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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Acts VI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A C T S.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In this chapter we have,
I. The discontent that was among the disciples about the distribution
of the public charity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:1">ver. 1</A>.
II. The election and ordination of seven men, who should take care of
that matter, and ease the apostles of the burden,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:2-6">ver. 2-6</A>.
III. The increase of the church, by the addition of many to it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:7">ver. 7</A>.
IV. A particular account of Stephen, one of the seven.
1. His great activity for Christ,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:8">ver. 8</A>.
2. The opposition he met with from the enemies of Christianity, and his
disputes with them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:9,10">ver. 9, 10</A>.
3. The convening of him before the great sanhedrim, and the crimes laid
to his charge,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:11-14">ver. 11-14</A>.
4. God's owning him upon his trial,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:15">ver. 15</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Appointment of Deacons.</I></FONT></TD>
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was
multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the
Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily
ministration.
&nbsp; 2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples <I>unto
them,</I> and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word
of God, and serve tables.
&nbsp; 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of
honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may
appoint over this business.
&nbsp; 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the
ministry of the word.
&nbsp; 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip,
and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas
a proselyte of Antioch:
&nbsp; 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed,
they laid <I>their</I> hands on them.
&nbsp; 7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the
disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of
the priests were obedient to the faith.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Having seen the church's struggles with her enemies, and triumphed with
her in her victories, we now come to take a view of the administration
of her affairs at home; and here we have,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. An unhappy disagreement among some of the church-members, which
might have been of ill consequence, but was prudently accommodated and
taken up in time
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
<I>When the number of the disciples</I> (for so Christians were at
first called, learners of Christ) <I>was multiplied</I> to many
thousands in Jerusalem, <I>there arose a murmuring.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. It does our hearts good to find <I>that the number of the disciples
is multiplied,</I> as, no doubt, it vexed <I>the priests and
Sadducees</I> to the heart to see it. The opposition that the preaching
of the gospel met with, instead of checking its progress, contributed
to the success of it; and this infant Christian church, like the infant
Jewish church in Egypt, <I>the more it was afflicted, the more it
multiplied.</I> The preachers were beaten, threatened, and abused, and
yet the people received their doctrine, invited, no doubt, thereto by
their wonderful patience and cheerfulness under their trials, which
convinced men that they were borne up and carried on by a better spirit
than their own.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. Yet it casts a damp upon us to find that the multiplying of the
disciples proves an occasion of discord. Hitherto <I>they were all with
one accord.</I> This had been often taken notice of to their honour;
but now that they were multiplied, they began to murmur; as in the old
world, <I>when men began to multiply, they corrupted themselves. Thou
hast multiplied the nation, and not increased their joy,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:3">Isa. ix. 3</A>.
When Abraham and Lot increased their families, <I>there was a strife
between their herdsmen;</I> so it was here: <I>There arose a
murmuring,</I> not an open falling out, but a secret heart-burning.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) The complainants were <I>the Grecians,</I> or Hellenists,
<I>against the Hebrews</I>--the Jews that were scattered in Greece, and
other parts, who ordinarily spoke the Greek tongue, and read the Old
Testament in the Greek version, and not the original Hebrew, many of
whom being at Jerusalem at the feast embraced the faith of Christ, and
were added to the church, and so continued there. These complained
against the Hebrews, the native Jews, that used the original Hebrew of
the Old Testament. Some of each of these became Christians, and, it
seems, their joint-embracing of the faith of Christ did not prevail, as
it ought to have done, to extinguish the little jealousies they had one
of another before their conversion, but they retained somewhat of that
old leaven; not understanding, or not remembering, <I>that in Christ
Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew,</I> no distinction of Hebrew and
Hellenist, but all are alike welcome to Christ, and should be, for his
sake, dear to one another.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) The complaint of these Grecians was <I>that their widows were
neglected in the daily administration,</I> that is in the distribution
of the public charity, and the Hebrew widows had more care taken of
them. Observe, The first contention in the Christian church was about a
money-matter; but it is a pity <I>that the little things of this
world</I> should be makebates among those that profess to be taken up
with <I>the great things of another world.</I> A great deal of money
was gathered for the relief of the poor, but, as often happens in such
cases, it was impossible to please every body in the laying of it out.
<I>The apostles, at whose feet it was laid,</I> did their best to
dispose of it so as to answer the intentions of the donors, and no
doubt designed to do it with the utmost impartiality, and were far from
respecting the Hebrews more than the Grecians; and yet here they are
complained to, and tacitly complained of, <I>that the Grecian widows
were neglected;</I> though they were as real objects of charity, yet
they had not so much allowed them, or not to so many, or not so duly
paid them, as the Hebrews. Now,
[1.] Perhaps this complaint was groundless and unjust, and there was no
cause for it; but those who, upon any account, lie under disadvantages
(as the Grecian Jews did, in comparison with those that were Hebrews of
the Hebrews) are apt to be jealous that they are slighted when really
they are not so; and it is the common fault of poor people that,
instead of being thankful for what is given them, they are querulous
and clamorous, and apt to find fault that more is not given them, or
that more is given to others than to them; and there are envy and
covetousness, those roots of bitterness, to be found among the poor as
well as among the rich, notwithstanding the humbling providences they
are under, and should accommodate themselves to. But,
[2.] We will suppose there might be some occasion for their complaint.
<I>First,</I> Some suggest that though their other poor were well
provided for, yet their widows were neglected, because the managers
governed themselves by an ancient rule which the Hebrews observed,
<I>that a widow was to be maintained by her husband's children.</I> See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:4">1 Tim. v. 4</A>.
But, <I>Secondly,</I> I take it that the widows are here put for all
the poor, because many of those that were in the church-book, and
received alms, were widows, who were well provided for by the industry
of their husbands while they lived, but were reduced to straits when
they were gone. As those that have the administration of public justice
ought in a particular manner to protect widows from injury
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:17,Lu+18:3">Isa. i. 17; Luke xviii. 3</A>);
so those that have the administration of public charity ought in a
particular manner to provide for widows what is necessary. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:3">1 Tim. v. 3</A>.
And observe, The widows here, and the other poor, had a daily
ministration; perhaps they wanted forecast, and could not save for
hereafter, and therefore the managers of the fund, in kindness to them,
gave them day by day their daily bread; they lived from hand to mouth.
Now, it seems, the Grecian widows were, comparatively, neglected.
Perhaps those that disposed of the money considered that there was more
brought into the fund by the rich Hebrews than by the rich Grecians,
who had not estates to sell, as the Hebrews had, and therefore the poor
Grecians should have less out of the fund; this, though there was some
tolerant reason for it, they thought hard and unfair. Note, In the
best-ordered church in the world there will be something amiss, some
mal--administration or other, some grievances, or at least some
complaints; those are the best that have the least and the fewest.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The happy accommodating of this matter, and the expedient pitched
upon for the taking away of the cause of this murmuring. The apostles
had hitherto the directing of the matter. Applications were made to
them, and appeals in cases of grievances. They were obliged to employ
persons under them, who did not take all the care they might have
taken, nor were so well fortified as they should have been against
temptations to partiality; and therefore some persons must be chosen to
manage this matter who have more leisure to attend to it than the
apostles had, and were better qualified for the trust than those whom
the apostles employed were. Now observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. How the method was proposed by the apostles: They <I>called the
multitude of the disciples unto them,</I> the heads of the
congregations of Christians in Jerusalem, the principal leading men.
The twelve themselves would not determine any thing without them, for
<I>in multitude of counsellors there is safety;</I> and in an affair of
this nature those might be best able to advise who were more conversant
in the affairs of this life than the apostles were.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) The apostles urge that they could by no means admit so great a
diversion, as this would be, from their great work
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
<I>It is not reasonable that we should leave the word of God and serve
tables.</I> The receiving and paying of money was serving tables, too
like <I>the tables of the money-changers in the temple.</I> This was
foreign to the business which the apostles were called to. They were
<I>to preach the word of God;</I> and though they had not such occasion
to study for what they preached as we have (it being <I>given in that
same hour what they should speak</I>), yet they thought that was work
enough for a whole man, and to employ all their thoughts, and cares,
and time, though one man of them was more than ten of us, <I>than ten
thousand.</I> If they serve tables, they must, in some measure,
<I>leave the word of God;</I> they could not attend their preaching
work so closely as they ought. <I>Pectora nostra duas non admittentia
curas--These minds of ours admit not of two distinct anxious
employments.</I> Though this serving of tables was for pious uses, and
serving the charity of rich Christians and the necessity of poor
Christians, and in both serving Christ, yet the apostles would not take
so much time from their preaching as this would require. They will no
more be drawn from their preaching by the money laid at their feet than
they will be driven from it by the stripes laid on their backs. While
the number of the disciples was small, the apostles might manage this
matter without making it any considerable interruption to their main
business; but, now that their number was increased, they could not do
it. <I>It is not reason,</I> <B><I>ouk areston estin</I></B>--<I>it is
not fit,</I> or commendable, that we should neglect the business of
feeding souls with the bread of life, to attend the business of
relieving the bodies of the poor. Note, Preaching the gospel is the
best work, and the most proper and needful that a minister can be
employed in, and that which he must give himself wholly to
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+4:15">1 Tim. iv. 15</A>),
which that he may do, he must not entangle himself in the affairs of
this life
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+2:4">2 Tim. ii. 4</A>),
no, not in the outward business of the house of God,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+11:16">Neh. xi. 16</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) They therefore desire <I>that seven men</I> might be chosen, well
qualified for the purpose, whose business it should be <I>to serve
tables,</I> <B><I>diakonein trapezais</I></B>--<I>to be deacons to the
tables,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
The business must be minded, must be better minded than it had been,
and than the apostles could mind it; and therefore proper persons must
be occasionally employed in the word, and prayer, were not so entirely
devoted to it as the apostles were; and these must take care of the
church's stock--must review, and pay, and keep accounts--must <I>buy
those things which they had need of against the feast</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:29">John xiii. 29</A>),
and attend to all those things which are necessary <I>in ordine ad
spiritualia--in order to spiritual exercises,</I> that every thing
might be done decently and in order, and no person nor thing neglected.
Now,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[1.] The persons must be duly qualified. The people are to choose, and
the apostles to ordain; but the people have no authority to choose, nor
the apostles to ordain, men utterly unfit for the office: <I>Look out
seven men;</I> so many they thought might suffice for the present, more
might be added afterwards if there were occasion. These must be,
<I>First, Of honest report,</I> men free from scandal, that were looked
upon by their neighbours as men of integrity, and faithful men, well
attested, as men that might be trusted, not under a blemish for any
vice, but, on the contrary, well spoken of for every thing that is
virtuous and praiseworthy; <B><I>martyroumenous</I></B>--<I>men that can
produce good testimonials</I> concerning their conversation. Note,
Those that are employed in any office in the church ought to be men of
honest report, of a blameless, nay, of an admirable character, which is
requisite not only to the credit of their office, but to the due
discharge of it. <I>Secondly,</I> They must be <I>full of the Holy
Ghost,</I> must be filled with those gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost
which were necessary to the right management of this trust. They must
not only be honest men, but they must be men of ability and men of
courage; such as were to be made judges in Israel
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+18:21">Exod. xviii. 21</A>),
<I>able men, fearing God; men of truth, and hating covetousness;</I>
and hereby appearing to be <I>full of the Holy Ghost. Thirdly,</I> They
must be <I>full of wisdom.</I> It was not enough that they were honest,
good men, but they must be discreet, judicious men, that could not be
imposed upon, and would order things for the best, and with
consideration: <I>full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom,</I> that is, of
the Holy Ghost as a Spirit of wisdom. We find the word of wisdom given
by the Spirit, as distinct form the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:8">1 Cor. xii. 8</A>.
Those must be full of wisdom who are entrusted with public money, that
it may be disposed of, not only with fidelity, but with frugality.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[2.] The people must nominate the persons: "<I>Look you out among
yourselves seven men;</I> consider among yourselves who are the fittest
for such a trust, and whom you can with the most satisfaction confide
in." They might be presumed to know better, or at least were fitter to
enquire, what character men had, than the apostles; and therefore they
are entrusted with the choice.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
[3.] They apostles will ordain them to the service, will give them
their charge, that they may know what they have to do and make
conscience of doing it, and give them their authority, that the persons
concerned may know whom they are to apply to, and submit to, in affairs
of that nature: <I>Men, whom we may appoint.</I> In many editions of
our English Bibles there has been an error of the press here; for they
have read it, <I>whom ye may appoint,</I> as if the power were in the
people; whereas it was certainly in the apostles: <I>whom we may
appoint over this business,</I> to take care of it, and to see that
there be neither waste nor want.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(3.) The apostles engage to addict themselves wholly to their work as
ministers, and the more closely if they can but get fairly quit of this
troublesome office
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
<I>We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of
the word.</I> See here,
[1.] What are the two great gospel ordinances--<I>the word, and
prayer;</I> by these two communion between God and his people is kept
up and maintained; by the word he speaks to them, and by prayer they
speak to him; and these have a mutual reference to each other. By these
two the kingdom of Christ must be advanced, and additions made to it;
we must <I>prophesy upon the dry bones,</I> and <I>then pray for a
spirit of life</I> from God <I>to enter into them.</I> By the word and
prayer other ordinances are sanctified to us, and sacraments have their
efficacy.
[2.] What is the great business of gospel ministers--to give themselves
continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word; they must still
be either fitting and furnishing themselves for those services, or
employing themselves in them; either publicly or privately; in the
stated times, or out of them. They must be God's mouth to the people in
the ministry of the word, and the people's mouth to God in prayer. In
order to the conviction and conversion of sinners, and the edification
and consolation of saints, we must not only offer up our prayers for
them, but we must minister the word to them, seconding our prayers with
our endeavours, in the use of appointed means. Nor must we only
minister the word to them, but we must pray for them, that it may be
effectual; for God's grace can do all without our preaching, but our
preaching can do nothing without God's grace. The apostles were endued
with extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, tongues and miracles; and
yet that to which they gave themselves continually was preaching and
praying, by which they might edify the church: and those ministers,
without doubt, are the successors of the apostles (not in the plenitude
of the apostolical power--those are daring usurpers who pretend to
this, but in the best and most excellent of the apostolical works) who
give themselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word;
and such Christ will always be with, <I>even to the end of the
world.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. How this proposal was agreed to, and presently put in execution, by
the disciples. It was not imposed upon them by an absolute power,
though they might have been bold in Christ to do this
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Phile+1:8">Philem. 8</A>),
but proposed, as that which was highly convenient, and <I>then the
saying pleased the whole multitude,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
It pleased them to see the apostles so willing to have themselves
discharged from intermeddling in secular affairs, and to transmit them
to others; it pleased them to hear that they would give themselves to
the word and prayer; and therefore they neither disputed the matter nor
deferred the execution of it.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) They pitched upon the persons. It is not probable that they all
cast their eye upon the same men. Everyone had his friend, whom he
thought well of. But the majority of votes fell upon the persons here
named; and the rest both of the candidates and the electors acquiesced,
and made no disturbance, as the members of societies in such cases
ought to do. An apostle, who was an extraordinary officer, was chosen
by lot, which is more immediately the act of God; but the overseers of
the poor were chosen by the suffrage of the people, in which yet a
regard is to be had to the providence of God, who has all men's hearts
and tongues in his hand. We have a list of the persons chosen. Some
think they were such as were before of the seventy disciples; but this
is not likely, for they were ordained by Christ himself, long since,
<I>to preach the gospel;</I> and there was not more reason that they
should leave the word of God to serve tables than that the apostles
should. It is therefore more probable that they were of those that were
converted since the pouring out of the Spirit; for it was promised to
all that would be baptized that they should <I>receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost;</I> and the gift, according to that promise, is that
fulness of the Holy Ghost which was required in those that were to be
chosen to this service. We may further conjecture, concerning these
seven,
[1.] That they were such as had sold their estates, and brought the
money into the common stock; for <I>c&aelig;teris paribus--other things
being equal,</I> those were fittest to be entrusted with the
distribution of it who had been most generous in the contribution to
it.
[2.] That these seven were all of the Grecian or Hellenist Jews, for
they have all Greek names, and this would be most likely <I>to silence
the murmurings of the Grecians</I> (which occasioned this institution),
to have the trust lodged in those that were foreigners, like
themselves, who would be sure not to neglect them. <I>Nicolas,</I> it
is plain, was one of them, for he was <I>a proselyte of Antioch;</I>
and some think the manner of expression intimates that they were all
proselytes of Jerusalem, as he was of Antioch. The first named is
<I>Stephen,</I> the glory of these <I>septemviri, a man full of faith
and of the Holy Ghost;</I> he had a strong faith in the doctrine of
Christ, and was full of it above most; <I>full of fidelity, full of
courage</I> (so some), for he was <I>full of the Holy Ghost,</I> of his
gifts and graces. He was an extraordinary man, and excelled in every
thing that was good; his name signifies <I>a crown. Phillip</I> is put
next, because he, having <I>used this office of a deacon well, thereby
obtained a good degree,</I> and was afterwards ordained to the office
of an evangelist, a companion and assistant to the apostles, for so he
is expressly called,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:8"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 8</A>.
Compare
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:11">Eph. iv. 11</A>.
And his preaching and baptizing (which we read of
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:12"><I>ch.</I> viii. 12</A>)
were certainly not as a deacon (for it is plain that that office was
<I>serving tables,</I> in opposition <I>to the ministry of the
word</I>), but as an evangelist; and, when he was preferred to that
office, we have reason to think he quitted this office, as incompatible
with that. As for <I>Stephen,</I> nothing we find done by him proves
him to be a preacher of the gospel; for he only disputes in the
schools, and pleads for his life at the bar,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:9,7:2"><I>v.</I> 9, and <I>ch.</I> vii. 2</A>.
The last named is <I>Nicolas,</I> who, some say, afterwards degenerated
(as the Judas among these seven) and was the founder of <I>the sect of
the Nicolaitans</I> which we read of
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+2:6,15">Rev. ii. 6, 15</A>),
and which Christ there says, once and again, was a thing he hated. But
some of the ancients clear him from this charge, and tell us that,
though that vile impure sect denominated themselves from him, yet it
was unjustly, and because he only insisted much upon it <I>that those
that had wives should be as though they had none,</I> thence they
wickedly inferred <I>that those that had wives should have them in
common,</I> which therefore Tertullian, when he speaks of the community
of goods, particularly excepts: <I>Omnia indiscreta apud nos,
pr&aelig;ter uxores--All things are common among us, except our
wives.</I>--Apol. cap, 39.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) The apostles appointed them to this work of serving tables for the
present,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
The people presented them to the apostles, who approved their choice,
and ordained them.
[1.] They prayed with them, and for them, that God would give them more
and more of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom--that he would qualify them
for the service to which they were called, and own them in it, and make
them thereby a blessing to the church, and particularly to the poor of
the flock. All that are employed in the service of the church ought to
be committed to the conduct of the divine grace by the prayers of the
church.
[2.] <I>They laid their hands on them,</I> that is, <I>they blessed
them in the name of the Lord,</I> for laying on hands was used in
blessing; so <I>Jacob blessed both the sons of Joseph;</I> and, without
controversy, <I>the less is blessed of the greater</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:7">Heb. vii. 7</A>);
the deacons are blessed by the apostles, and the overseers of the poor
by the pastors of the congregation. Having by prayer implored a
blessing upon them, they did by the laying on of hands assure them that
the blessing was conferred in answer to the prayer; and this was giving
them authority to execute that office, and laying an obligation upon
the people to be observant of them therein.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. The advancement of the church hereupon. When things were thus put
into good order in the church (grievances were redressed and
discontents silenced) then religion got ground,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
1. <I>The word of God increased.</I> Now that the apostles resolved to
stick more closely than ever to their preaching, it spread the gospel
further, and brought it home with the more power. Ministers
disentangling themselves from secular employments, and addicting
themselves entirely and vigorously to their work, will contribute very
much, as a means, to the success of the gospel. The word of God is said
to increase as the seed sown increases when it comes up again thirty,
sixty, a hundred fold.
2. Christians became numerous: <I>The number of the disciples
multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.</I> When Christ was upon earth, his
ministry had least success in Jerusalem; yet now that city affords most
converts. God has his remnant even in the worst of places.
3. <I>A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Then</I> is the word and grace of God greatly magnified when those are
wrought upon by it that were least likely, as the priests here, who
either had opposed it, or at least were linked in with those that had.
The priests, whose preferments arose from the law of Moses, were yet
willing to let them go for the gospel of Christ; and, it should seem,
they came <I>in a body;</I> many of them agreed together, for the
keeping up of one another's credit, and the strengthening of one
another's hands, to join at once in giving up their names to Christ:
<B><I>polis ochlos</I></B>--<I>a great crowd of priests</I> were, by
the grace of God helped over their prejudices, and <I>were obedient to
the faith,</I> so their conversion is described.
(1.) They embraced the doctrine of the gospel; their understandings
were captivated to the power of the truths of Christ, and every
opposing objecting thought brought into obedience to him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+10:4,5">2 Cor. x. 4, 5</A>.
The gospel is said to be <I>made known for the obedience of
faith,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:26">Rom. xvi. 26</A>.
Faith is an act of obedience, for this is God's commandment, <I>that we
believe,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:23">1 John iii. 23</A>.
(2.) They evinced the sincerity of their believing the gospel of
Christ by a cheerful compliance with all the rules and precepts of the
gospel. The design of the gospel is to refine and reform our hearts and
lives; faith gives law to us, and we must be obedient to it.</P>
<A NAME="Ac6_8"> </A>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Stephen's Address.</I></FONT></TD>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and
miracles among the people.
&nbsp; 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called
<I>the synagogue</I> of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and
Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with
Stephen.
&nbsp; 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit
by which he spake.
&nbsp; 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and <I>against</I> God.
&nbsp; 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the
scribes, and came upon <I>him,</I> and caught him, and brought <I>him</I>
to the council,
&nbsp; 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not
to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
&nbsp; 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall
destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses
delivered us.
&nbsp; 15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Stephen, no doubt was diligent and faithful in the discharge of his
office as distributor of the church's charity, and laid out himself to
put that affair in a good method, which he did to universal
satisfaction; and though it appears here that he was a man of uncommon
gifts, and fitted for a higher station, yet, being called to that
office, he did not think it below him to do the duty of it. And, being
faithful in a little, he was entrusted with more; and, though we do not
find him propagating the gospel by preaching and baptizing, yet we find
him here called out to very honourable services, and owned in them.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. He proved the truth of the gospel, by working miracles in Christ's
name,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
1. He was <I>full of faith and power,</I> that is, of a strong faith,
by which he was enabled to do great things. Those that are full of
faith are full of power, because by faith the power of God is engaged
for us. His faith did so fill him that it left no room for unbelief and
made room for the influences of divine grace, so that, as the prophet
speaks, he was <I>full of power by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+3:8">Mic. iii. 8</A>.
By faith we are emptied of self, and so are filled with Christ, who is
the <I>wisdom of God and the power of God.</I>
2. Being so <I>he did great wonders and miracles among the people,</I>
openly, and in the sight of all; for Christ's miracles feared not the
strictest scrutiny. It is not strange that Stephen, though he was not
a preacher by office, did these great wonders, for we find that these
were distinct gifts of the Spirit, and divided severally, for <I>to one
was given the working of miracles, and to another prophecy,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:10,11">1 Cor. xii. 10, 11</A>.
And <I>these signs followed</I> not only those that preached, but those
that believed.
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+16:17">Mark xvi. 17</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. He pleaded the cause of Christianity against those that opposed it,
and argued against it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>);
he served the interests of religion as a disputant, in the high places
of the field, while others were serving them as vinedressers and
husbandmen.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. We are here told who were his opponents,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
They were Jews, but Hellenist Jews, Jews of the dispersion, who seem to
have been more zealous for their religion than the native Jews; it was
with difficulty that they retained the practice and profession of it in
the country where they lived, where they were as speckled birds, and
not without great expense and toil that they kept up their attendance
at Jerusalem, and this made them more active sticklers for Judaism than
those were whose profession of their religion was cheap and easy. They
were <I>of the synagogue which is called the synagogue of the
Libertines;</I> the Romans called those <I>Liberti,</I> or
<I>Libertini,</I> who either, being foreigners, were naturalized, or,
being slaves by birth, were manumitted, or made freemen. Some think
that these Libertines were such of the Jews as had obtained the Roman
freedom, as Paul had
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:27,28"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 27, 28</A>);
and it is probable that he was the most forward man of this synagogue
of the Libertines in disputing with Stephen, and engaged others in the
dispute, for we find him busy in the stoning of Stephen, and consenting
to his death. There were others that belonged to the synagogue of the
Cyrenians and Alexandrians, of which synagogue the Jewish writers
speak; and others that belonged to their synagogue who were of Cilicia
and Asia; and if Paul, as a freeman of Rome, did not belong to the
synagogue of the Libertines, he belonged to this, as a native of
Tarsus, a city of Cilicia: it is probable that he might be a member of
both. The Jews that were born in other countries, and had concerns in
them, had frequent occasion, not only to resort to, but to reside in,
Jerusalem. Each nation had its synagogue, as in London there are
French, and Dutch, and Danish churches: and those synagogues were the
schools to which the Jews of those nations sent their youth to be
educated in the Jewish learning. Now those that were tutors and
professors in these synagogues, seeing the gospel grow, and the rulers
conniving at the growth of it, and fearing what would be the
consequence of it to the Jewish religion, which they were jealous for,
being confident of the goodness of their cause, and their own
sufficiency to manage it, would undertake to run down Christianity by
force of argument. It was a fair and rational way of dealing with it,
and what religion is always ready to admit. <I>Produce your cause,
saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:21">Isa. xli. 21</A>.
But why did they dispute with Stephen? And why not with the apostles
themselves?
(1.) Some think because they despised the apostles as <I>unlearned and
ignorant men,</I> whom they thought it below them to engage with; but
Stephen was bred a scholar, and they thought it their honour to meddle
with their match.
(2.) Others think it was because they stood in awe of the apostles, and
could not be so free and familiar with them as they could be with
Stephen, who was in an inferior office.
(3.) Perhaps, they having given a public challenge, Stephen was chosen
and appointed by the disciples to be their champion; for it was not
meet that the apostles should leave the preaching of the word of God to
engage in controversy. Stephen, who was only a deacon in the church,
and a very sharp young man, of bright parts, and better qualified to
deal with wrangling disputants than the apostles themselves, was
appointed to this service. Some historians say that Stephen had been
bred up at the feet of Gamaliel, and that Saul and the rest of them set
upon him as a deserter, and with a particular fury made him their mark.
(4.) It is probable that they disputed with Stephen because he was
zealous to argue with them and convince them, and this was the service
to which God had called him.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. We are here told how he carried the point in this dispute
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
<I>They were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he
spoke.</I> They could neither support their own arguments nor answer
his. He proved by such irresistible arguments that Jesus is the Christ,
and delivered himself with so much clearness and fulness that they had
nothing to object against what he said; though they were not convinced,
yet they were confounded. It is not said, They were not able to resist
him, but, They were not able to resist the <I>wisdom and the Spirit by
which he spoke,</I> that Spirit of wisdom which spoke by him. Now was
fulfilled that promise, <I>I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all
your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:15">Luke xxi. 15</A>.
They thought they had only disputed with Stephen, and could make their
part good with him; but they were disputing with the Spirit of God in
him, for whom they were an unequal match.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. At length, he sealed it with his blood; so we shall find he did in
the next chapter; here we have some steps taken by his enemies towards
it. When they could not answer his arguments as a disputant, they
prosecuted him as a criminal, and suborned witnesses against him, to
swear blasphemy upon him. "On such terms (saith Mr. Baxter here) do we
dispute with malignant men. And it is next to a miracle of providence
that no greater number of religious persons have been murdered in the
world, by the way of perjury and pretence of law, when so many
thousands hate them who make no conscience of false oaths." They
suborned men, that is, instructed them what to say, and then hired them
to swear it. They were the more enraged against him because he had
proved them to be in the wrong, and shown them the right way; for which
they ought to have given him their best thanks. <I>Was he therefore
become their enemy, because he told them the truth,</I> and proved it
to be so? Now let us observe here,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. How with all possible art and industry they incensed both the
government and the mob against him, that, if they could not prevail by
the one, they might by the other
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
<I>They stirred up the people</I> against him, that, if the sanhedrim
should still think fit (according to Gamaliel's advice) to let him
alone, yet they might run him down by a popular rage and tumult; they
also found means to stir up the elders and scribes against him, that,
if the people should countenance and protect him, they might prevail by
authority. Thus they doubted not but to gain their point, when then had
two strings to their bow.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. How they got him to the bar: <I>They came upon him,</I> when he
little thought of it, <I>and caught him and brought him to the
council.</I> They came upon him in a body, and flew upon him as a lion
upon his prey; so the word signifies. By their rude and violent
treatment of him, they would represent him, both to the people, and to
the government, as a dangerous man, that would either flee from justice
if he were not watched, or fight with it if he were not put under a
force. Having caught him, they brought him triumphantly into the
council, and, as it should seem, so hastily that he had none of his
friends with him. They had found, when they brought many together, that
they emboldened one another, and strengthened one another's hands; and
therefore they will try how to deal with them singly.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. How they were prepared with evidence ready to produce against him.
They were resolved that they would not be run a-ground, as they were
when they brought our Saviour upon his trial, and then had to seek for
witnesses. These were got ready beforehand, and were instructed to make
oath that they had <I>heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses
and against God</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
--against this <I>holy place and the law</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
for they heard him say what Jesus would do to their place and their
customs,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
It is probable that he had said something to that purport; and yet
those who swore it against him are called <I>false witnesses,</I>
because, though there was something of truth in their testimony, yet
they put a wrong and malicious construction upon what he had said, and
perverted it. Observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) What was the general charge exhibited against him--that he <I>spoke
blasphemous words;</I> and, to aggravate the matter, "He <I>ceases not
to speak blasphemous words;</I> it is his common talk, his discourse in
all companies; wheresoever he comes, he makes it his business to instil
his notions into all he converses with." It intimates likewise
something of contumacy and contempt of admonition. "He has been warned
against it, and yet ceases not to talk at this rate." Blasphemy is
justly reckoned a heinous crime (to speak contemptibly and
reproachfully of God our Maker), and therefore Stephen's persecutors
would be thought to have a deep concern upon them for the honour of
God's name, and to do this in a jealousy for that. As it was with the
confessors and martyrs of the Old Testament, so it was with those of
the New--their brethren that hated them, and cast them out, said, <I>Let
the Lord be glorified;</I> and pretended they did him service in it. He
is said to have spoken blasphemous words <I>against Moses and against
God.</I> Thus far they were right, that those who blaspheme Moses (if
they meant the writings of Moses, which were given by inspiration of
God) blaspheme God himself. Those that speak reproachfully of the
scriptures, and ridicule them, reflect upon God himself, and do despite
to him. His great intention is to <I>magnify the law and make it
honourable;</I> those therefore that vilify the law, and make it
contemptible, blaspheme his name; for he has <I>magnified his word
above all his name.</I> But did Stephen blaspheme Moses? By no means,
he was far from it. Christ, and the preachers of his gospel, never said
any thing that looked like blaspheming Moses; they always quoted his
writings with respect, appealed to them, and said no other things than
what Moses said should come; very unjustly therefore is Stephen
indicted for blaspheming Moses. But,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) Let us see how this charge is supported and made out; why, truly,
when the thing was to be proved, all they can charge him with is that
<I>he hath spoken blasphemous words against this holy place and the
law;</I> and this must be deemed and taken as blasphemy against Moses
and against God himself. Thus does the charge dwindle when it comes to
the evidence.
[1.] He is charged with blaspheming <I>this holy place.</I> Some
understand this of the city of Jerusalem, which was the holy city, and
which they had a mighty jealousy for. But it is rather meant of the
temple, that holy house. Christ was condemned as a blasphemer for words
which were thought to reflect upon the temple, which they seemed
concerned for the honour of, even when they by their wickedness had
profaned it.
[2.] He is charged with blaspheming <I>the law,</I> of which they
<I>made their boast,</I> and in which they put their trust, when
through <I>breaking the law they dishonoured God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:23">Rom. ii. 23</A>.
Well, but how can they make this out? Why, here the charge dwindles
again; for all they can accuse him of is that <I>they had</I>
themselves <I>heard him say</I> (but how it came in, or what
explication he gave to if, they think not themselves bound to give
account) that this <I>Jesus of Nazareth,</I> who was so much talked of,
<I>shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses
delivered to us.</I> He could not be charged with having said any thing
to the disparagement either of the temple or of the law. The priests
had themselves profaned the temple, by making it not only a house of
merchandise, but a den of thieves; yet they would be thought zealous
for the honour of it, against one that had never said any thing amiss
of it, but had attended it more as a house of prayer, according to the
true intention of it, than they had. Nor had he ever reproached the law
as they had. But, <I>First,</I> He had said, <I>Jesus of Nazareth shall
destroy this place,</I> destroy the temple, destroy Jerusalem. It is
probable that he might say so; and what blasphemy was it against the
holy place to say that it should not be perpetual any more than Shiloh
was, and that the just and holy God would not continue the privileges
of his sanctuary to those that abused them? Had not the prophets given
the same warning to their fathers of the destruction of that holy place
by the Chaldeans? Nay, when the temple was first built, had not God
himself given the same warning: <I>This house, which is high, shall be
an astonishment,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+7:21">2 Chron. vii. 21</A>.
And is he a blasphemer, then, who tells them that Jesus of Nazareth, if
they continue their opposition to him, will bring a just destruction
upon their place and nation, and they may thank themselves? Those
wickedly abuse their profession of religion who, under colour of that,
call the reproofs given them for their disagreeable conversations
blasphemous reflections upon their religion. <I>Secondly,</I> He had
said, <I>This Jesus shall change the customs which Moses delivered to
us.</I> And it was expected that in the days of the Messiah they should
be changed, and that the shadows should be done away when the substance
was come; yet this was no essential change of the law, but the
perfecting of it. <I>Christ came, not to destroy,</I> but to fulfil,
the law; and, if he changed some customs that Moses delivered, it was
to introduce and establish those that were much better; and if the
Jewish church had not obstinately refused to come into this new
establishment, and adhered to the ceremonial law, for aught I know
<I>their place</I> had not been destroyed; so that for putting them
into a certain way to prevent their destruction, and for giving them
certain notice of their destruction if they did not take that way, he
is accused as a blasphemer.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. We are here told how God owned him when he was brought before the
council, and made it to appear that he stood by him
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
<I>All that sat in the council,</I> the priests, scribes, and elders,
<I>looking stedfastly on him,</I> being a stranger, and one they had
not yet had before them, <I>saw his face as it had been the face of an
angel.</I> It is usual for judges to observe the countenance of the
prisoner, which sometimes is an indication either of guilt or
innocence. Now Stephen appeared at the bar with the countenance <I>as
of an angel.</I>
1. Perhaps it intimates no more than that he had an extraordinarily
pleasant, cheerful countenance, and there was not in it the least sign
either of fear for himself or anger at his persecutors. He looked as
if he had never been better pleased in his life than he was now when he
was called out to bear his testimony to the gospel of Christ, thus
publicly, and stood fair for the crown of martyrdom. Such an
undisturbed serenity, such an undaunted courage, and such an
unaccountable mixture of mildness and majesty, there was in his
countenance, that every one said he looked like an angel; enough surely
to convince the Sadducees that there are angels, when they saw before
their eyes an incarnate angel.
2. It should rather seem that there was a miraculous splendour and
brightness upon his countenance, like that of our Saviour when he was
transfigured--or, at least, that of Moses when he came down from the
mount--God designing thereby to put honour upon his faithful witness
and confusion upon his persecutors and judges, whose sin would be
highly aggravated, and would be indeed a rebellion against the light,
if, notwithstanding this, they proceeded against him. Whether he
himself knew that the skin of his face shone or no we are not told; but
<I>all that sat in the council saw it,</I> and probably took notice of
it to one another, and an arrant shame it was that when they saw, and
could not but see by it that he was owned of God, they did not call him
from standing at the bar to sit in the chief seat upon the bench.
Wisdom and holiness make a man's face to shine, and yet these will not
secure men from the greatest indignities; and no wonder, when the
shining of Stephen's face could not be his protection; though it had
been easy to prove that if he had been guilty of putting any dishonour
upon Moses God would not thus have put Moses's honour upon him.</P>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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