will of their Almighty defender, that they should not fear to do their duty, but go into the temple, and there preach the doctrine of their Lord and Master. In obedience to the Divine message and direction, early in the morning they repaired to the temple, and there expounded the Scriptures, and taught the doctrine of Christ as the Saviour of mankind.

In the mean time the members of the Sanhedrim thinking the apostles had been in safe custody, went to the court, and sent their officers to bring them before them. But when the officers came to the prison, and found no person in it, they returned with great surprise, telling those that sent them; "That they found the prison-doors shut, and the guard carefully watching without, but that the prisoners were not there."

When the Sanhedrim of the Jews, and the captain that set the guard, heard this, they were strangely perplexed, and wondered how it could be, that the prison being shut, and the guard at the doors, the prisoners should escape; suspecting this must presage some strange thing. But while they laboured under this perplexity, a messenger came into court, and assured them, "That the men, whom they last night committed to prison, were standing in the temple, and instructing the people."

Hereupon, the captain of the guard, taking officers with him, went immediately to the temple, and persuaded the apostles to go with him to the council, not daring to offer any violence, for fear the people should stone them. Being set before the council, the HighPriest charged them with contumacy, saying, " Did we not strictly command you not to publish this doctrine of Christ, nor teach in his name? And yet in contempt of our authority, ye have published it in the temple to all the city, and endeavoured as much as in you lies, by laying his blood to our charge, to raise a mutiny against us, as his murderers." To this charge the apostles made the same defence as before, "To us, who were commanded by God himself to publish the gospel, your interdict is of no force. When God releases us from prison, where you confined us, and commands us to go into the temple, and preach the faith of Christ, we are obliged to

render obedience to him, and not to your decrces. The God of Israel, acknowledged by us all, hath sent the Messiah into the world with his special commission, whom when ye had crucified as a malefactor, God raised from death, took him into heaven, and invested him with regal power, from thence to send the Spirit of his Father, (which was not to descend till he was ascended) and by that means to give you Jews place for repentance, that if ye will yet come in, and believe on him, ye may receive the pardon of your sins. The truth of this we now testify, and so doth the Holy Ghost, that came down upon us, and the rest that have consorted with us, and is communicated by us to all that believe and pay obedience to him."

This answer of the apostles being a just reproach upon the Sanhedrim, stung them to the heart, insomuch that by a speedy sentence they resolved to silence them; and therefore they entered into a consultation how to put them to death. But Gamaliel, a learned doctor of the law, and of great reputation among the people, seeing the desperate inclination of the Sanhedrim, endeavoured to divert them from this dangerous expedient, and ordering the apostles to withdraw, addressed himself thus to the council. "I advise you to be cautious, O men of Israel, in what you do to these men. For we have examples of persons, who have gathered followers, and raised seditions among the people, but have come to nothing. As for instance, Theudas, that undertook to be a general, boasting that he was sent by God to that purpose, and so got four hundred men to follow him, soon miscarried, for himself was killed, and all his adherents put to flight. After him rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, who drew a mighty concourse of people after him, but he soon perished, and all his followers were dispersed. I advise you therefore not to be hasty in your proceedings against these men, but rather dismiss them; for the doc

• Gamaliel. This was a man so highly esteemed by the Jews, that it was said, "the honour of the law failed with him." He was the tutor of the apostle Paul (Acts xxii. 3,) who could not but have learned this event from his master, and which rendered his persecution of the christians the more aggravated.

trine which they preach is either from God, or not. If it be not from God, it will without our opposition come to nothing; the certain fate of false prophets: but if it be from God, you may be sure you will not be able to prevail against it, for all your obstinate opposition and enterprises will be flying in God's face, and striving against the eternal decrees of his providence."

The council, unable to elude the force of what Gamaliel had said, yielded for the present, admitting that his advice was safe and wise. Then calling for the apostles into court again, they ordered them to be scourged · (a very reproachful punishment) and charging them not to preach the faith of Christ any more, they released them. But this punishment was matter of joy and comfort to the apostles, that they were advanced to such a degree of honour and blessedness, as to be scourged for preaching Christ. After this they were constantly in the temple or in some house, instructing those that had already received the faith, or preaching it to those that had not.

And now the number of Christians daily increasing, the Jews that understood Greek, and used the Greek scriptures in their congregation, complained of unequal and partial dealing; that there was little care taken of their widows, in proportion to the Hebrews in the daily distri bution or provision that was made for the poor. Then the twelve apostles, calling the church together, said thus; "It is not reasonable that we should neglect the preaching of the gospel, and undertake the care of look

Greek. The title of Greek does not only signify those who are Greeks by birth, or who speak Greek, but also in general all idolaters, in opposition to the Jews, who only worshipped the true God. For which reason, to avoid ambiguity, the true signification of it should be determined according to the persons and circumstances, where it is employed. As when St. Mark calls the woman, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, a Greek, Mark vii. 26, for she could not be a Greek by nation, since it is expressly observed, that she was a Syrian, and since Syria was at a great distance from Greece; the same amendment must be made, Rom. i. 16, Gal. iii. 28, and here Acts vi. 1, and ix. 29, where mention is made of the Greeks, we must translate, "The Jews that spoke Greek."

ing after the poor. Therefore, brethren, do you nominate to us seven men, who have approved themselves to be faithful and trusty persons among you, eminent for wisdom and other good gifts, that we may appoint them to the office of deacons in the church, and entrust with the care of distributing to the necessitous, out of the public stock; and by these means we shall be less interrupted in our daily employment of praying and preaching the gospel." This proposal pleased the whole assembly, and they immediately put it in execution, nominating seven, the first of whom was Stephen, a very worthy person, richly instructed in the doctrine of Christ, and full of the Holy Ghost; the other six were Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas. These seven, the disciples presented to the twelve apostles, who by prayer and imposition of hands ordained them to the office of deacons. Then the faith of Christ was propagated, and a very great number of men in Jerusalem associated with the apostles, every day more and more, and many of the Jewish priests received the Gospel thus preached by the apostles.

Of the seven deacons thus ordained, Stephen was the first and most eminent in the exercise of his holy function, and was raised by Divine Providence to the superior honors of an Evangelist and a Martyr, and was enabled in a very extraordinary manner, to confirm the doctrine he taught by many miraculous operations. And as he was preaching the faith of Christ, some men of that synagogue which was called by the name of Libertines, and of those that dwelt in Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia, opposed and contradicted Stephen. But he expressed himself with so much knowledge and strength of argument, that they were totally unable to cope with him or defend themselves against his irresistible arguments. They were therefore so much irritated that

* Libertines. These were the sons of them, who being Jews had been made free denizens by the Romans, or were born of Jewish parents in cities which had those privileges under the Romans, such as Tarsus, where Paul was born, who was very active in this business. See Acts vii. 28.

they had recourse to a most mean and dishonest fraud, for they suborned false witnesses to swear against him and accuse him to the Sanhedrim, that they had heard him speak dishonourably of the Jewish religion. Having thus incensed the whole city against Stephen, they caused him to be apprehended and carried before the Sanhedrim; and their witnesses being produced, they charged him with foretelling destruction to the temple, and threatening the change of all the Mosaical rites and ceremonies. Whilst the charge was read against him, the judges and all that were present in the Sanhedrim, as they looked on him, saw a great splendor about him, like the countenance of an angel.* The chief priest having heard the accusation, asked him whether he was guilty of thus predicting the destruction of the temple, and change of the Jewish religion? In answer to whom he makes this defence:

"Men, brethren and fathers, I beseech you observe. The eternal God of heaven and earth appeared to our father Abraham, whilst he was in Mesopotamia, the place of his birth, commanding him to remove from thence, by reason of the idolatries and other vices which had crept in among the people. In obedience to the divine command he forsook his father's house and his kindred, and taking his father with him, he travelled into Canaan, there he pitched his tent, and built an altar; where he gave him no settlement for the present, (he being soon after obliged to remove into Egypt, and sojourn there) but there he received God's promise, that his posterity should inherit and possess the whole land, though at the time of this promise he had no child, nor any seeming prospect of issue or inheritance. However, God confirmed this promise to him with these concurring circumstances; that his posterity should first live in Canaan, and after that go down into Egypt, where they should be oppressed and afflicted, till

• Angel. This is, no doubt, a proverbial expression, signifying a peculiar degree of majesty and dignity, arising from a transport of inward joy, in the consciousness of his innocence, the excellence of his cause, and his prospect of glory. 30

VOL. II.