ration of the
Holy Ghost, a fulfilment of our Blessed Lord's promise to His
Church[48], and a Divine commentary on Old Testament History, showing
that God's mercies were not restrained to any particular place or
country, and upbraiding the Jews with their abuse of their many
privileges and their rejection of the Saviour. But the words of this
first Christian "Apology against Judaism" fell for the time on
unheeding ears; and its only present apparent result was the violent
and yet triumphant death of him who had been chosen to utter it.
[Sidenote: His blessed martyrdom.] Beneath the stoning of the enraged
multitude, the First Martyr "fell asleep," blessed in his last moments
with a foretaste of the Beatific Vision[49].

Section 9. _Results of St. Stephen's Martyrdom._

[Sidenote: A.D. 34. Good brought out of evil for the Church.]

We may here pause to recollect how God had all along been bringing
forth good out of seeming evil, in what concerned His Church. The
first _dawnings of persecution_ drew down increased "boldness" in
answer to thankful prayer; the first great necessity for exercising the
_judicial office_ of the Church was followed by "great fear" and
multiplied conversions, as well as by the first miracles of healing
wrought in the Church; the first _schism_ was the occasion of the
origin of the Order of Deacons, directly after which event we hear of
"a great company of the priests being obedient to the Faith," {21} the
first _martyrdom_ helped to bring about the conversion of the chief
persecutor; and now the first _general persecution_ which came upon the
Church was to have for its result a far more widely-spread diffusion of
the knowledge of the Kingdom of God than had before taken place.

[Sidenote: Extension of the Church according to our Lord's promise.]

This extension of the Church was in exact accordance with our Lord's
words to His Apostles just before His Ascension, that they should be
witnesses unto Him "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Jerusalem was already "filled
with" their "doctrine," and now the disciples were "scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria," and "went every where
preaching the Word[50]." [Sidenote: Still confined to Jews, and
Samaritans, or to proselytes.] Still it would seem that they confined
their preaching to such as were either Hebrews, or Grecians, i.e.
foreigners more or less professin