For some years the Apostles remained labouring amongst the people
of Antioch, but at length a trouble arose, through the disputing
of the Christian Jews.
It was very difficult to them to divest themselves of the idea,
that in the exact observance of the Mosaic law lay the one way of
justification and salvation.
It was very difficult, again, for them to believe that faith and
obedience to the law taught by Jesus Christ was sufficient
without the outward ceremonies to which they had been accustomed,
and which were peculiar to them as a nation.
{54}
When, therefore, the Christian Jews refused to communicate with
the Christian Gentiles until they submitted to the rites of the
old Hebrew law, SS. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem, there to
confer upon such matters with St. Peter, and SS. James and John.
St. Peter, as head of the Church, addressed the assembly first.
He told them that God had given His Holy Spirit to the Gentile as
well as to the Jew; nor did He require them to conform to the
Jewish customs as regarded meats, and drinks, and outward
ceremonies. When he had finished, both St. Paul and St. Barnabas
spoke in turn of their mission, and the success granted to their
labours.
{55}
St. James then addressed the assembly, and said that the Jews
could observe the customs in which they had been educated, but
that the Gentiles were not to do the same. They must seek to
abstain from idolatry.
The final decision of this first council, known as the Council of
Jerusalem, was, that the Gentile converts were only obliged to
abstain from meats offered in sacrifice, from blood and the flesh
of strangled animals, and also were to preserve purity of manners
as a distinctive mark of their connection with the Church of
Christ.
It was necessary to prohibit these converts from meats offered in
sacrifice, else they might easily have fallen back into paganism:
impurity was thought so lightly of by the un-christian, that it
was necessary to set a higher principle before them as a positive
law and obligation.
{56}
The prohibition against strangulated meats originated in the
consideration of what was healthful, while the prohibition from
blood had a still higher signification. While it continued to be
offered in the temple as a sacrifice to God, it must be reserved
wholly for sacred purposes.
The decision of the council was made known to the different
Churches, and SS. Paul and Barnabas were sent again to Antioch.
Paul soon began to think of visiting the Churches they had
established. "Let us return and visit our brethren in all the
cities wherein we have preached the word of the Lord, to see how
they do."
{57}
St. Barnabas agreed, but he wished to take his nephew John Mark
with them, for he also had come to Antioch. St. Paul objected.
John Mark had deserted them at Perga through fear of the
difficulties which lay before them, and it did not seem expedient
to take one who could not endure hardships for the love of
Christ.
Then--these two Apostles who had so long been united in God's
work could not agree upon this one point, and therefore they
parted company, Barnabas sailing for Cyprus, taking John Mark
with him, while St. Paul went to the Churches in Asia Minor,
having Silas for a helper. We see here that even Christ's own
Apostles were not perfectly free from those imperfections and
risings of human nature which men are prone to. Doubtless this
disagreement was permitted by God for their humiliation, and also
for the good of others in the wider diffusion of the Gospel,
through the separation of their work.
{58}
St. Paul first visited the Churches of Northern Syria, Cilicia,
and Lycaonia. At Lystra he was joined by the young Timothy, who
had a great desire to help in the missionary work. He was the son
of a Greek father and a Jewish mother, and believing that by
undergoing the old rite of circumcision he could more easily gain
access to the Jews, St. Paul desired him to submit to it.
With Silas in their company, these two messengers of God's truth
travelled on until they reached Troas, at which place St. Luke,
the physician and evangelist, joined them.
While they remained there a vision was sent to St. Paul in a
dream at night. It appeared that a man of Macedonia cried to him,
saying, "Pass over into Macedonia and help us."
{59}
From this the Apostle believed that God wished him to preach the
Gospel there, and therefore he embarked in a ship with his
companions, staying, on their first landing, at Philippi, the
chief city.
There was no synagogue in this place, for but a very few Jews
dwelt there; yet in a little quiet enclosed space by the
riverside, the true God was worshipped by a small assembly of
Christians, chiefly women. On the Sabbath the Apostles went to
preach to them.
One of the women was not of the people of Philippi; she was but
staying there while she tried to sell some of the richly-dyed
purple or scarlet cloth, which was so greatly prized at that time
for its brilliant colour.
{60}
Her name was Lydia, and she was not a Christian; but when from
the eloquent lips of St. Paul she heard the story of the
wonderful life, and still more wonderful death, of Jesus of
Nazareth, her heart opened to receive the truth, and she and all
her household were converted.
In that city of Philippi there was a female slave, through whom,
it was supposed, the pagan gods were accustomed to speak, and
therefore she managed to gain money for her owner by appearing to
foretell future events.
When this poor creature saw the Apostles going about the streets
of Philippi, she used to cry out, "These men are the servants of
the Most High God, who preach unto you the way of salvation."
{61}
One day as she uttered these words, St. Paul pitied her, and
pausing, said to the evil spirit which possessed her, "I command
thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out from her."
That Holy Name had power then as in later days, and in that same
hour the evil spirit departed from the poor slave, much to the
displeasure of her masters, who could now gain no more money by
the strange predictions of future things she had been accustomed
to utter.
In their rage they seized St. Paul and Silas and dragged them
before the magistrates, complaining that they disturbed the
public order by teaching unlawful customs to the people.
The Romans had a law which forbade the teaching of any new
religion unless it was one of which the government had already
approved. This law St. Paul had certainly broken, that he might
obey the higher law of God, but neither he nor his companions had
occasioned any disturbance in the city.
{62}
The magistrates made no attempt to discover the truth of the
complaint made to them, and seeing that the people were angrily
resolved on having the offenders punished, they ordered St. Paul
and Silas to be beaten.
The Jews, in scourging, were not permitted to inflict more than
thirty-nine blows, but the Romans used rods of elm, and gave many
more stripes, so that Paul and Silas were all bruised and
bleeding from the treatment they had received, when they were led
away to prison.
The gaoler had orders to keep them securely, and they were thrust
into the close inner prison with their feet fastened in stocks,
so that they were prevented from taking any rest.
{63}
During the night, the prisoners who were confined in another part
of the prison heard voices singing--singing God's praises from
the miserable dungeon. Suddenly, while the Apostles sang, an
earthquake shook the prison to its very foundations, every door
burst open, and the bands of every captive were loosed.
The keeper of the prison awoke from sleep, and when he saw what
had happened, and that the doors were open, he trembled with
fear, for he naturally believed that all the prisoners would have
escaped, and knew that his own life would be the forfeit.
Drawing his sword, he was about to kill himself. Death was
inevitable, so by his own hand he would die; but in this moment
of despair, the voice of St. Paul reached him. "Do thyself no
harm," said the Apostle, "for we are all here."
{64}
Calling for a light, the gaoler entered the dungeon. Yes, there
indeed were his prisoners; and falling down trembling and tearful
at their feet, he said, "Masters, what must I do to be saved?" It
was given him in that moment to know that the scourged,
imprisoned men before him were the servants and messengers of
Almighty God.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved and thy
house." That was what they had to tell him; and the gaoler took
them out of the dungeon and washed their wounds, and bringing
them to his own house, set food before them, and begged for
instruction in the Christian faith. Then, with all his family,
this man received the grace of Baptism; and when morning came, a
message was brought from the magistrates bidding the gaoler
release his prisoners.
{65}
But St. Paul said that they would not thus depart. They had been
scourged, they had been thrust into the dungeon without an
opportunity of proving their innocence, and he then declared
himself a citizen of Rome, requiring the magistrates to make
known that they had been wrongfully punished.
The authorities of the city were afraid when the Apostle's words
were repeated to them. To scourge a Roman citizen publicly and
uncondemned was a serious offence against Roman law. So, coming
to St. Paul and Silas, they acknowledged they had acted
unlawfully and entreated them to depart, which the Apostles did
after bidding farewell to their Christian friends in the house of
Lydia.
{66}
St. Luke, with Timothy, who had not been taken before the
magistrates, remained in the city to instruct the Philippian
Church more fully.
Travelling onwards many miles, Paul and Silas reached
Thessalonica, the city next in importance to Philippi, wherein
many Jews were living. At first they were disposed to listen to
the teaching of the Apostles, but hearing that the Gentiles were
to be equally partakers with themselves in the privileges and
graces offered, they began to murmur loudly and excite the anger
of the people, who cried out that the strange men were
proclaiming another to be king--Jesus the Nazarene--in the place
of the great Cæsar!
{67}
The mob went to the house of Jason, where the Apostles were
lodging, intending to seize them, but, as they were absent, Jason
himself was seized and brought before the magistrates, upon a
charge of having such persons at his house.
The magistrates made the Christians of the city and Jason also
promise that no further excitement and disturbance should occur,
so in the darkness and silence of night St. Paul and Silas had to
escape from Thessalonica.
They were not discouraged or daunted by this opposition to the
truths they preached, they sought only to obey the command of
their Master, Who had bidden them carry His Gospel to every
creature.
{68}
Another fifty miles of journeying, and they were at Berea. Here
they found more sympathy than they had met with in Thessalonica,
but their persecutors followed them into Berea, seeking to rouse
the malice of the unbelieving against the Apostles, so that those
who were Christians and loved St. Paul entreated him to escape,
and even went with him down to the sea-shore and saw him safely
embarked in a ship sailing for Athens.
Silas and Timothy had remained in Berea to instruct and confirm
the faithful there, so the Apostle Paul was alone in the
beautiful city of Athens, surrounded by glorious temples and
costly statues, and all the marks of civilisation of which it was
the centre. As he observed the gorgeous temples raised in honour
of every known pagan god, St. Paul felt a burning desire to
preach to the Athenians of the great Father in heaven, and Jesus
Christ, His eternal Son.
{69}
Going to the Jewish synagogue, he addressed the Jews assembled
there, and then went to the large square, called the Agora, in
which the market was held.
Here many people were in the habit of meeting to hear and to tell
news, and the Apostle had _his_ great, glorious news to
utter--the tidings of a Saviour born into the world, dying for
the world, risen from the grave, and ascended to the right hand
of God, the Father Almighty--which were unknown themes to the men
of Athens.
A flight of sixteen steps led from this Agora to Mars Hill, upon
which was built a temple in honour of Mars, god of war.
{70}
Here, too, was the great court of justice, called the Areopagus,
and the judges were the most learned men of Athens, who tried all
matters of government, and pronounced sentence upon criminals.
The Stoics and Epicureans led St. Paul here--to the supreme
tribunal--that he might speak about his God.
{71}