Troubles Bearing Blessed Fruits

“And the word of God increased: and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 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,” etc. — Acts vi. 7-15.

THESE wise and prompt measures were immediately

JL followed by blessed results. The murmuring was silenced. The irritating leaven of discontent was cast out of the Church. This was done not by a high-handed authority, exerted to silence the murmurers, but by acknowledging the existence of the grievance, and instantly devising the means of redressing it. Justice was administered at once; there was no vexatious delay. The boon was bestowed gracefully, and left no sting. There was no taunt. The redress was complete as well as prompt; for there is reason to believe that all, or nearly all, the deacons appointed belonged to the section that complained. All the seven have Greek names. This does not necessarily imply that they were all Hellenists, for many Palestinian Jews bore Greek names. Andrew and Philip, in the college of the twelve, bear names that are purely Greek, and yet they were natives of Palestine. These two, although really Hebrews, may have had some family connection with Greeks. Besides their names, there is the interesting circumstance, that when some Greek strangers at Jerusalem (John xii.) desired to obtain an interview with Jesus, it was to these two disciples that they applied for an introduction. It is probable that most of the elected deacons were Hellenists; for it was in order to satisfy that section of the Christians that the appointment was made. There is great wisdom in this straightforward and frank mode of dealing. It takes all the bitterness away, and sweetens the breath of the society. Best of all, it removes the hindrance, and promotes the spread of the Word. Divisions impede the progress of the kingdom: but divisions wisely, generously, promptly healed, not only restore matters to their former condition, but carry the common cause further forward. When a broken bone is healed, the limb is stronger than it was before. Thus it often happens in Christian communities, that where faith and love are in exercise, incidental difficulties become the occasion of edification and progress, according to the promise that God will make all things work together for good to his own. The troubles, in regard to the distribution of charity, that threatened the peace of the Church, became the occasion of displaying truth and love and fairness in the character of the leaders, and so a new impulse was communicated to the common work. “The word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.”

Of the seven men, Stephen comes first to the front, and stands out the chief. After him Philip is distinguished in the apostolic history. These two men, of one spirit, were led by different paths, and employed in different kinds of service. Stephen suffered early, and Philip preached long. The Lord had need of both as his witnesses. Stephen by his faithfulness unto death, and Philip by his faithfulness in life, served the Lord in their generation; and now they rejoice together.

Without explanation and without comment the narrative proceeds to intimate that these men, chosen and ordained for the specific duty of distributing the Church’s charity, proceeded forthwith to preach, and to preach with power and success, the gospel of the kingdom. Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost and of faith; we need not therefore be surprised that he could not limit himself to the serving of tables. The very qualities which recommended him for that office, carried him beyond it. He burst through the borders of his own special department. He volunteered apostle’s work in addition to the work of a deacon which had been prescribed to him. “No one interposed to restrict his efforts within the narrower sphere. I take the facts as I find them. I love them as they are. There is great freedom and elasticity along with order in the organisation of the Church as it appears in the New Testament. A free development belongs to the nature of the gospel. Wherever the love of Christ is kindled within the heart, it will burn its own way out. It will keep the higher law of the Lord; but it bursts through all human official regulations. In a quickened time the lower offices instinctively rise to the higher work: in a dead time the reverse process may be observed — the higher offices, and those who hold them, gravitate down to the sphere of the lower, and beyond it. At such seasons those who claim the apostolate practically desert prayer and the ministry of the Word, and strive for mastery in the various ambitions of the world. In our day the stream has often manifested a tendency to overflow its banks. Those who hold only private station in the Church have, through strong spiritual instincts, glided ere they were well aware into the heart of the ministerial work — into prayer and the ministry of the Word. Irregularities may be expected to appear at such a time. Let these be watched and corrected with all the wisdom and faithfulness available to the Church: but beware of mere suppression. I would rather undergo much toil and trouble in looking after the embankments and guiding the course of the stream, than be relieved of labour by seeing the waters fall like a tropical torrent, and leave the land a desert.

Stephen’s great power provoked a great opposition. There is a list of the adversaries, but not of the subjects in debate. We know, however, what the contention was. These Jewish teachers, even the most devout, held to the dead letter of the law, overlaid as it was by the endless superstitions of the Talmud. The preaching of Stephen made short work with their childish ritualism. It tore up their phylacteries, and interrupted their long prayers. It grasped the Pharisee fast by his conscience, and threw his stately figure prone on the ground beside the repenting publican, announcing, with authority and not as the scribes, Except ye repent ye shall perish. This preacher did not go about the bush. He told them that all their sacrifices and all their washings would not serve as a substitute for faith and holiness. All this, they thought, was a bold assault on Moses and the law.

Saul’s name has not been pronounced yet; but here we begin to feel the firmness of his hand. Saul was there, acting in some formally subordinate but really dominant capacity. The business is not conducted as it was at the last meeting of the court, when, under the temporising initiative of Gamaliel, the persecutors allowed the victims to slip through their hands.

Here from the first the reins seem to be held in an inexorable grasp. The witnesses are ready: they have conned their tasks; their precognitions have been taken. The prisoner is placed on his defence with a foregone conclusion that he shall not escape.

The martyr has a distinct presentiment that this will be his last witness-bearing. The sheen on his countenance betokens the triumph in his soul. It has generally been considered to be a supernatural glory. I am not disposed to dispute this theory; for it would be in accord with other examples, and with the purpose of God to give unbelievers yet another testimony. But I rather like to think of it as a natural brightness — as the direct and non-miraculous effect of great inward peace coinciding with great outward trouble. All God’s children attain in measure to the serenity of countenance which corresponds to internal faith and hope; but in some cases this effect is produced to such an extent as to excite the admiration of observers. I think it probable that it was Stephen’s victorious faith, and blessed hope, fanned by the fierce persecution into greater force, that glistened that day on his face, and almost persuaded some of his persecutors. At eventide there shall be light. In the near prospect of glory, he was so elevated above the world, that the dawn of an eternal day reached him before the time, and a halo of that light crowned the victim for the sacrifice.