Primitive Christianity
“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. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” — Acts XI. 19-21.
THEY speak of primitive Christianity. The word is sweet. Wearied of manifold errors and corruptions, we listen gladly to its sound. We would fain possess the thing which the word signifies. But, alas! those who are most ready to adopt the name are the most ready to abuse it. They write Primitive Christianity on their banner, and boldly set out in search of it; but they halt before they reach the object. They lose their way in the Dark Ages, and never emerge into the Scriptual light that shines beyond. It is here, in the Acts of the Apostles, that real primitive Christianity is to be found.
Three things appear at this point in the history — three things connected like links in a chain: — 1. The ministry of men; 2. The hand of the Lord; 3. The fruit that followed.
1. The ministry of men. Some disciples belonging to Cyprus and Cyrene, scattered by the persecution, travelled as far as Antioch, and addressed themselves to the Gentiles of the Eastern capital, “preaching the Lord Jesus.” The missionaries are not named. They kept back their own names,, and put forward that of their Lord. They have left no record of themselves on earth; but they have as their record on high a great multitude brought by their ministry to the Saviour. The persecution that culminated in the martyrdom of Stephen was intended by the Adversary to crush the
Primitive Christianity 255
infant Church; but it became the blast which spread the living seed over all the regions of the East.
Being themselves Jews, though born in foreign countries, they in the first instance preached to the Jews only; but they were soon led over the barrier, and entered a wider field. By special interposition from heaven the first opening was made, when Peter preached to Cornelius at Csesarea. The crevasse widened rapidly; and in a very short time the gospel, hitherto pent up within the limits of Israel, flowed out without impediment on the nations. True to its own nature, it refused to be confined. According to the Word of the Lord, it began indeed in Jerusalem; but true also to another part of the same Word, it speedily spread to the ends of the earth.
There is great precision in the history here. There is a Divine perspicuity in the statements, that presents a striking contrast with the crowd of dim inconsistencies that sprang up in succeeding ages. The theme of these primitive preachers was “the Lord Jesus.” The Christianity of the apostolic age is distinguished by this, that it everywhere presents a personal Saviour to a disciple’s faith. The wisdom of God is here. Man’s Maker knows man’s need. He only can devise, and provide, and apply the remedy for the ailment of humanity. Doctrines, however true and Divine, cannot arrest and control a man. They are not suited to the case. They are like spirits not embodied. They do not get hold of us; we do not get hold of them. When the soul of doctrine is incarnate in a person, we can comprehend and apprehend it. When that person is recognised to be the Lord J esus — God with us — faith looks to him and lives.
This is primitive preaching: it is to tell the story of Jesus, and tell it until hearts of stone give way and flow down like water. Tell of our fall by sin; tell that we have departed from the living God; that a great gulf is fixed between the prodigal and his father. We have no power to pass over it, and no will to try. He came to seek and save. The Good Shepherd came out to seek the lost sheep. The Just gave himself for the unjust. The eternal Son of God gave himself for us — wrought a righteousness for us that we might not be naked at the judgment-seat, and shed his blood to blot out our sin. He rose from the dead, and intercedes for us now at the right hand of God. He waits, our way to the Father, and our righteousness when we approach. They preached to the Greeks in Antioch the Lord Jesus, and —
2. “The hand of the Lord was with them.” The instrument is all human, but the power is all Divine. We learn here with great simplicity and clearness these two things: —
(1) that in conversion the hand of the Lord operates; but
(2) that it operates through the ministry of men. In this work men can do nothing without God; but in this work God will do nothing without men. “How shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall they preach except they be sent?”
In 1 Cor. iii. 9 Paul explains of set purpose the union and relations of Divine and human agency in the conversion of men: “We are labourers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry.” Men are taken into partnership with God in the work; but the terms and conditions of the union are clearly defined. It is not an indefinite announcement that some part of the work is confided to human skill. A case is given which determines the limits of the two departments with infallible precision. The union of the Divine and human in conversion is the same as that which takes place in the cultivation of the fields. The people are the field to be cultivated; God and man in concert carry on the work. We know what man’s department is in common agriculture.
Primitive Christianity.
Besides the main, central act, the sowing of the seed, he does many things before and after it. He breaks up the ground, and makes it small; then he watches, weeds, and drains the field. The God of nature does not perform for man any of those operations which man can do for himself. For his part, he gives rain, and sun, and air. Without these human industry would not avail; but without human industry these would fail to produce fruit, Divine though they be.
Such in the spiritual field is the co-operation which took place at this point in the experience of the primitive Church. Men do all the cultivating; and when they have done all, they must wait for “the hand of the Lord” to give effect to their labour — must look up for the Spirit to be poured out as floods upon the dry ground.
3. The result was, “a great number believed, and turned to the Lord.” The two acts, “believing” and “turning to the Lord,” stand here in an interesting relation to each other. In some cases these two expressions may have substantially the same meaning; but here, where they occur in company, the “believing” must be the root, and the “turning” the fruit I which it bears.
The root of the tree lies out of sight. The manner in which it lives and operates is in a great measure concealed. But the fruit can be both seen and tasted. By the fruits we know the tree. To believe is the secret act of the soul; to turn to the Lord, is the visible course of a disciple’s life.
The fact that the first act of these disciples after they believed was a turning, shows clearly that before the gospel reached them they were walking in the way of sin and death. When through the blood of the cross a reconciliation takes place, the life-course is changed. The new creature in Christ now abandons all that he most fondly loved before. He casts away his idols, and worships the living God. The works of the flesh are abjured, and the works of the Spirit appear.
The converts were many. Like doves darkening the air by their multitude, they flocked to the name of the Lord as their refuge. In such a revival the Lord sees of the travail of his soul, and is satisfied.
It is a common and a true observation regarding that sort of gain which the Scriptures denominate “filthy lucre,” that those who obtain much, instead of being satisfied, rather thirst more eagerly for more. The gain obtained in winning souls is in this single aspect like its carnal namesake, as an angel of light may be in some sense like an angel of darkness. It is true of those who win souls — both of the Head and his members — that the more of this gain they get, the more they desire to obtain.