Acts 6

Further, Gamaliel’s counsel is fatally defective in this, that not only as responsible men, but especially as accredited teachers of a divine religion, as the ministers of a divinely ordained worship, they were bound to ascertain if these men were not really on God’s side, and if they were, to side with them. They had God’s “counsel” in their Scriptures, and could compare it with the words and works of “these men.” Nay more, as we have seen, Peter had expressly referred them to these Scriptures throughout. And all the facts of Christ’s career and of the Pentecost, to which he had also referred them, were open to their knowledge, and abundant for their conviction of the truth. For these reasons their obligation was to inquire and to act according to their best knowledge, not to ignore the matter as of no concern to them.

Perhaps they appreciated the counsel. Perhaps they did not feel quite strong enough to kill so many men in face of the protest of a friendly people. But they did not entirely “refrain”; for they severely scourged the apostles before they let them go. This scourging gave trifling relief to their wrath as well as their offended dignity; it served to show the people that they had not made so much stir without cause; and it would operate as a warning, if not to the apostles, to deter persons of feeble will and timid spirit from joining them.

41,42. The Joy and Unchanged Fidelity of the

Apostles.—Thus far they had encountered threats, imprisonment, and scourging, but none of these things moved them except to joyfulness, that thus the force of their testimony might be strengthened. It is a beautiful expression, evincing a depth of humility and strength of devotion that is marvelous in such weak men as they had been: “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” The lesson of the Passion and the Cross, from which they had shrunk, was now fully learned!

Released once more, they went again “to their own company” and to their appointed work of preaching Jesus Christ. This they did daily, in the Temple at the hours of concourse for worship, and in every house where they were welcomed. Christ had delivered them, in order that they might continue in the fulfillment of his commission. And for a considerable period again they had rest, while believers continued to multiply under faithful teaching, with the power of the Holy Ghost.

CHRIST is Prince and Saviour. He rules in all whom he saves, and saves all in whom he rules. Christ rules among his enemies and protects his friends. His Church will abide against “the gates of hell,” and his kingdom shall come. “The extension of this kingdom depends on the counsel of God and the work of man.” Let us loyally look for the counsel and the needed grace, and faithfully do the work assigned! B.

The Christian, if at least he is a genuine believer, can not constantly remain silent concerning Christ! The same thing which we see here in the apostles, the experience of every really living Christian confirms. To speak of the Lord may often be difficult; to be continually silent regarding him is impossible. Our privilege is too great for us to be silent; our vocation is too exalted for us to leave the testimony regarding Christ to others, since we are personally destined each in his own circle to be the light and the salt of the earth. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; out of the animated word the life speaketh; and life alone is able to awaken life. Van O.

1. AND in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and

4 wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually 5 to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Pro- 6 chorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 8 greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Liber- tines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with 10 Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against 12 Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, 13 and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false wit- nesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy 14 place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy 15 this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

THE transfiguration of Stephen is always a thing of the present, filled with a fresh life which touches our deepest nature whenever we look on it. Material scenes of the highest grandeur live only in the pages of history; and they become dimmer as distance intervenes. But spiritual greatness is everlast- ingly new, and we can be as closely in its presence as when it first appeared in the world. As time tests it and brings out its reality, we see and feel more of its ever-during power. Of this kind are all the moral evidences of the truth of the gospel, all the signs of the higher life which then entered the world, which never become old with years, but renew themselves in us as we open our souls to them. To this the form of Stephen belongs; not the angelic face alone, but the angelic spirit of which it was the index, a thing which never appeared in the world till Christ was heard of, and which true Christianity alone can reproduce. The canvas of that picture never decays, the dust of time does not gather on the features. It is no picture, for we may come and feel the life in it while we look, and share it as we gaze on the great object of his view. So true is it that we are come even now “to spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant.” Ker.

The things within affect the outward appearance, and find there perpetual expression. Facial bright- ness, if you have it—and you may have it with any kind of features—what is it but an overflowing from the light of God within? Calmness on the countenance is index to peace in the soul. Benignity appear- ing in the features is the flushing out of indwelling love. Keep soul-brightness, and the smile will some way ripple through. Keep soul-peace, and fear or misery will not settle on your face. Steel your heart with heroic purpose, and you will never go with bloodless lips and coward eye. Love God with heart and soul and strength and mind, and your neighbor as yourself, and you will never need to think of putting up a face-advertisement of what will be found within. The poor will bless you, and the fallen will look up in your face, as they looked in the face of Christ, and see pity and help written there. Be a Christian man through and through, in belief and practice, among fellow-disciples, among worldly people, and the Lord your God will put his “beauty” on you, in one or other of its many forms; and in some supreme moments of life, in suffering, in trial, in death, may give your friends beholding you the privilege and joy of looking as it were upon the face of an angel. A. R.

1. Hebrews. The Jews of Palestine and Syria, with those who lived on the Tigris and Euphrates, interpreted the Scriptures through the Chaldee paraphrases, and spoke kindred dialects of the language of Aram: and hence they were called Aramæan Jews. Grecians. Of the other part of the nation dispersed through those countries where Greek was spoken, Alexandria was the capital. They used the Septuagint translation of the Bible; and they were commonly called Hellenists, or Jews of the Grecian speech. The mere difference of language would account in some degree for the mutual dislike with which we know that these two sections of the Jewish race regarded one another. We can not be surprised that, even in the deep peace and charity of the Church’s earliest days, this inveterate division reappeared, and that the old jealousy between the Aramaic and Hellenistic Jews reappeared. A murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, or of the Hebrews against the Grecians, had been a common occurrence for at least two centuries; and, notwithstanding the power of the divine Spirit, none will wonder that it broke out again even among those who had become obedient to the doctrine of Christ. H.

Differences of feeling found expression in connection with the ministration to the poorer disciples. The complaint made by the foreign Jews that the widows of their number were neglected was probably just. But there is no implication of ill feeling or intentional injustice on the part of the native Jews who had charge of the daily ministration. These persons could not know the circumstances of the foreign widows, and the latter would not, naturally, press the statement upon them. 2-4. The apostles took prompt measures to remove the trouble. Their plan was to put definite responsibility for this special work upon men of conscience, heart, and eminent godliness. A division of labor was demanded at this point, and a new office grew out of this necessity, as every true office only can grow, or afterward subsist. We note, in passing, an indication here of the advance of the New Testament Church or dispensation over the Old. In the New, measures of administration are planned and set in operation as called for by actual occasion. In the Old, divine laws and ordinances are devised and published in anticipation of both ignorance and need. B.—The apostolic institution of the office of deacon seemed to grow naturally out of a providential occasion. That occasion illustrated what was likely to be a common and permanent want of the Church, a want clearly foreseen, no doubt, by those inspired men. It was simply the need of a systematic arrangement for distributing the Church’s alms among her needy members equitably and satisfactorily. The apostles intended to secure such provision for needy Christians, in such a way as to relieve themselves of attention to it. They were called to the deaconry of the word, and would remit the deaconry of tables to other hands. These phrases illustrate the greater expressiveness of the original, in which one term is applied to both kinds of ministration. Nelson.

The method of accomplishing their plan also accorded with the simplicity of the Christian system, and with the principle of equal personal right everywhere embodied in the gospel. The body of the members were hidden to make the choice of men for the new office, men of good reputation as well as good character, actually held in esteem as wise and true men, indicated as such by the manifest Spirit of God in their words and life; and, further, qualified by sound practical judgment. In a word, they were to select seven godly men for their aptness in administering these temporal affairs, and for their heart and skill in blending spiritual counsel with help. They were to choose, the apostles to put in place; how, we shall see.

For themselves, the apostles, as ambassadors of Christ, concentrate all the purposes of their self-consecration in these two: prayer, and preaching of the Word. It is the ministry of the Word that God employs to save and sanctify. But it is through prayer, through the actual dependence of the man of God upon God in his actual preparation and utterance of the Word, it is through such an unceasing spirit of trusting request, that the minister of the Word receives the guidance and help which are vital to success in his ministering.

5-7. The Seven chosen and ordained Still Greater Expansion of the Church.—Of five of these seven men we know nothing save this record. The names are all Greek. Some, a majority certainly, were “Grecian” or Hellenist Jews; so that they knew and could help the foreign widows. But some, we infer, were native Jews, since Greek names were also common among these. The “appointing” by the apostles was, in its accompanying worship and in its outward form, simple and significant. There was a recognition of God in the call and appointment, and a resting upon his communicated grace and benediction to make the proposed service effectual; this was the meaning and design of the prayer. And there was a formal indication of setting apart to office in the name and by the authority of Christ; this was the meaning and design of the laying on of hands. And this is New Testament ordination.

Perfect harmony was now restored, and, as before, the power of the Spirit and the Word was more widely exerted. As ever it had been, an earnest, harmonious, praying, and working Church, with a fervent active ministry, rejoiced in a great development of spiritual life, and in a large increase of disciples. And, as a signal proof of divine converting grace, many priests were obedient to the faith; men whose prejudices against the Christian doctrine were most intense, and who forfeited their birthright position and living upon the avowal of their belief in Christ. This was the culminating point of popularity and power with the primitive Church at Jerusalem. The Sadducees of the Sanhedrim had suspended their open persecution—the priesthood and the people were being gradually brought to respect the apostles’ influence and to heed their teachings.

But, in God’s purpose, through men’s evil design, there came an assault from the old enemies of Christ, the Pharisees, who since his apprehension had withdrawn from the leadership of the opposition. The Sadducees had been compelled to cease their persecution, because the Pharisees had really sided with the apostles in the question at issue—the fact of a resurrection. But the old Pharisaic spirit began to be stirred by the plain preaching of the disciples; and, mainly through the bold fidelity of Stephen, speaking as his Master had done, a bitter intolerance and hatred grew up afresh among the Pharisees. And again, we shall see, the predominant influence of this sect with the people was successfully exerted to bring about the killing of the first martyr to Christ and his Cross.

8-10. Stephen maintains the Faith of Christ against opposing Pharisees.**—Brief but beautiful is the story of Stephen; beautiful because so eminently Christlike in temper, in self-forgetting fidelity to truth and to God, in clear reasoning upon the Old Testament Scriptures, in boldness of warning and directness of accusation, and in the final issue of trial before the same tribunal. Rapidly maturing under the tuition of the Holy Ghost, first, the outward gifts of miracle-working are added to his qualifications as servitor to the poorer saints, to keep pace with the expanding inward forces of faith and love; then, without formal indication of transfer, the Holy Ghost advanced him to the higher office of ministering the Word, as afterward Philip was similarly advanced. The fullness of the power of the Holy Ghost is shown in his discriminating and thorough exposition of the Christian doctrines of grace, in comparison with the Old Testament teachings, and in sharp contrast with gross and destructive Pharisaic errors. In his discussions, referred to here, with the men of the synagogues, as in his subsequent defence before the Sanhedrim, he lays down in outline and substance the doctrinal scheme afterward so sublimely expanded and applied by Paul.

As a Hellenist or foreign Jew, Stephen was admitted to the synagogues mentioned in verse 9, of one of which he was probably a member. Of the synagogues in Jerusalem, some were established by the foreign Jews for their own use and for that of their sons, sent thither to complete their education at the schools and colleges which in most instances were attached to the synagogues. With the young men of these schools as well as the older members of the synagogues Stephen was thus brought into contact. And it was his decisive and irresistible preaching of Christ crucified and risen that awakened such intense hostility on the part of both older and younger adherents of the Pharisaic doctrines, and led to their determined and organized persecution against him. To one of these synagogues, that of the Cilician Jews, the young Saul of Tarsus then belonged; and the inference is strong, that he was a listener at least to these unrecorded words of Ste-

Stephen, as he almost certainly must have been to the martyr’s noble defense before the Sanhedrim.

11-15. The Arrest, Arraignment, and Charge against Stephen.**—Failing to find accusing testimony in his words or acts, as they had done with his Master, these malignant Pharisees sought false witness against him. By circulating the old charge of blasphemy against Moses and against God, they wakened afresh the hostile feeling of the bigoted people, who instantly joined the elders and scribes (the Pharisaic party) in seizing Stephen and hurrying him tumultuously before the Sanhedrim. B.

It is evident, from the vivid expression which is quoted from the accusers’ mouths—"this place," “this holy place"—that the meeting of the Sanhedrim took place in the close neighborhood of the Temple. Their ancient and solemn room of assembly was the hall Gazith, or the “Stone-Chamber,” partly within the Temple court and partly without it. The president sat in the less sacred portion, and around him, in a semicircle, were the rest of the seventy judges. H. (Vol. I., p. 623.)

There the charge is repeated and amplified by particulars which serve to unite all classes, Pharisees and Sadducees, rulers and people, in the common purpose of destroying the disciples as they had destroyed the Master. Perverting Stephen’s language respecting Christ, as before they had perverted Christ’s words respecting the Temple, they charge him with speaking against their holy Temple and Law, and with some truth: they add, predicting the overthrow of their national customs and worship by “this Jesus of Nazareth.” Thus, in the person of Stephen, the issue is joined for the first time but finally between the people, hitherto favorable and friendly to the apostles, and the infant Church or company of believers in Jesus. From thenceforth the great commission takes on its broader terms, and those who bear it know that they who have begun its execution in Jerusalem must go forth into neighboring and distant regions.

But for the central object of this malignant throng, the arraigned disciple before the already prejudging, condemning tribunal, for him who stands in the Master’s place, environed by all the Master’s peril, surely destined to the Master’s doom, stands he as the Master stood, calm, unflinching, with the Master’s promised peace in the heart and manifest upon the countenance? The record answers: They saw his face as it had been the face of an angel! He stood before them seemingly transfigured with a reflected glory, with the brightness of a seeming preternatural light. And yet, was it other light or halo than came from the inner soul of an already triumphant faith and hope in the near prospect of that fulfilled Christ-longing prayer, breathed forth at the moment of his heavenward flight? B.

ears, mean those who hear and think and feel like Gentiles, like the heathen; and their sudden application to the Sanhedrim, instead of necessarily implying a departure from the theme of his discourse, is rather a tremendous summing of it up in the conclusion, that these proud representatives and rulers of the chosen people were in fact mere heathen.