Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ

by David Francis Bacon

Stephen, after thus being set apart for the service of the church, though faithfully discharging the peculiar duties to which he was called, did not confine his labors to the mere administration of the public charities. The word of God had now so spread, under the ministry of the apostles, that the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was greatly enlarged, and that not merely from the lower and ignorant orders; but a great number of the priests, who, in their daily service in the temple, had been frequently unintentional hearers of the word preached in its courts, now professed themselves the submissive friends of the new faith. This remarkable increase excited public attention more and more, and required redoubled exertions to meet the increasing call for instruction. Stephen, therefore, immediately entered boldly and heartily on this good work; and, inspired by a pure faith, and the confidence of help from above, he wrought among the people such miracles as had hitherto followed only the ministry of the apostles. The bold actions of this new champion did not fail to excite the wrath of the enemies of the cause of Christ; but as the late decision of the Sanhedrim had been against any further immediate resort to violent measures, his opponents confined themselves to the forms of verbal debate for a while. As Stephen was one of those Jews who had adopted the Greek language and habits, and probably directed his labors more particularly to that class of persons, he soon became peculiarly obnoxious to those Hellenist Jews who still held out against the new doctrine. Of the numerous congregations of foreign Jews that filled Jerusalem, five in particular are mentioned as distinguishing themselves by this opposition,——that of the freed-men, or captive Jews once slaves in Rome, and their descendants,——that of the Cyrenians,——of the Alexandrians,——the Cilicians and the Asians. Some of the more zealous in all these congregations came out to meet Stephen in debate, with the polished points of Grecian logic which their acquaintance with that language enabled them to use against him. But not all the combined powers of sacred and profane literature availed any thing against their learned and inspired opponent. Prepared beforehand, thoroughly, in all sorts of wisdom, and borne on resistlessly, moreover, by that divine influence whose movements they could see but could not understand, he foiled them completely at all their own weapons, and exposed them, in their low bigotry and stupidity, baffled and silenced by his single voice. But among all the refinements and elegances with which their classical knowledge had made them acquainted, they had failed to learn that noblest effort of the rhetorical art, which is to know how to bear a fair defeat in open debate, gracefully. These low-minded, half-renegade bigots, burning with brutal rage for this defeat, which their base behavior made more disgraceful, determined to find a means of punishing him, which no logic nor rhetoric could resist. They found men base enough for their vile purposes, and instructed them to testify that they had heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. On the strength of this heinous charge, they made out to rouse some of the people, as well as the elders and the scribes, to a similar hostile feeling; and coming upon him with a throng of these, they seized him and dragged him away to the Sanhedrim, to undergo the form of a trial. They then brought forward their perjured witnesses, who testified only in vague terms of abuse, “This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus, the Nazarene, will destroy this place, and will do away with the customs which Moses delivered to us.” This was, after all, a kind of accusation which brought him more particularly under the invidious notice of the Pharisees, whose leader had lately so decidedly befriended the apostles; for that sect guarded with the most jealous care all the minute details of their religion, and were ever ready to punish, as a traitor to the national faith and honor, any one who spoke slightingly, or even doubtingly, of the perpetuity of the law of Moses, and its hallowed shrine. Perhaps there was no one of all the sayings of Jesus himself, which had given deeper offense than his remark about destroying the temple and re-building it in three days, which his silly hearers took up seriously, and construed into a serious, blasphemous insult of the chief glory of the Jewish name, and bore it in mind so bitterly, as to throw it back on him, in his last agonies on the cross. Such a saying, therefore, when laid to the charge of Stephen, could not but rouse the worst feelings against him, in the hearts of all his judges. But he, calm and undisturbed amid the terrors of this trial, as he had been in the fury of the dispute, bore such an aspect of composure, that all who sat in the council were struck with his angelic look. The high priest, however, having heard the accusation, solemnly called on the prisoner to say “whether these things were so.” Stephen then, with a determination to meet the charge by a complete exhibition of his views of the character and objects of the Jewish faith, ran over the general history of its rise and progress, and of the opinions which its founders and upholders had expressed concerning the importance and the perpetuity of those types and forms, and of the glorious temple which was their chief seat, when compared with the revelation to be expected through the prophet promised to them by God and foretold by Moses. Warming as he went on, he quoted the poetical words of Isaiah, on the dwelling-place of the Almighty, as not being confined to the narrow bounds of the building which was to them an object of such idolatrous reverence, as the sole place of Jehovah’s abode, but as being high in the heavens, whence his power and love spread their boundless grasp over sea and land, and all nations that dwelt beneath his throne. As the words of the prophet of the fire-touched lips rolled from the voice of Stephen, they kindled his soul into an ecstacy of holy wrath; and in open scorn of their mean cruelty, he broke away from the plan of his discourse, bursting out into burning expressions of reproach and denunciation, which carried their rage away beyond all bounds of reason. Conscious of their physical power to avenge the insult, the mob instantly rose up, and hurried him away from the court, without regard to the forms of law; and taking him without the city, they stoned him to death, while he invoked on them, not the wrath, but the mercy of their common God. In such prayers, gloriously crowning such labors and sufferings, he fell asleep, commending his spirit to the hands of that Lord and Savior, whom it was his exalted honor to follow, first of all, through the bitter agonies of a bloody death.

THE PERSECUTION.

Among the nameless herd of Stephen’s murderers and disputants, there was one only whose name has been preserved from the impenetrable oblivion which hides their infamy. And that name now is brought to the mind of every Christian reader, without one emotion of indignation or contempt, for its connection with this bloody murder. That man is now known to hundreds of millions, and has been for centuries known to millions of millions, as the bright leader of the hosts of the ransomed, and the faithful martyr who sealed with his blood the witness which this proto-martyr bore beneath the messengers of death to which his voice had doomed him. In the synagogue of the Cilicians, which was so active in the attack on Stephen, was a young man, who was not behind the oldest and the fiercest, in the steady, unrelenting hate which he bore to this devouring heresy. He gave his voice amid the clamors of the mob, to swell the cry for the death of the heretic; and when the stout murderers hurled the deadly missiles on the martyr’s naked head, it was he who took charge of the loose garments which they had thrown off, that they might use their limbs with greater freedom. Neither the sight of the saintly martyr, kneeling unresistingly to meet his bloody death, nor the sound of his voice, rising in the broken tones of the death-agony, in prayer for his murderers, could move the deep hate of this young zealot, to the least relenting; but the whole scene only led him to follow this example of merciless persecution, which he here viewed with such deep delight. Abundant opportunities for the exercise of this persecuting spirit soon occurred. In connection with the charge against Stephen, which, however unfounded, brought him to this illegal death, there was a general and systematic disturbance raised by the same persons, against the church in Jerusalem, more particularly directed, as it would seem, against the Hellenist members, who were involved, by general suspicion, in the same crime for which Stephen, their eminent brother, had suffered. Saul now distinguished himself at once above all others, by the active share which he took in this persecution. Raging against the faithful companions of the martyred Stephen, he, with the most inquisitorial zeal, sought them out, even in their own quiet dwellings, and violating the sanctity of home, he dragged out the inmates to prison, visiting even on helpless women the crime of believing as their consciences prompted, and without regard to delicacy or decency, shutting them up in the public dungeons. As soon as the storm began to burst on the new converts, those who were in any special danger of attack very properly sought safety in flight from the city, in accordance with the wise and merciful injunction laid upon the apostles by their Lord, when he first sent them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,——“When they persecute you in one city, flee into another.” The consequences of this dispersion, however, were such as to turn the foolish rage of the persecutors to the solid advantage of the cause of Christ, and to show in what a variety of ways God can cause the wrath of man to praise him. For all those who were thus driven out of their peaceful homes, became missionaries of the word of truth, among the people of the various cities and countries through which they were scattered. All those of whose wanderings we have any account, seem to have journeyed northward and north-westward, probably all of them foreign Jews, who naturally returned home when driven out of Jerusalem. Some of these went, in this way, to the Phoenician coast, to Antioch, and to Cyprus, all laboring to extend the knowledge of that truth for which they were willing sufferers. But of all those who went forth on this forced mission, none appear to have been more successful than Philip, who stood next to the martyred Stephen on the list of the seven Hellenist servants of the church, and who appears to have been second not even to his great fellow-servant in ability and energy. His home was in Caesarea, on the sea-coast; but he had higher objects than merely to take refuge in his own domestic circle; for instead of thus indulging his feelings of natural affection, he also turned his course northward, and made his first sojourn in the city of Samaria, where he immediately began to preach Christ to them, as the common Messiah, so long desired by Samaritans as well as Jews. Here, the people being ruled by no tyrannical sectaries, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the various orders of ecclesiastical power in Jerusalem, were left entirely to follow the impulse of their better feelings towards the truth, without the fear of any inquisition into their movements. Under these happy circumstances of religious freedom, they all with one accord gave heed to the preaching of Philip, hearing and seeing the wonderful works of kindness which he did. For foul spirits, which, possessing many sufferers, had long wasted their bodies and deranged their minds, now at the word of this preacher of Christ, came out of many of them, crying with a loud voice in attestation of the irresistible power which had overcome them. Many also that were affected with palsies and that were lame, were healed in the same miraculous manner; so that, in consequence of this removal of so many bodily and spiritual evils, there was great joy in the city, at the arrival of this messenger of mercy. But before the coming of Philip, the people of Samaria had been the subjects of arts of a somewhat different kind, from a man who could claim for his works none of the holy character of disinterested humanity, which belonged to those of the preacher of Christ. This was one Simon, a man who, by the use of some magical tricks, had so imposed upon the simple-minded citizens, that they were profoundly impressed with the notion, which he was anxious to make them believe, namely, that he was a great man. To him they all, both young and old, paid the deepest reverence, in consequence of the triumphant ability displayed by him in the arts of sorcery; and so low were their notions of the nature of miraculous agency, that they concluded that the tricks which he played were tokens of divine interposition in his favor, and universally allowed that he was himself a personification of the mighty power of God. But when Philip came among them, and exhibited the genuine workings of the holy spirit of God, they immediately saw how much they had been mistaken in their previous estimate of its operations, and changed their degraded notions, for a more just appreciation of its character. On hearing the word of truth so fully revealed and supported, they believed in the new view which he gave them of the kingdom of God on earth, and in the name of Jesus Christ; and were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself, overwhelmed with the evidences of a higher power than any that he knew, confessed the fallacy of his own tricks, and submissively owned the power of God as manifested in the words and deeds of Philip, with whom he now remained, a humble and wondering observer of the miracles and signs wrought by him.

THE VISIT TO SAMARIA.

In the mean time, the apostles had remained at Jerusalem, apparently not directly affected by the persecution against Stephen and his friends, or at least not disturbed by it so as to be prevented from remaining at their original post, in the discharge of duty. For, a true regard for the instructions long ago given them by their Master, would have required them to leave Jerusalem, if the opposition to their preaching became so settled and extensive as to prevent them from advancing the cause of Christ there, more rapidly than they might in other places. The spirit with which they had been taught to meet tyrannical opposition, was not one of idle bravado or useless pertinacity, but of deliberate and calculating steadiness in their plan, which knew when to prudently give way, as well as when to boldly withstand. It is therefore fair to conclude, that the persecution here referred to, was so limited as not to be directed against the apostles themselves, nor to hinder their useful labors. If any of them had been imprisoned during this persecution, certainly the rest would have been blamable for not escaping; but the fact that they remained perfectly free, appears from their leaving the city without delay, on the occasion which now required their presence and assistance elsewhere. For as soon as they heard of the preaching of Philip at Samaria, and of the willingness with which the Samaritans had received and believed the first communications of the word, they immediately sent to them Peter and John, who, as the chief teachers of the doctrines of Christ, might give the new converts a fuller preparation for their duties in their calling, than could be expected from one so lately commissioned as the zealous preacher who had first awakened them. These two great apostles, having come down to Samaria, prayed for the believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for this heavenly gift had not yet been imparted to them; the only sign of their acceptance into the new faith having been their baptism by the hands of Philip, who does not seem to have been empowered to indue others with the same divine spirit which he had so abundantly received on himself. But the apostles laying their hands on them, as they had before done with such powerful effect on Stephen, Philip and their fellow-servants, now also inspired these second fruits with the same divine energy, which was instantly made manifest in them, by the usual signs. As soon as Simon saw the display of the new powers, with which those were suddenly gifted who had been made the subjects of this simple ceremony, he immediately concluded that he had at last found out the means of acquiring those miraculous powers at which he had been so deeply amazed, and which he thought he could make vastly profitable to himself in his business, as a very decided improvement upon his old tricks. Thinking only of the motive which always moved his mind to the bestowment of such favors, he immediately took out the money he had gained by his impositions on the people, and offered the apostles a handsome share of it, if they would simply give him the valuable privilege of conferring this divine agency on all upon whom he should lay his hands, in the same manner as they. But his mercenary hopes were soon blasted by the indignant terms in which Peter rejected his insulting proposal. “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God could be bought with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Change thy mind, therefore, from this wickedness of thine, and ask God, if indeed there is any possibility, that the iniquity of thy heart may be forgiven thee; for I see that thou art still full of the bitterness of thy former poisons, and bound fast in the chains of thy old iniquities.” Simon, hushed and overawed in his impertinent offers by this stern rebuke, sunk into a penitent tone again, and begged of them that they would pray for him, that the doom to perish with his money, as declared by Peter, might not fall on him. Of the depth and sincerity of his penitence, no good testimony is left us; but his submissive conduct, at best, seems to have been rather the result of a personal awe of the apostles, as his superiors in supernatural powers, than prompted by any true regard for their pure faith, or any just appreciation of their character and motives. The apostles, however, waited no longer to enlighten the mind of one so dark in his views of the divine agency; but after they had borne witness to the truth of Philip’s words and doctrines by their own preaching, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans, on the way. Philip also, having had his labors thus triumphantly crowned by the ministrations of the apostles, left Samaria, and turned his course southwards, towards Gaza, under the impulse and guidance of a divine spirit. On this journey, occurred his most interesting adventure with the lord high treasurer of the Ethiopian queen, after which Philip was found at Ashdod, on the sea, from which place, journeying northwards again, he went preaching through all the towns on the coast, till he arrived at his home, at Caesarea.

JAFFA——JOPPA.

THE BEGINNING OF PEACE.

Soon after the return of the apostles to Jerusalem, an event occurred, which had a more mighty influence on the progress of the Christian religion than any other that had occurred since the ascension of Jesus. The members of the church who still withstood the storm of persecution in the city, were struck with no small amazement by the sudden appearance, before them, of Saul of Tarsus, the most bloody persecutor of their Hellenist brethren, who, having exhausted the opportunities for the gratification of his spite against them in Jerusalem, had gone to Damascus, to seize such as there supposed themselves safe in following the new faith. This man, yet stained, as it were, with the blood of Stephen, now presented himself to them as a convert to the gospel, prepared to join them as a brother. The whole affair seemed to bear so decidedly the aspect of a palpable imposition, that they altogether refused to have any thing to do with him, and suspected the whole to be a deep-laid snare, on the part of this bloody foe of the gospel, who now appeared to be seeking, by false professions, to get into their confidence, that he might have the means of betraying them to utter ruin. But Barnabas, who was better acquainted with Saul, detailed to the church all the wonderful circumstances so fully, that they no longer hesitated to receive him as a brother and fellow-laborer. This remarkable conversion was of vast benefit to the cause of the gospel, not only by bringing to its aid the services of a laborer so competent, but also by removing from among its adversaries one who had been a leader and a contriver of every plot of mischief. As soon as he left the ranks of the foe, the vindictive persecution, which had raged ever since the death of Stephen, ceased, as though it had lost its great author and main support, by the defection of Saul of Tarsus. Indeed, the last act of this persecution, which is recorded, was directed against this very man, who had once been a leader in it, and drove him out of the city which had been the scene of his cruelties. Therefore, the churches had rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, strengthening and advancing in piety, and filled with the impulses of the Holy Spirit. This opportunity of quiet seemed peculiarly favorable for a minute survey of the condition of these scattered churches, most of which had grown up without any direct agency of the apostles, and therefore needed their attention at this critical period.

THE SURVEY OF THE CHURCHES.