THE DISCIPLES SCATTERED.
By J. O. Corliss
IN the council that condemned Stephen to death, there sat one who was destined to figure more largely than he knew in the propagation of the Gospel. The name of this person was called Saul ('asked for') while associated with his earlier connections. As soon, however, as he was converted to the Gospel, he assumed the name of Paul (little), and counted himself 'less than the least of all saints.' Eph. 3:8. Under the first name he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. 1 Tim. 1:13. Just how much this confession of his meant, we may learn by reference to the record in which he is first brought to notice. There we are told that he consented to Stephen's death, that is, he gave his vote in favor of it. Acts 8:1. In order to emphasize this feeling of hatred for all Christians, he stood by at the time of Stephen's murder, and held the clothes of those who stoned him. Acts 22:20. This was his method of manifesting zeal for the traditions of his fathers. So strong was this feeling, that he outran all his associates in persecution. Gal. 1:14. This is related by Luke when telling of Saul's work immediately following the death of Stephen: as follows, 'As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.' Acts 8:3. This expression, 'made havoc,' occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. In the Septuagint (Ps. 80:13), and in the classical Greek, it is applied to the actions of wild boars when uprooting a vineyard. This idea is also sustained by what the people of Damascus afterward said of the course of Saul when he was preaching Christ: 'Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem?' Acts 9:21. The original of this word 'destroyed' is a strong one, strictly applicable to an invading army which scathes a conquered country with fire and sword. In describing his own work, Paul said: 'Beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.' Gal. 1:13. It is not so strange, therefore, that the church became entirely scattered from Jerusalem, each member going his own way to witness for Christ. Little did the great persecutor of that day realize, when forging fetters for the church, how forceful was the truth which he afterward uttered: 'We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.' 2 Cor. 13:8. His 'outrageous madness' against the work of God resulted in spreading the truth far more widely than deliberate calmness could possibly have done; for in the later case the church would have quietly remained in Jerusalem, satisfied with the comfort they were personally deriving from their connection with the Holy Spirit of power. As it was, the church was divided up into innumerable parts, and so carried the Word of God with power into all the surrounding region. Among those who were thus forced abroad was one of the seven deacons chosen shortly before to minister to the church. When the church was dispersed, he went to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ to its inhabitants. We may well regard this as a hazardous undertaking, considering the state of feeling then existing between the people of Jerusalem and Samaria. John 4:9. It was even dangerous for any living on one side of the line to be found on the other, the lives of many having paid the penalty of such temerity. But to Samaria Philip went, accompanied by the Spirit of God, and instead of being set upon by infuriated mobs, he was reverently regarded, and his testimony diligently heeded by all. Acts 8:6. This was solely because the Spirit of God had prepared the field for reaping just such a harvest, and this was the guarantee of successful labor for the consecrated disciple. Could those who now desire to be missionaries have the same fulness of the Spirit, their testimony would bring more tokens of God's co-operation. But unlike those early missionaries, modern evangelists depend more upon worldly plans for success, than upon that special requirement,—the Holy Ghost. As the result we hear nothing of the miraculous demonstrations recorded of those first laborers. Then, unclean spirits, crying out in their malignity, were called forth from those 'possessed,' palsied bodies were quickened, and the lame made to walk, through the power of the preached Word. Verse 7. By the miracles thus wrought, all could see that a supernatural power attended the message of truth, and many hastened to attach themselves to it. But some peculiar questions force themselves forward at this juncture, which are these: First, was it necessary for men to be so clothed with power from on high at that time, in order to do successful Gospel work among the heathen? It must have been, or God would not have troubled to manifest Himself so miraculously. Second, are heathen any less heathen now than then? If so, then why is it not just as necessary now, to have the same demonstrations of power by which to reveal to these benighted souls the power of Jehovah's salvation? Something seems wrong somewhere or somehow. In the Gospel commission, Christ assures all who go out to witness for Him that He will be with them to the end of the world. Matt. 28:19, 20. Was He with the early disciples? And were the miracles performed by them the result of His presence? If so, why does not His presence now manifest itself in the same way? Has He changed, so that He does not now do those miracles? Or have His professed followers assumed an attitude that prevents Him from attending them as formerly? Why may not all so diligently consider these questions as to decide them correctly, one by one, and then know God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent? The power of God which accompanied the early witnesses for Christ, brought great joy to believers, even in dark Samaria. Verse 8. But there was one there who saw in those demonstrations something more genuinely attractive than the tricks of sorcery, with which he had beguiled the people, and held them under his spell so long. He had been named the 'great power of God.' But the people saw in the miracles wrought by the Holy Ghost the real power of God, and were glad to exchange that which had before seemed right, for the pure Gospel power, which they now knew to be true. These attested their faith in Christ by offering themselves for baptism. The power that attended Philip's ministry in Samaria was indeed so great that even Simon the sorcerer could not withstand it. Sunken so low in deceptive arts as almost to sear his conscience, yet the Holy Spirit penetrated his heart, and he, too, yielded to the convicting agency, submitting to the ordinance of baptism in token of his faith in the power of God shown in raising Christ from the dead. Eph. 1:19, 20; Col. 2:12. Glorious Gospel of the Son of God! Little wonder that it is called the 'power of God' unto salvation. Rom. 1:16. But how little of the genuine Gospel is now seen amid the labors of so-called Gospel workers and other professed believers. The Gospel being the power of God, it follows that all Gospel workers should be power-of-God workers. Is it so? If not, why not? J. O. CORLISS.