Notice, then, this important fact connected with the bringing in of the Gentiles—they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, simply through the preaching of the word. At Jerusalem, the Jews were baptized before they received the Holy Ghost. At Samaria, the Samaritans were not only baptized, but had the apostles’ hands laid on them, with prayer, before they received the Holy Ghost. But at Caesarea, without baptism, without the laying on of hands, without prayer, the richest christian blessing was given to the Gentiles; though the doctrine of the Church as the body of Christ was not yet revealed.
The grace of God, thus shown to the Gentiles, at the commencement of the dispensation, has characterized it ever since. We are Gentiles; we are neither Jews nor Samaritans. Therefore, God’s ways in grace, and His order of things with the Gentiles, have a special application to us. There is no instance recorded by the inspired historians of one being baptized without professing faith in Christ; but if we are to follow the pattern of things at Caesarea, we must look for sealing as well as quickening—for peace with God as well as faith in Christ before baptism. The case of Cornelius stands at the very head of our dispensation; it was the first direct expression of grace to the Gentiles; and surely it ought to be a model for Gentile preachers and disciples. When the word of God that was then preached to Cornelius is now believed, the same effects, as to peace with God, we may rest assured, will follow.
Preaching, believing, sealing, baptizing, is the divine order of things here. God and His word never change; though “times change,” as men say, and human opinions change, and religious observances change, but the word of God—never. Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans professed faith in Christ before they were baptized. Indeed baptism supposed eternal life possessed through faith, not communicated by its observance, as Anglican Catholics teach. “Grace is communicated, life is communicated, by sacraments,” they say, “and is only effected through these means; irrespective of any exercise of the intellect on the part of the person brought into union. Holy baptism is the means of conferring on the recipient a new and spiritual life.” Such notions, we need scarcely say, are utterly opposed to scripture. Baptism, we affirm, confers nothing. Life is conferred by other means, as the scriptures plainly teach. Conversion, or “being born again, “is affected, in all cases without exception, by the Holy Spirit. As we read in 1 Peter 1:2222Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: (1 Peter 1:22), “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, winch liveth and abideth forever.” Here, the truth of the gospel is viewed as the means, and the Holy Spirit as the power, in conversion. Christ, or God in Christ, is the new object of the soul. It is by the Spirit and truth of God that this blessed change is affected. Those who trust to water baptism as the means of effecting it, trust, alas, to a great delusion—a fatal delusion.
(The following brief statements from the fathers of the fourth century, on the subject of baptism, will show our readers the sources, or the authorities, of much that is said and done in the present day by the ritualists. The authority of scripture is entirely set aside. “At Easter, and at Pentecost, and in some places at the Epiphany, the rite of baptism was administered publicly—that is, in the presence of the faithful—to all the converts of the year, excepting those few instances in which it had been expedient to perform the ceremony without delay, or where the timid Christian put it off till the close of life, after the example of Constantine: a practice for a long time condemned in vain by the Clergy. But the fact of the delay shows how deeply the importance and efficacy of the rite were rooted in the christian mind. It was a complete lustration [purifying] of the soul. The Neophyte [new convert] emerged from the waters of baptism in a state of perfect innocence. The Dove—the Holy Spirit—was constantly hovering over the font, and sanctifying the waters to the mysterious ablution of all the sins of the past life. If the soul suffered no subsequent taint, it passed at once to the realms of purity and bliss; that is, the heart was purified the understanding illuminated; the spirit was clothed with immortality.
“Robed in white, emblematic of spotless purity, the candidate approached the baptistery, in the larger churches a separate building. There he uttered the solemn vows which pledged him to his religion. The symbolizing genius of the East added some significant ceremonies. The Catechumen [one in the first stages of christian instruction] turned to the West, the realm of Satan, and thrice renounced his power; he turned to the East, to adore the Sun of Righteousness, and to proclaim his compact with the Lord of life. The mystic trinal number prevailed throughout; the vow was threefold, and thrice pronounced. The baptism was usually by immersion; the stripping off the clothes was emblematic of ‘putting off the old man;’ but baptism by sprinkling was allowed, according to the exigency of the case. The water itself became, in the vivid language of the Church, the blood of Christ: it was compared, by a fanciful analogy, to the Red Sea: the daring metaphors of some of the fathers might seem, to assert a transmutation of its color.
“Almost all the fathers of this age, Basil, the two Gregories, Ambrose, &c, &c, have treatises on baptism; and vie, as it were, with each other in their praises of its importance and efficacy. Gregory of Nazianzen almost exhausts the copiousness of the Greek language in speaking of baptism.” Milman’s History of Christianity, vol. 3.)
In the ease of the Gentiles, now under consideration, even more than life was possessed before baptism was administered. They had the seal of God. Baptism is the sign of full deliverance and salvation as secured for the believer by the death and resurrection of Christ. Cornelius had life, was a devout man, but he must send for Peter, and hear words whereby he would be saved—fully delivered. The Old as well as the New Testament teaches this blessed truth most plainly. Israel, as a typical people, after being brought to God and sheltered by the blood of the lamb in Egypt, were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Thus they were delivered out of Egypt, and saw the salvation of Jehovah. Again, Noah and his family were saved through the flood—not by it. They left the old world, passed through the waters of death, and landed in a new condition of things altogether. The like figure, or antitype, whereunto even baptism doth also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Exod. 14 Pet. 3:21.
But what was the word, some may inquire, that Peter preached, which was accompanied with such remarkable blessing? He preached peace by Jesus Christ, as Lord of all. Christ risen, exalted, and glorified, was the grand object of his testimony. He sums up with these words: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” The blessing follows. The Jews present were astonished; but they bow, and own God’s goodness to the Gentiles. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded that they should be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.”
We now retrace our steps a little way, and notice some of the leading events, which, the order, precede chapter 10 the first christian martyr. Stephen, the deacon and evangelist, is the first to receive the crown of martyrdom for the name of Jesus. He stands at the head of “the noble army of martyrs.” He is perfect as a type—as the proto-martyr. Firm and unwavering in his faith; bold and undaunted before his accusers; pointed and faithful in his defense before the Sanhedrim; free from malice in his strongest statements; full of charity towards ah men, he seals his testimony with his blood, and falls asleep in Jesus.
In some respects, Stephen resembles the blessed Lord Himself. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” is like “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit;” and again, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,” resembles “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do:” only Stephen does not plead their ignorance.
Already we see that troubles both within and without assail the young assembly. True, the word of God increased, multitudes were converted, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. But the Grecians, or Hellenists (Jews of Greek origin), murmured against the Hebrews (natives of Judea), because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. This led to the appointment of seven deacons. (Acts 6) From their names here given it would appear that the seven chosen were “Grecians’—all from the side of the murmurers; thus the Spirit of God ruled in grace. Stephen was one of the number; and in his case the word of the apostle was exemplified: “Those who have used the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” He was full of faith and power, and did great wonders and miracles among the people. The energy of the Holy Spirit was especially manifested hi Stephen.
There were different synagogues in Jerusalem, appropriated to the different races of Jews. It was the synagogue of the Libertines, Cyrenians, &c, that opposed Stephen. But “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” Then followed that which has usually been the case with the confessors of Jesus of all ages; unable to answer him, they accuse him before the council. False witnesses arc suborned, who swear that they had “heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God; and that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this place, and change the customs delivered to them by Moses.” The case was now before the Sanhedrim—the trial commences. But what must his judges have thought when they saw his face radiant, as the face of an angel?
We have the noble address of Stephen to the heads of the nation before us. To them, it was convincing, perplexing, overwhelming. Doubtless, it was the testimony of the Holy Ghost to the Jews, from the mouth of Stephen; and all the more humbling to the proud Jews, to hear their doom from the lips of a Hellenist. But the Spirit of God, when unhindered by man’s arrangements, works by whomsoever He will.
Stephen recapitulates in bold language the chief points in their national history. He refers especially to the history of Joseph and of Moses. The former, their fathers sold to the Gentiles; the latter, they despised as a ruler and a judge. He also charges them with always resisting the Holy Ghost—with always disobeying the law; and now with having been the betrayers and murderers of the Just One. Here Christ’s faithful witness was interrupted, he was not allowed to finish his address. A picture, too true, of the treatment of martyrs, from that day even until now. The murmurs, the indignation, the fury of the Sanhedrim, were beyond control. “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” But in place of pursuing his discourse, he turns in ecstasy of heart to the Lord, and fixes his eyes on heaven—the home and center of gathering for all his people.
“I see,” said Stephen, “the heavens opened.” He was full of the Holy Ghost—heaven opens to him, and he sees the Son of man standing there, ready to receive his spirit. “Such, then,” as another has said, “is the position of the true believer—heavenly upon the earth—in presence of the world that rejected Christ, the murderous world; the believer, alive in death, sees by the power of the Holy Ghost into heaven, and the Son of man at the right hand of God. Stephen does not say, ‘Jesus.’ The Spirit characterizes Him as ‘the Son of man.’ Precious testimony to man! It is not to the glory that he testifies, but to the Son of man in the glory; heaven being open to him..... As to the object of faith and the position of the believer, this scene is definitively characteristic.”
We have now gone over, with some care, the first section of the Church’s history. And we have been the more careful, as church histories, in general, commence at a later period. Most of them begin where scripture ends; at least as to details. None that we have yet seen refer to the sixteenth of Matthew, and few attempt a critical examination of the Acts of the Apostles, which, after all, is the only part of her history which commands our faith, and has an absolute claim upon our obedience.
In the eighth chapter, we find the Holy Ghost in Samaria working by Philip. He has, as it wore, left Jerusalem. This marks a distinct epoch in the history of the Church; and especially in her connection with Jerusalem. We leave, for the present, the enraged and persecuting Jews, and follow the path of the Spirit to the city of Samaria. But we must glance for a moment at what some have called the third persecution.
“Foremost and nearest to His throne,
By perfect robes of triumph known,
And likest Him in lock and tone,
The holy Stephen kneels,
With steadfast gaze, as when the sky
Flew open to his fainting eye,
Which like a fading lamp flashed high,
Seeing what death conceals.
He, though he seem on earth to move,
Must glide in air like gentle dove,
From you unclouded depths above
Must draw his purer breath:
Till men behold his angel face
All radiant with celestial grace,
Martyr all o’er, and meet to trace
The lines of Jesus’ death.”