Keeping the Unity of the Spirit.
During the first twenty years of the Christian era, we find, as related in the Acts of the Apostles, circumstances arising which seriously imperiled the oneness of heart and soul which so happily marked believers at the beginning. The occasions were these:-
The murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews (chap. 6).
The gathering out of the church from amongst the Samaritans (chap. 8).
The conversion of the first Gentiles – Cornelius and his friends (chaps.10. & 11).
The controversy as to the law of Moses and the Gentiles (chap. 15).
In each case we see how the disruptive forces at work were checked and defeated, and a brief survey of them may not be without its usefulness to-day.
Two thing stand out prominently, and must be carefully distinguished: First, the divine wisdom that wrought providentially behind the scenes; second, the grace and wisdom of the apostles and early Christians, which was the human element in the case.
As to the former we can only notice it with admiration and pray that in the present days when disruption has been so sadly consummated, a like providence may yet be operative towards God’s saints. As to the latter, let us note and inwardly digest with exercised consciences, that at least we may learn how better to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4.3). We shall thereby prove afresh how these God-breathed Scriptures are profitable “for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
<< This month we will consider the first two>>
The Murmuring of the Grecians (Acts 6.).
All the disputants in the case were Jews nationally. The only differences were matters of upbringing and traditions. The Grecians or Greek-speaking Jews, whose ancestors had for long been outside the boundaries of Palestine, naturally had a different view of things from the Hebrew–speaking Jews, who had been carefully guarded in the land under the strictest regime. Suspicions, therefore, were easily excited and quickly expressed. The matter in question was wholly of a mundane order.
The workings of divine providence in this first case are not clearly manifested. The human side, however, is distinct enough. We would specify three things.
The apostles boldly tackled the difficulty as soon as it was apparent. They did not wish for it to spread and grow. “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”
They would not suffer themselves to be diverted from their great work of ministering the word by any such dissensions, but cast the responsibility of a godly settlement upon the whole body of saints.
The believers at large recognized it was an occasion to express and confirm their interest in these Grecians, who were more or less strangers in their midst, and hence chose as overseers men whose names indicate that they were mainly selected from the Greek-speaking section. Unselfishness triumphed. Suspicions were allayed.
The Work at Samaria (Acts 8.).
No dissension was actually manifest here. It was a case of prevention rather than cure. The antipathy between Jew and Samaritan was of long standing. Such scriptures as 2 Kings 17. 24-4l and John 4. enlighten us as to it. With these before us it is easy to see how Philip’s very successful evangelistic labours opened up a dangerous question. On the one hand, the church in Jerusalem might wish to repudiate any real connection with believers from amongst their despised rivals. On the other it would have been natural for the Samaritan church to have nursed its old feelings and refused to be in any way guided by the authority of the apostles at Jerusalem. In this way the scandal of division might early have appeared in the form of a Samaritan “church” and Jerusalem “church.”
In contrast with the first occasion, the main thing mentioned in this chapter is the divine workings in providence. Philip preached, multitudes believed and were baptized, but no Holy Spirit was given. The usual method of divine procedure was in this case suspended, and it was not until the two apostles came upon the scene, with prayer, and laying on of their hands – symbolic of the identification of the apostles and those they represented with the believers in Samaria – that the Holy Spirit was given. By this simple variation on God’s part it became out of the question for the Jewish saints to repudiate the Samaritan, or the Samaritan to declare their independence of the Jewish.
On the human side we have only to notice the fact that the apostles were subject to the divine leading. They did not attempt to give rein to natural prejudices by denouncing Philip as irregular in his proceedings, or seizing upon the absence of the gift of the Spirit as a reason for discounting, if not disowning, the whole work. They bowed to the sovereign grace of God and selected from their number to go to Samaria two who ranked amongst the very chief of the apostles, Peter and John.
F. B. Hole – Scripture Truth 1915