THE

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORIES.

"BEFORE you begin your chapter to-day, sir," said old Hyford, "I want to ask a question,-Who was this Saul so particularly mentioned in the first verse? Of course, a great many persons were present when Stephen was being stoned, but Saul alone is spoken of."

"Because," replied Mr. C- "the Holy Ghost here sets him before us in his natural character-as

a persecutor; he was a 'Jew of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia,' brought up by the very Gamaliel who coun selled his brethren to refrain from treating the Apostles, Peter and John, with violence (see Acts v. 34— 40); he showed himself particularly enraged against the Christians, and that he felt he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,' (ch. xxvi. 9.) Zeal urged him on, and, therefore, when Stephen was hastened out of the city to be put to death, he was the most active; and to show his 'cordial approbation,' which is the better meaning of the word than only 'consenting,' he kept the clothes of the executioners. 'And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles.' (ch. viii. 1.) The blood of Stephen was the first that flowed, and it increased the cruelty and hatred of the adversaries of the Church a hundred-fold; persecution became sweet, and the Church at Jerusalem began to experience bitter trials. In this act of cruelty and bigotry Saul was peculiarly active; the name of Jesus was distasteful to him, and those who were his followers he hated with a savage hatred. His blind and furious zeal was most acceptable to the priesthood;

they wanted one who would carry out their wish of destroying the newly risen sect. And how often in after ages has his conduct been imitated, under pretence of doing God service! Look at the tens of thousands that papal Rome has murdered; the relentless bigotry wherewith she has followed all those who would be emancipated from her thraldom, and how continually she has sanctioned persecution for conscience sake. For, truly, men professing themselves followers of Jesus, and calling themselves Christians, have continually inflicted on their fellowcreatures injuries and cruelties which, at first, were practised by the heathen. But, though I could tell you much on this subject, and show you that what Popery was at first so she is now, unaltered and unalterable, we must rest here, and turn to the persecution spoken of in our chapter, which was raised by the unbelieving Jews, and at this time was confined to Jerusalem. But this trial, fearful as it was, was the means employed by the Great Head of the Church for the furtherance of his cause. Instead of the disciples remaining together in one place as heretofore, now they dispersed, and were scattered abroad throughout Judea and Samaria; whereby the glad tidings of the gospel again were heard, as well as the doctrine of the resurrection of the Redeemer, a theme they dwelt upon as confirmatory of the truth of his mission. From his own lips many in those parts had heard the glad tidings of the gospel-the gracious invitation to flee from the wrath to come : now those doctrines were repeated, and Judea and Samaria invited to accept them.

"The death of Stephen was greatly felt, for the loss of such a man could not easily be repaired; and, had the church been formed by natural power, such a dreadful example of determination on the part of the rulers would have speedily crushed it. But not so, the kingdom of Jesus is not of this world: upheld by his power, strengthened by his Spirit, guided by his providence, it ever will stand firm. No; not the gates of hell shall prevail against it, and the fury of all its enemies shall only be the means of causing it to keep closer to its Head, and making it more holy, more pure, more lovely."

"That is very true," said Mr. Lawrence; "it was in the midst of persecution the Church of Christ was cradled, and it is in this atmosphere she breathes the purest. It was in after ages, when Constantine the Roman emperor became a convert to the faith, and, consequently, all proceeded

smoothly, that the spirituality and holiness of the Church declined; errors crept in; and, while there was a great outward profession and show of religion, real godliness and the true doctrines of the gospel were lost; and out of these corruptions arose Popery, that deadly perversion of the word of God."

"Yes," replied Mr. C; "and when it gained the ascendancy it acted like Saul the persecutor, who made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison.' (Acts viii. 3.)

"Truly," said Mr. Basil, "we need only turn to the pages of history and see the exactness of the likeness: for thus has Popery acted ever since its rise; it has ever been a persecuting power; one of its tokens is that it is drunk with the blood of the saints. And when we recollect the fact, that from 1478 to 1517, thirteen thousand persons were burnt because they would not become papists, we learn at once that ignorance and bigotry ever produce persecution."

"Would that the same excuse could be made for these unhappy enemies of the truth as there was for Saul!" answered Mr. C. "He did it ignorantly, in unbelief; he thought that Jesus of Nazareth, the lowly babe who was regarded as the Son of Joseph and Mary, could not be the Messiah so long expected; he could not reconcile the Saviour's poverty and degraded state with his ideas of the grandeur that he, in common with the Jews, attached to the promised Emmanuel; therefore,' he said, I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.' (Acts xxvi. 9.) But not so with Popery and its followers. They voluntarily shut their eyes to the truth; they possess a Bible, but it is a corrupted version; their prayers are idolatrous; their practices sinful, covetous, superstitious and degrading. I could add much more, but I have only glanced at this great anti-Christian heresy in order to show you that where the Spirit of Jesus is not, there is confusion and every evil passion prevailing; and the acts of the bigoted persecutor, Saul, were only similar to what every blind and ignorant zealot has performed ever since.

"Now, let us follow Philip; he is the second mentioned of the seven deacons ; Stephen, you know, was the first, but his history is complete. To Samaria Philip directed his steps- And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and

seeing the miracles which he did.' (Acts viii. 6.) Yes, their minds were prepared to receive the word; the great Head of the Church first set the example as to whither they were to direct their steps, for he himself preached first in Jerusalem (see John ii. 13), then in Judea (chap. iii. 22), and then in Samaria. And this same course we find him commanding his disciples to pursue, saying to them, 'Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria ;'-these three firstand then, blessed be his name for adding, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' (Acts i. 8.) To us, therefore, has the word of salvation been sent, and may we treasure and lay it to heart; for the value of it is more precious than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it."

"It is very beautiful," observed Mrs. Basil, "to see the arrangement of mercy in the commands given to the disciples. It was a very short time before our Lord himself had been told that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans ;' and now, behold, just as he was ascending into heaven, he gives Samaria into the care of his people, and by the influence of his Spirit prepares the hearts of its inhabitants with one accord to attend to the preaching of his word."

C

"The whole plan of salvation, madam,” replied Mr. "is mercy and unmerited love. The merits or deservings of man are not thought of: all have sinned, all are equally vile; there is not one righteous to be found-no, not one; for the 'whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint;' therefore, those who look for human merits must be wofully disappointed, for, truly, man has nothing to recommend himself to a pure and holy God; and if he strives to render himself deserving the Divine favour, he is only making matters worse. No; it is for sinners Jesus died, the sick whom he came to heal, the naked to clothe, the wanderer and the outcast to seek and save.

"That is very true, sir," said Hyford; "surely I was just in the same state as these Samaritans when his mercy found me; I was in worse than ignorance respecting him-I was in enmity with him: for sincerely I despised, yes, I verily believe, hated all his people; and I used to try to call them hypocrites, and every name I could think of; but, somehow, the words died on my tongue, and I would feel ashamed of myself.