the first fruits of the faithful among the heathen. On returning to his country, he is reported to have published the knowledge of the great God, and the consoling advent of the Saviour in the flesh. Thus by him was fulfilled the prediction of the prophet: Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God.

Psa 68:31.

Act 8:33. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. The eunuch uses here the Greek version, for the Greek was then the learned and the travelling language. Dr. Lightfoot notes here, that the words in Hebrew, 1Sa 21:7, are, as read by Kimchi, that Dog was detained before the Lord for devotion, which shows the greater injustice done to Christ. He was dragged away from the garden of devotion to their tribunals. He could neither be safe there, nor find equity at the bar of justice. See the whole as illustrated in the fifty third of Isaiah.

Act 8:37. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This is the glorious confession of faith by voices from heaven, and by witnesses on earth. Mat 3:17; Mat 16:18. Joh 1:1; Joh 1:14. Rom 1:4; Rom 9:5. Heb 1:1-12. How else could the eunuch have been converted to believe in a crucified Redeemer, unless Philip had proved from the prophets that the divinity or fulness of the godhead had dwelt bodily in Him. What then can thy poor dry philosophy, oh socinian, do for thee, or for thy deluded hearers.

REFLECTIONS.

Here is a group of wonders. A man of Ethiopia rising above heathen darkness, and seeking the knowledge and true worship of the Lord. He had heard of his temple and his holy law, and be the costs what they might, he had bought the parchments of the holy scriptures. Here is a man who came from a far country to pray; and while his chariot moved only two miles in the hour through the weary sands, he read the sacred volume. Surely this is the way to seek the truth, and find the Lord. Let all hearers expect the like influence under the sacred word.

He was of a teachable temper, condescending to men of low estate. He desired Philip to sit with him and expound the prophecy; for God will guide the meek in judgment, and the meek he will teach his way.

Divine providence guides the sincere seekers to find the truth. He was reading, and with many thoughts, of whom he should be reading, in that prophecy which had converted many in the faith: and Philip preached what all ministers should preach, Christ Jesus the Lord.

Philip taught salvation by faith in the Son of God. If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest be admitted to baptism. He did so believe, for God had borne witness of the truth, while Philip unfolded the glory of the Lord. Oh christian, why then are you so slow and tardy in confessing the truth? Why do you daily grieve your ministers by supineness, and lukewarmness in religion? May the grace which this man found, perfect what is lacking in you.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Act 8:1 b Act 8:4. Persecution and Dispersion.There has been no great persecution of the believers as yet. A nights imprisonment and beating was all they had to suffer. Now we are told that on the day of Stephens death, a great persecution arose against the Church at Jerusalem, as if the passion that brought about the death of Stephen had sought further satisfaction. Such a persecution would be aimed specially at the Hellenistic side of the Church, not at those who went to the Temple and upheld the customs. The Jewish side of the Church suffered less; the apostles remained at Jerusalem, where we find them seated and recognised as the central authority (Act 8:14, Act 9:26 f., Act 11:1, Act 11:27-30, Act 15:1 f.), and retaining with them many members who did not feel the persecution to be aimed at them. The all of :1 must be understood with this qualification; see Well-hausen, Noten zur Apostelgeschichte, pp. 9ff. Eusebius (H.E. V. xviii. 14) tells us of a tradition that Christ had enjoined on the apostles not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years (Act 1:4*), and the injunction (Mat 10:5 f.) would act in the same way. The scattered members are found in the regions of Juda and Samaria.

There is a discrepancy between Act 8:1 and Act 8:2; Act 8:1 reporting the flight of all the believers but the apostles, so that no one else was left to bury Stephen; and they evidently are not meant. Act 8:1 is continued at Act 8:4; Act 8:3 is also detached. Was the persecution Saul undoubtedly carried on (Gal 1:13) directed against Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, or against those of Stephens way of thinking in the provinces (Act 9:1*)? The persecution by Saul is said to have been severe, embracing domestic inquisition, and summary imprisonment. The same statement as to the scattering of the believers at the death of Stephen is found in Act 11:19, whore the story of these missionaries is taken up again. An example of their activity is given here in the mission of Philip to Samaria.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

As a wild beast tasting blood, the Jews were the more inflamed by the martyrdom of Stephen to greatly persecute the Church of God at Jerusalem. For this reason believers were scattered through Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Even the persecution at this time did not exercise them to leave and carry the gospel elsewhere, as the Lord had commanded them (Mar 16:15), but where they failed, the Lord had others to do the work.

Devout men buried Stephen with great lamentation. They may not have been Christians, but at least were God-fearing and honorable. In contrast, Saul excelled in his zealous persecution of believers, forcibly entering houses to take them prisoner. This did not however stop the preaching of the word by those who were scattered from Jerusalem.

Philip (one of the seven chosen as deacons — ch.6:5) was by no means intimidated either, but went down to Samaria where he preached Christ. Though the apostles were slow to do this, Philip showed the same gracious spirit as his Master (Joh 4:1-54), not despising the Samaritans, as was common among the Jews (Joh 8:48). The energy of this man’s faith is beautiful, for he evidently acted alone, not “tarrying for the sons of men.” How he attracted the interest of the people we are not told, except that he preached Christ to them. We may remember that Christ Himself had awakened a large interest in Samaria (Joh 4:39-42): now when this same Lord was preached, God had prepared hearts to respond to this blessed message. His preaching also was attended by God’s witnessing with the miracles of casting out demons and healing of the sick. Notice, it was not that Philip held a healing meeting; rather his speaking is first emphasized, then the miracles added.

It is of interesting importance that when Peter went later to Gentiles, there is no mention of healing at all (Ch.10:34-48), but Samaritans, though a mixed race, claimed a Jewish status because there was no doubt of Jewish blood among them. “The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks (Gentiles) seek after wisdom” (1Co 1:22).

Since the Jews of Jerusalem had no dealings with the Samaritans (Joh 4:9), they were not present to oppose the preaching of Christ or to hinder the great joy of the city. For even when Christ was there, no miracles are recorded: now by the power of the Spirit of God Philip performed many miracles, casting out many demons and healing many who were sick.

Such striking miracles as this impressed a sorcerer named Simon, who had before greatly influenced the people of Samaria by his Satanic sorceries, claiming to be a great man himself, and leading the populace, whether low or high, to consider him the great power of God. This had continued a long time, but the superior power of God in Philip’s preaching and miracles wrought in such a way as to produce faith in great numbers, and they were baptized, both men and women.

The evidence was convincing so far as Simon was concerned: he also believed and was baptized, but it was plainly only a superficial type of belief, as subsequent history shows. He continued at first with Philip, but wondered at the miracles and signs. Why should he wonder if he had faith that Jesus was actually the Son of God and actually risen from the dead? Were such miracles not simple enough for Him?

We have seen in Jerusalem that Jews were promised on repentance and baptism that they would receive the Spirit of God (Ch.2:38). Yet here were Samaritans who had repented and been baptized, but had not received the Spirit. This was the reason for the apostles Peter and John coming down when they heard news of God’s work in Samaria. Only after they had prayed for them and laid their hands on them did the Samaritan disciples receive the Holy Spirit. This guarded against any possibility that the Samaritans would consider their blessing independent of that which Jerusalem had received. We shall see later also that only on two other occasions was the Spirit received with public signs, and then only with the presence of at least one apostle (Ch.10:44-46 and Ch.19:1-7).

In this way the work was fully connected: the Church of God was one. The laying on of hands speaks simply of identification with these disciples. If God could publicly receive Jews at Jerusalem, He could also graciously receive Samaritans in spite of their having embraced a center contrary to God’s center, the temple at Jerusalem: God no longer deals on the basis of law, but of grace.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Acts 8

The book of the Acts has been considered divisible into three parts–the first, containing an account of the doings of the church at Jerusalem after our Savior’s ascension; the second, which begins at the eighth chapter, narrating the general history of the church in Judea, after its dispersion from Jerusalem; and the third, from the beginning of the thirteenth chapter to the end of the book, containing the personal history of Paul. This division is convenient for some purposes, though there is no reason to suppose that the author of the book had it, himself, particularly in mind.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

8:1 And {1} Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

(1) Christ uses the rage of his enemies in the spreading forth and enlarging of his kingdom.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

1. The evangelization of Samaria 8:1-25

The first part of Philip’s important witness took place in Samaria. Luke recorded the cause of Philip’s ministry there (Act 8:1-3), its nature (Act 8:4-8), and its effects (Act 8:9-24).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The dispersion of the witnesses 8:1-3

This short section sets the stage for Philip’s ministry by giving us its cause.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Saul’s active approval of Stephen’s execution reveals his commitment to the extermination of Jesus’ disciples, which he proceeded to implement zealously. This verse introduces Saul and provides a transition to what follows later concerning Saul’s conversion and subsequent ministry.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

B. The ministry of Philip 8:1-40

Luke next featured other important events in the expansion of the church and the ministry of another important witness. Philip took the gospel into Samaria and then indirectly to Ethiopia, one of the more remote parts of the earth (cf. Act 1:8). The account of Philip’s ministry in this chapter has several connections with chapters 6 and 7. Philip, like Stephen, was a member of the Seven (Act 6:5). The persecution begun in chapters 6 and 7 continues in chapter 8, and the church continued to feel Saul’s antagonism.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Stephen’s execution ignited the first popular persecution of Christian Jews. [Note: See Ernst Bammel, "Jewish Activity against Christians in Palestine according to Acts," in The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting; Vol. 4: The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, pp. 357-64.] Luke showed that the early Jerusalem Christians first received a warning (Act 4:21), then flogging (Act 5:40), then martyrdom (Act 7:58-60), then widespread persecution. Since Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew, the Hellenistic Jewish Christians were probably the main targets of this antagonism. The unbelieving Jews living in Jerusalem turned against the believing Jews. This hostility resulted in many of the believers leaving Jerusalem for more secure places of residence. They took the gospel seed with them and planted churches in all Judea (cf. 1Th 2:14) as well as in Samaria. The Greek word diesparesen, translated "scattered" here and in Act 8:4, comes from the verb speiro, used to refer to sowing seed (cf. Mat 6:26; Mat 13:3-4; Mat 13:18; Mat 25:24; Mat 25:26; Luk 8:5; Luk 12:24; et al.). The word "diaspora" derives from it. This persecution was hard on the Christians, but it was good for the church since it resulted in widening evangelization. The apostles probably stayed in Jerusalem because they believed their presence there was essential regardless of the danger. Moreover the persecution seems to have been against Hellenistic Jews particularly, and the Twelve were Hebraic Jews.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

8-60

Chapter 16

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYRDOM.

Act 7:58-60; Act 8:1

THE apology of Stephen struck the keynote of Christian freedom, traced out the fair proportions of the Catholic Church, while the actual martyrdom of Stephen taught men that Christianity was not only the force which was to triumph, but the power in which they were to suffer, and bear, and die. Stephens career was a type of all martyr lives, and embraces every possible development through which Christs Church and His servants had afterwards to pass, – obscurity, fame, activity, death, fixing high the standard for all ages.

I. We have in this passage, telling the story of that martyrdom, a vast number of topics, which have formed the subject-matter of Christian thought since apostolic times. We have already remarked that the earliest quotation from the Acts of the Apostles connects itself with this scene of Stephens martyrdom. Let us see how this came about. One hundred and forty years later than Stephens death, towards the close of the second century, the Churches of Vienne and Lyons were sending an account of the terrible sufferings through which they had passed during a similar sudden outburst of the Celtic pagans of that district against the Christians. The aged Pothinus, a man whose life and ministry touched upon the apostolic age, was put to death, suffering violence very like that to which St. Stephen was subjected, for we are told expressly by the historian Eusebius that the mob in its violence flung missiles at him. “Those at a distance, whatsoever they had at hand, every one hurled at him, thinking it would be a great sin if they fell short in wanton abuse against him.” The Church of Lyons, according to the loving usage of those early times, sent an account for all their trouble to the brethren in Asia and Phrygia, that they might read it at the celebration of the Eucharist for their own comfort and edification. They entered into great details, showing how wonderfully the power of Gods grace was manifested, even in the weakest persons, sustaining their courage and enabling them to witness. The letter then goes on to note the marvellous humility of the sufferers. They would not allow any one to call them martyrs. That name was reserved to Jesus Christ, “the true and faithful Martyr,” and to those who had been made perfect through death. Then, too, their charity was wonderful, and the Epistle, referring to this very incident, tells how they prayed “like Stephen, that perfect martyr, Lord, impute not this sin to them.” The memory of St. Stephen served to nerve the earliest Gallic martyrs, and it has ever since been bound up with the dearest feelings of Christians. The arrangements of the Calendar, with which we are all familiar, are merely an expression of the same feeling as that recorded in the second-century document we have just now quoted. Christmas Day and St. Stephens Day are closely united, -the commemoration of Christs birth is joined with that of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, because of a certain spiritual instinct. Christmas Day records the fact of the Incarnation, and then we have according to the order of the Calendar three holy days; St. Stephens, St. Johns, and the Holy Innocents Day, which follow one another in immediate succession. Many persons will remember the explanation of an old commentator on the Calendar and Liturgy, of which Keble makes a very effective use in his hymns in the “Christian Year” set apart for those days. There are three classes of martyrs: one in will and deed like St. Stephen, -this is the highest class, therefore he has place next to Christ; another in will, but not in deed, like St. John the Divine, who was ready to suffer death, but did not, -this is the second rank, therefore his place comes next to St. Stephen; and lastly come the Holy Innocents, the babes of Bethlehem, martyrs in deed but not in will, and therefore in the lowest position. The Western Church, and especially the Church of Northern Europe, has always loved the Christmas season, with its cheerful fires, its social joys, its family memories; and hence, as it was in the Church of the second century, so with ourselves, none has a higher or dearer place in memory, doubtless largely owing to this conjunction, than the great proto-martyr. Men have delighted, therefore, to trace spiritual analogies and relationships between Stephen and Christ; fanciful perhaps some of them are, but still they are devout fancies, edifying fancies, fancies which strengthen and deepen the Divine life in the soul. Thus they have noted that Christmas Day and St. Stephens Day are both natal days. In the language of the ancient Church, with its strong realising faith, men spoke of a saints death or martyrdom as his dies natalis. This is, indeed, one of the many traces of primitive usage which the Church of Rome has preserved, like a fly fixed in amber, petrified in the midst of her liturgical uses. She has a Martyrology which the ordinary laity scarcely ever see or use, but which is in daily use among the clergy and the various ecclesiastical communities connected with that Church. It is in the Latin tongue, and is called the “Martyrologium Romanum,” giving the names of the various saints whose memories are celebrated upon each day throughout the year, and every such day is duly styled the natal or birthday of the saint to whom it is appropriated. The Church of Rome retains this beautiful custom of the primitive Church, which viewed the death-day of a saint as his birthday into the true life, and rejoiced in it accordingly. That life was not, in the conception of the primitive believers, a life of ghosts and shadows. It was the life of realities, because it was the life of eternity, and therefore the early Christians lived for it, they longed for it, and counted their entrance upon it their true natal or birthday. The Church brought the two birthdays of Christ and Stephen into closest union, and men saw a beautiful reason for that union, teaching that Christ was born into this lower world in order that Stephen might be born into the heavenly world. The whole of that dreadful scene enacted at Jerusalem was transformed by the power of that beautiful conception. Stephens death was no longer a brutal murder; faith no longer saw the rage, the violence, the crushed body, the mangled and outraged humanity. The birthday of Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of the Master, transfigured the death-scene of the servant, for the shame and sufferings were changed into peace and glory; the execrations and rage of the mob became angelic songs, and the missiles used by them were fashioned into messengers of the Most High, ushering the faithful martyr through a new birth into his eternal rest. Well would it be for the Church at large if she could rise to this early conception more frequently than she commonly does. Men did not then trouble themselves about questions of assurance, or their Christian consciousness. These topics and ideas are begotten on a lower level, and find sustenance in a different region. Men like Stephen and the martyrs of Vienne and Lyons lived in the other world; it was the world of all their interests, of all their passionate desires, of all their sense of realities. They lived the supernatural life, and they did not trouble themselves with any questions about that life, any more than a man in sound physical health and spirits cares to discuss topics dealing with the constitution of the life which he enjoys, or to debate such unprofitable questions as, How do I know that I exist at all? Christians then knew and felt they lived in God, and that was enough for them. We have wandered far enough afield, however; let us retrace our steps, and seek to discover more in detail the instruction for the life of future ages given us in this first martyr scene.

II. We have brought before us the cause of the sudden outburst against Stephen. For it was an outburst, a popular commotion, not a legal execution. We have already explained the circumstances which led the Sanhedrin to permit the mob to take their own course, and even to assist them in doing so. Pilate had departed; the imperial throne too was vacant in the spring or early summer of the year 37; there was an interregnum when the bonds of authority were relaxed, during which the Jews took leave to do as they pleased, trusting that when the bonds were again drawn tight the misdeeds of the past and the irregularities committed would be forgotten and forgiven. Hence the riot in which Stephen lost his life. But what roused the listeners-Sanhedrists, elders, priests, and people alike – to madness? They heard him patiently enough, just as they afterwards heard his successor Paul, till he spoke of the wider spiritual hope. Paul, as his speech is reported in the twenty-second chapter, was listened to till he spoke of being sent to the Gentiles. Stephen was listened to till he spoke of the free, universal, spiritual character of the Divine worship, tied to no place, bounded by no locality. Then the Sanhedrin waxed impatient, and Stephen, recognising with all an orators instinct and tact that his opportunity was over, changes his note-charging home upon his hearers the same spirit of criminal resistance to the leadings of the Most High as their fathers had always shown. The older Jews had ever resisted the Holy Ghost as He displayed His teaching and opened up His purposes under the Old Dispensation; their descendants had now followed their example in withstanding the same Divine Spirit manifested in that Holy One of whom they had lately been the betrayers and murderers. It is scarcely any wonder that such language should have been the occasion of his death. How exactly he follows the example of our Saviour! Stephen used strong language, and so did Jesus Christ. It has even been urged of late years that our Lord deliberately roused the Jews to action, and hastened his end by his violent language of denunciation against the ruling classes recorded in the twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew. There is, however, a great lesson of eternal significance to be derived from the example of St. Stephen as well as of our Lord. There are times when strong language is useful and necessary. Christs ordinary ministry was gentle, persuasive, mild. He did not strive nor cry, neither did any man hear His voice in the streets. But a time came when, persuasion having failed of its purpose, the language of denunciation took its place, and helped to work out in a way the Pharisees little expected the final triumph of truth. Stephen was skilful and gentle in his speech; his words must at first have sounded strangely flattering to their prejudices, coming from one who was accused as a traitor to his race and religion. Yet when the gentle words failed, stern denunciation, the plainest language, the keenest phrases, – “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,” “Betrayers and murderers of the Righteous One,”-prove that a Christian martyr then, and Christs martyrs and witnesses of every age, are not debarred under certain circumstances from the use of such weapons. But it is hard to know when the proper time has come for their employment. The object of every true servant and witness of Christ will be to recommend the truth as effectually as possible, and to win for it acceptance. Some people seem to invert this course, and to think that it is unworthy a true follower of Christ to seek to present his message in an attractive shape. They regard every human art and every human motive or principle as so thoroughly bad that men should disregard and despise them. Human eloquence, or motives of policy and prudence, they utterly reject. Their principles lead some of them farther still. They reject the assistance which art and music and literature can lend to the cause of God, and the result is that men, specially as they grow in culture and civilisation, are estranged from the message of everlasting peace. Some people, with a hard, narrow conception of Christianity, are very responsible for the alienation of the young and the thoughtful from the side of religion through the misconceptions which they have caused. God has made the doctrines of the cross repugnant to the corrupt natural feelings of man, but it is not for us to make them repugnant to those good natural principles as well which the Eternal Father has implanted in human nature, and which are an echo of His own Divine self in the sanctuary of the heart. It is a real breach of charity when men refuse to deal tenderly in such matters with the lambs of Christs flock, and will not seek, as St. Stephen and the apostles did, to recommend Gods cause with all human skill, enlisting therein every good or indifferent human motive. Had St. Stephen thought it his duty to act as some unwise people do now, we should never have had his immortal discourse as a model for faithful and skilful preaching. We should merely have had instead the few words of vigorous denunciation with which the address closed. At the same time the presence of these stern words proves that there is a place for such strong language in the work of the Christian ministry. There is a time and place for all things, even for the use of strong language. The true teacher will seek to avoid giving unnecessary offences, but offence sharp and stern may be an absolute duty of charity when prejudice and bigotry and party spirit are choking the avenues of the soul, and hindering the progress of truth. And thus John the Baptist may call men a generation of vipers, and Paul may style Elymas a child of the devil, and Christ may designate the religious world of His day as hypocrites; and when occasion calls we should not hesitate to brand foul things with plain names, in order that men may be awakened from that deadly torpor into which sin threatens to fling them. The use of strong language by St. Stephen had its effect upon his listeners. They were sawn asunder in their hearts, they gnashed their teeth upon the martyr. His words stirred them up to some kind of action. The Gospel has a double operation, it possesses a twofold force-the faithful teaching of it cannot be in vain. To some it will be the savour of life unto life, to others the savour of death unto death. Opposition may be indeed unwisely provoked. It may be the proof to us of nothing else save our own wilfulness, our own folly and imprudence. But if Christian wisdom be used, and the laws of Christian charity duly observed, then the spirit of opposition and the violence of rage and persecution prove nothing else to the sufferers than that Gods word is working out His purposes, and bringing forth fruit, though it be unto destruction.

III. Again, the locality, the circumstances, and the surroundings of Stephens martyrdom deserve a brief notice. The place of his execution is pointed out by Christian tradition, and that tradition is supported by the testimony of Jewish custom and of Jewish writings. He was tried in the Temple precincts, or within sight of it, as is manifest from the words of the witnesses before the council, “He ceaseth not to speak against this holy place. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place.” The mob then rushed upon him. Under ordinary circumstances the Roman garrison stationed in the neighbouring town of Antonia, which overlooked the temple, would have noticed the riot, and have hastened to intervene, as they did many years after, when St. Pauls life was threatened in a similar Jewish outburst. But the political circumstances, as we have already shown, were now different. Roman authority was for the moment paralysed in Jerusalem. People living at great centres such as Rome once was, or London now is, have no idea how largely dependent distant colonies or outlying districts like Judaea are upon personal authority and individual lives. In case of a rulers death the action of the officials and of the army becomes necessarily slow, hesitating; it loses that backbone of energy, decision, and vigour which a living personal authority imparts. The decease of the Roman Emperor, synchronising with the recall of Pontius Pilate, must have paralysed the action of the subordinate officer then commanding at Antonia, who, unaware what turn events might take, doubtless thought that he was safe in restraining himself to the guardianship and protection of purely Roman interests.

The scene of Stephens murder is sometimes located in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, near the brook Kedron, under the shadow of Olivet, and over against the Garden of Gethsemane. To that spot the gate of Jerusalem, called the Gate of St. Stephen, now leads. Another tradition assigns the open country northeast of Jerusalem, on the road to Damascus and Samaria, as the place consecrated by the first death suffered for Jesus Christ. It is, however, according to the usual practice of Holy Scripture to leave this question undecided, or rather completely disregarded and overlooked. The Scriptures were not written to celebrate men or places, things temporary and transient in themselves, and without any bearing on the spiritual life. The Scriptures were written for the purpose of setting forth the example of devotion, of love, and of sanctity presented by its heroes, and therefore it shrouds all such scenes as that of Stephens martyrdom in thickest darkness. There is as little as possible of what is merely local, detailed, particular about the Scriptures. They rise into the abstract and the general as much as is consistent with being a historical narrative. Perhaps no spot in the world exhibits more evident and more abundant proofs of this Divine wisdom embodied in the Scriptures than this same city of Jerusalem as we now behold it. What locality could be more dear to Christian memory, or more closely allied with Christian hope, than the Holy Places, as they are emphatically called-the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and its surroundings? Yet the contending struggles of Roman Catholics, Greeks, and Armenians have made the whole subject a reproach and disgrace, and not an honour to the Christian name, showing how easily strife and partisanship and earthly passions enter in and usurp the ground which is nominally set apart for the honour of Christ Jesus. It is very hard to keep the spirit of the world out of the most sacred seasons or the holiest localities.

Stephen is hurried by the mob to this spot outside the Holy City, and then they proceed in regular judicial style so far as their fury will allow them. Dr. John Lightfoot, in his great work “Horae Hebraicae,” dealing with this passage, notes how we can trace in it the leading ideas and practices of Jewish legal processes. The Sanhedrin and their supporters dragged St. Stephen out of the city. because it was the law as laid down in Lev 24:14 – “Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp.” The Jews still retained vivid memories of their earlier history, just as students of sociology and ethnology still recognise in our own practices traces of ancient prehistoric usages, reminiscences of a time, ages now distant from us, when our ancestors lived the savage life in lands widely separated from our modern homes. So did the Jews still recognise the nomad state as their original condition, and even in the days of our Saviour looked upon Jerusalem as the camp of Israel, outside of which the blasphemer should be stoned.

Lightfoot then gives the elaborate ceremonial used to insure a fair trial, and the re-consideration of any evidence which might turn up at the very last moment. A few of the rules appointed for such occasions are well worth quoting, as showing the minute care with which the whole Jewish order of execution was regulated: “There shall stand one at the door of the Sanhedrin having a handkerchief in his hand, and a horse at such a distance as it was only within sight. If any one therefore say, I have something to offer on behalf of the condemned person, he waves the handkerchief, and the horseman rides and calls the-people back. Nay, if the man himself say, I have something to offer in my own defence, they bring him back four or five times one after another, if it be a thing of any moment he has to say.” I doubt, adds Lightfoot, they hardly dealt so gently with the innocent Stephen. Lightfoot then describes how a crier preceded the doomed man proclaiming his crime, till the place of execution was reached; where, after he was stripped of his clothes, the two witnesses threw him violently down from a height of twelve feet, flinging upon him two large stones. The man was struck by one witness in the stomach, by the other upon the heart, when, if death did not at once ensue, the whole multitude lent their assistance. Afterwards the body was suspended on a tree. It will be evident from this outline of Lightfoots more prolonged and detailed statement that the leading ideas of Jewish practice were retained in St. Stephens case; but as the execution was as much the act of the people as of the Sanhedrin, it was carried out hurriedly and passionately. This will account for some of the details left to us. We usually picture to ourselves St. Stephen as perishing beneath a deadly hail of missiles, rained upon him by an infuriated mob, before whom he is flying, just as men are still maimed or killed in street riots; and we wonder therefore when or where St. Stephen could have found time to kneel down and commend his spirit to Christ, or to pray his last prayer of Divine charity and forgiveness under such circumstances as those we have imagined. The Jews, however, no matter how passionate and enraged, would have feared to incur the guilt of murder had they acted in this rough-and-ready method. The witnesses must first strike their blows, and thus take upon themselves the responsibility for the blood about to be shed if it should turn out innocent. The culprits, too, were urged to confess their sin to God before they died. Stephen may have taken advantage of this well-known form to kneel down and offer up his parting prayers, which displaying his steadfast faith in Jesus only stirred up afresh the wrath of his adversaries, who thereupon proceeded to the last extremities.

Stephens death was a type of the vast majority of future martyrdoms, in this among other respects: it was a death suffered for Christ, just as Christs own death was suffered for the world at large, and that under the forms of law and clothed with its outward dignity. Christianity proclaims the dignity of law and order, and supports it-teaches that the magistrate is the minister of God, and that he does a divinely appointed work, but Christianity does not proclaim the infallibility of human laws or of human magistrates. Christianity does not teach that any human law or human magistrate can dictate to the individual conscience, or intrude itself into the inner temple of the soul. Christianity indeed has, by a long and bitter experience, taught the contrary, and vindicated the rights of a free conscience, by patiently suffering all that could be done against it by the powers of the world assuming the forms and using the powers of law. Christians, I say, have taught the dignity of law and order, and yet they have not hesitated to resist and overturn bad laws, not however so much by active opposition as by the patient suffering of all that fiendish cruelty and lust could devise against the followers of the Cross. Just as it was under the forms of law that our Saviour died and Stephen was executed, and Peter and Paul passed to their rest, so was it under the same forms of law that the primitive Church passed through those ten great persecutions which terminated by seating her on the throne of the Caesars. Law is a good thing. The absence of law is chaos. The presence of law, even though it be bad law, is better than no law at all. But the individual Christian conscience is higher than any human law. It should yield obedience in things lawful and indifferent. But in things clearly sinful the Christian conscience will honour the majesty of law by refusing obedience and then by suffering patiently and lovingly, as Stephen did, the penalty attached to conscientious disobedience.

IV. Let us now briefly notice the various points of interest, some of them of deep doctrinal importance, which gather round St. Stephens death. We are told, for instance, that the martyr, seeing his last hour approaching, “looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.” Surely critics must have been sorely in want of objections to the historical truth of the narrative when they raised the point that Stephen could not have looked up to heaven because he was in a covered chamber and could not have seen through the roof! This is simply a carping objection, and the expression used about St. Stephen is quite in keeping with the usus loquendi of Scripture. In the seventeenth of St. John, and at the first verse, we read of our Lord that “lifting up His eyes to heaven” He prayed His great eucharistic prayer on behalf of His Apostles. He lifted His eyes to heaven though He was in the upper chamber at the time. The Scriptural idea of heaven is not that of the little child, a region placed far away above the bright blue sky and beyond the distant stars, but rather that of a spiritual world shrouded from us for the present by the veil of matter, and yet so thinly separated that a moment may roll away the temporary covering and disclose the world of realities which lies behind. Such has been the conception of the deepest minds and the profoundest teaching. St. Stephen did not need a keen vision and an open space and a clear sky, free from clouds and smoke, as this objection imagines. Had St. Stephen been in a dungeon and his eyes been blind, the spiritual vision might still have been granted, and the consolation and strength afforded which the sight of his ascended Lord vouchsafed. This view of heaven and the unseen world is involved in the very word revelation, which, in its original Greek shape, apocalypse, means simply an uncovering, a rolling away of something that was flimsy, temporary, and transient, that a more abiding and nobler thing may be seen. The roof, the pillars, the solid structure of the temple, the priests and Levites, the guards and listeners, all were part of the veil of matter which suddenly rolled away from Stephens intensified view, that he might receive, as the martyrs of every age have received, the special assistance which the King of Martyrs reserves for the supreme hour of mans need. The vision of our Lord granted at this moment has its own teaching for us. We are apt to conjure up thoughts of the sufferings of the martyrs, to picture to ourselves a Stephen perishing under a shower of stones, an Ignatius of Antioch flung to the beasts, a Polycarp of Smyrna suffering at the stake, the victims of pagan cruelty dying under the ten thousand forms of diabolical cruelty subsequently invented; and then we ask ourselves, could we possibly have stood firm against such tortures? We forget the lesson of Stephens vision. Jesus Christ did not draw back the veil till the last moment; He did not vouchsafe the supporting vision till the need for it had come, and then to Stephen, as to all His saints in the past, and to all His saints in the future, the Master reveals Himself in all His supporting and sustaining power, reminding us in our humble daily spheres that it is our part to do our duty, and bear such burdens as the Lord puts upon us now, leaving to Him all care and thought for the future, content simply to trust that as our day is so shall our grace and our strength be, Stephens vision has thus a lesson of comfort and of guidance for those fretful souls who, not. content with the troubles and trials of the present, and the help which God imparts to bear them, will go on and strive to ascertain how they are to bear imaginary dangers, losses, and temptations which may never come upon them.

Then, again, we have the final words of Stephen, which are full of important meaning, for they bear witness unto the faith and doctrine of the apostolic Church. They stoned Stephen, “calling upon the Lord, and saying. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”; while again a few moments later he cried, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” The latter petition is evidently an echo of our Lords own prayer on the cross, which had set up a high standard of Divine charity in the Church. The first martyr imitates the spirit and the very language of the Master, and prays for his enemies as Christ himself had done a short time before; while the other recorded petition, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” is an echo likewise of our Lords, when He said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” We note specially about these prayers, not only that they breathe the spirit of Christ Himself, but that they are addressed to Christ, and are thus evidences to us of the doctrine and practice of the early Church in the matter of prayer to our Lord. St. Stephen is the first distinct instance of such prayer, but the more closely we investigate this book of the Acts and the Epistles of St. Paul, the more clearly we shall find that all the early Christians invoked Christ, prayed to Him as one raised to a supernatural sphere and gifted with Divine power, so that He was able to hear and answer their petitions. St. Stephen prayed to Christ, and commended his soul to Him, with the same confidence as Christ Himself commended His soul to the Father. And such commendation was no chance expression, no exclamation of adoring love merely. It was the outcome of the universal practice of the Church, which resorted to God through Jesus Christ. Prayer to Christ and the invocation of Christ were notes of the earliest disciples. Saul went to Damascus “to bind all that called upon the name of Jesus.” {Act 9:14} The Damascene Jews are amazed at the converted Sauls preaching of Jesus Christ, saying, “Is not this he that in Jerusalem made havoc of them which called on this name?” {Act 9:21} While again Rom 10:12 and 1Co 1:2 prove that the same custom spread forth from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the Church. The passage to which I have just referred in the Corinthian Epistle is decisive as to St. Pauls teaching at a much later period than St. Stephens death, when the Church had had time to formulate its doctrines and to weigh its teaching. Yet even then, he was just as clear on this point as Stephen years before, addressing his Epistle to the Church of God at Corinth, “with all that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in every place”; while again, when we descend to the generation which came next after the apostolic age, we find, from Plinys celebrated letter written to Trajan, describing the practices and ideas of the Christians of Bithynia in the earliest years of the second century, that it was then the same as in St. Pauls day. One of the leading features of the new sect as it appeared to an intelligent pagan was this: “They sang a hymn to Christ as God.” St. Stephen is the earliest instance of such worship directly addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ, a practice which has ever since been steadily maintained in every branch of the Church of Christ. It has been denied, indeed, in modern times that the Church of England in her formularies gives a sanction to this practice, which is undoubtedly apostolical. A reference, however, to the collect appointed for the memorial day of this blessed martyr would have been a sufficient answer to this assertion, as that collect contains a very beautiful prayer to Christ, beseeching assistance, similar to that given to St. Stephen, amid the troubles of our own lives. The whole structure of all liturgies, and specially of the English liturgy, protests against such an idea. The Book of Common Prayer teems with prayer to Jesus Christ. The Te Deum is in great part a prayer addressed to Him; so is the Litany, and so are collects like the prayer of St. Chrysostom, the Collect for the First Sunday in Lent, and the well-known prayer for the Third Sunday in Advent-“O Lord Jesus Christ, who at Thy first coming didst send Thy messenger to prepare Thy way.” The Eastern Church indeed addresses a greater number of prayers to Christ directly. The Western Church, basing itself on the promise of Christ, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you,” has ever directed the greater portion of her prayers to the Father through the Son; but the few leading cases just mentioned, cases which are common to the whole Western Church, Reformed or unreformed, will prove that the West also has followed primitive custom in calling upon the name and invoking the help of the Lord Jesus Himself. And then when Stephen had given us these two lessons, one of faith, the other of practice; when he had taught us the doctrine of Christs divinity and the worship due to Him, and the practice of Christian charity and the forgiving spirit which flows forth from it, even towards those who have treated His servants most cruelly, then Stephen “fell asleep,” the sacred writer using an expression for death indicative of the new aspect which death had assumed through Christ, and which henceforth gave the name of cemeteries to the last resting-places of Christian people.

V. The execution of St. Stephen was followed by his funeral. The bodies of those that were stoned were also suspended on a tree, but there was no opposition to their removal, as afterwards in the great persecutions. The pagans, knowing that Christians preached the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, strove to prove the absurdity of this tenet by reducing the body to ashes. The Christians, however, repeatedly proved that they entertained no narrow views on this point, and did not expect the resurrection of the identical elements of which the earthly body was composed. They took a broader and nobler view of St. Pauls teaching in the fifteenth of 1st Corinthians, and regarded the natural body as merely the seed out of which the resurrection body was to be developed. This is manifest from some of the stories told us by ancient historians concerning the Christians of the second century. The martyrs of Vienne and Lyons have been already referred to, and their sufferings described. The pagans knew of their doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and thought to defeat it by scattering the ashes of the martyrs upon the waters of the Rhone; but the narrative of Eusebius tells us how foolish was this attempt, as if man could thus overcome God, whose almighty power avails to raise the dead from the ashes scattered over the ocean as easily as from the bones gathered into a sepulchre. Another story is handed down by a writer of Antioch named John Malalas, who lived about A.D. 600, concerning five Christian virgins, who lived some seventy years earlier than these Gallic martyrs, and fell victims to the persecution which raged at Antioch in the days of the Emperor Trajan, when St. Ignatius perished. They were burned to death for their constancy in the faith, and then their ashes were mingled with brass, which was made into basins for the public baths. Every person who used the basins became ill, and then the emperor caused the basins to be formed into statues of the virgins, in order, as Trajan said, that “it may be seen that I and not their God have raised them up.”

But while it is plainly evident from the records of history that the earliest Christians had no narrow views about the relation between the present body of humiliation and the future body of glory, it is equally manifest that they paid the greatest attention to the mortal remains of their deceased friends, and permitted the fullest indulgence in human grief. In doing so they were only following the example of their Master, who sorrowed over Lazarus, and whose own mortal remains were cared for by the loving reverence of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea. Christianity was no system of Stoicism. Stoicism was indeed the noblest form of Greek thought, and one which approached most closely to the Christian standpoint, but it put a ban upon human affection and feeling. Christianity acted otherwise. It flung a bright light on death, and illuminated the dark recesses of the tomb through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the prospect for humanity which that resurrection opens up. But it did not make the vain attempt of Stoicism to eradicate human nature: Nay, rather, Christianity sanctified it by the example of Jesus Christ, and by the brief notice of the mourning of the Church for the loss of their foremost champion, St. Stephen, which we find in our narrative. Such a gratification of natural feeling has never been inconsistent with the highest form of Christian faith. There may be the most joyous anticipation as to our friends who have been taken from us, joined with the saddest reflections as to our own bereavement. We may be most assured that our loss is the infinite gain of the departed, and for them we mourn not; but we cannot help feeling that we have sustained a loss, and for our loss we must grieve. The feelings of a Christian even now must be thus mixed, and surely much more must this have been the case when devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

The last results we note in this passage of Stephens death are twofold. Stephens martyrdom intensified the persecution for a time. Saul of Tarsus was made for a while a more determined and active persecutor. His mental position, his intellectual convictions, had received a shock, and he was trying to re-establish himself, and quench his doubts, by intensifying his exertions on behalf of the ancient creed. Some of the most violent persecutions the Church has ever had to meet were set on foot by men whose faith in their own systems was deeply shaken, or who at times have had no faith in anything at all. The men whose faith had been shaken endeavoured, by their activity in defence of the system in which they once fully believed, to obtain an external guarantee and assurance of its truth; while the secret unbeliever was often the worst of persecutors, because he regarded all religions as equally false, and therefore looked upon the new teachers as rash and mischievous innovators.

The result then of Stephens martyrdom was to render the Churchs state at Jerusalem worse for the time. The members of the Church were scattered far and wide, all save the Apostles. Here we behold a notable instance of the protecting care of Providence over His infant Church. All save the Apostles were dispersed from Jerusalem. One might have expected that they would have been specially sought after, and would have been necessarily the first to flee. There is an early tradition, however, which goes back to the second century, and finds some support in this passage, that our Lord ordered the Apostles to remain m the city of Jerusalem for twelve years after the Ascension, in order that every one there might have an opportunity of hearing the truth. His protecting hand was over the heads of the Church while the members were scattered abroad. But that same hand turned the apparent trial into the Churchs permanent gain. The Church now, for the first time, found what it ever after proved to be the case. “They that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word.” The Churchs present loss became its abiding gain.

The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. Violence reacted on the cause of those who employed it, as violence-no matter how it may temporarily triumph-always reacts on those who use it, whether their designs be intrinsically good or bad; till, in a widely disseminated Gospel, and in a daily increasing number of disciples, the eye of faith learned to read the clearest fulfilment of the ancient declaration, “The wrath of man shall praise God, and the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary