The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-08-25
WE SUN61E S63{6oL.
The First Christisn Martyr -Aess S,BA-e0s
6il-4-Augus4 10, 1899.

The First Christinn Nfnrtyr.-Aees SsBA-e0s
r sii-4-Auguss 80, 1sss.
Especially Arranged from s 8. Ousrterly.l
GOLDEN rExr.-He kneeled down, and cried
with loud voice: Lord, lay not this sin TO their
charge.-Acts f.01 t.tf rs
shall wear the crown.
The section Of history extends over chapters
q q and s:l4, all which should be read In order
to understand rightly this lesson
T1ME.-Somewhere between the eutumn Of
A. D. 88 and the summer OF A. D. & Probably
May A. d. 81, about Pentecost
HELPS OVER HARD PLACDS.-6A ''Cut 10 the
heart" tho original means sawed asunder.
They were intensely enraged s. "Saw the
glory Of God" In his own future home, and
Gods goodness amid all the evil around him
Jesus standing" not sitting, as usually repro
sented but standing, rs II rising TO help, defend
and welcome Stephen SO "Behold, I see" )" etc |:
this Is exactly what Jesus had foretold to this
same Sanhedrim few years before b.
Stepped their ears;" % u unwilling TO hear
such things. So "Cast him out of the city:" they
were forbidden 70 have executions within the
city. The place was In the valley Of Jehosha-
phat close under the temple walls, st the foot
Of the Mount Of Olives 'sThe witnesses:" the
false witnesses (Acts Q; II, .fA) They were
obliged to cast the nrst stone (Dcut II: AD
young mans Saul" afterwards Paul the
apostle. He was probably thirty-four or thirty
Ave years old bs This time o. "Cailing upon
Gods" "God" is in Italics showing that II Is not
in the original He called upon the Lord Jesus
1. "Ssul was conseuting," BY his vote. and BY
aiding the execution Except the apostles: -
greater steedfastness" C2) They were the
leaders. the organizers Of the church; their
place the headquarters Of all the disciples. II
was not fitting that they should Zee. Their
steadfsstress would strengthen the believers
everywhere Their fleeing would almost break
/ lit ha yntsa ok
cost But GD It is probable that they were per
mitted by the authorities to remain because
they had not yet proclaimed the truth that Ste
phen emphasized. as to the passing away Of the
''customs OF Moses" "Devout mem" Jews,
not Christians, who thus protested against the
murder. g. ''Rnling:" ., hauling. dragging
forth
LESSON NOTES.
The storm had been steadily gather
ing around the disciples, and ct last 1t
broke will. great violence. The direct
occasion of this was the wonderful
power that God gave 10 Stephen both
in speech and in the working Of mira
cles. This aroused the bitter rage Of
their enemies, and they determined
that sterner measures must be taken.
The result was that they tried Stephen
and condemned him to death As they
rushed on him to stone him to death, he
called on the Lord to receive his spirit,
and just before he died prayed that God
would not lay the sin Of his murder to
their charge So he passed away and
bore witness with his blood to the truth
of that which he had been teaching.
At that time another figure for the first
time energies from the background,
namely, that Of a young man named
Saul. Of him we shall learn much more
before we are through with the Acts; but
now we see him first watching the murder
of Stephen, and then see him persecut-
ing the poor Christians with all his
might, making havoc of the church, and
arresting men and women and putting
them into prison. The storm of perse-
cuti0n was now SO severe that all the
disciples except the eleven were scat
tered abroad, leaving their homes and
friends for the sake Of the blessed Mas
ter. But wherever they went they did
not keep silence, but preached the
truth as they knew it, though their do
ing SO exposed them to many trials and
much persecution.
Now, there are two ways of looking
at Stephen. One is that in which the
council looked at him, as dangerous
to be killed as an evil-doer. The other
is the way in which God looked at him.
Before He died the Master had said:
Blessed are they which are prosecuted
for righteousness sake" OF such He
said: Theirs Is the kingdom OF
Heaven" When the time came in
which they were to be prosecuted the
Master told them TO 'rejoice and be ex-
ceeding glad for great is your reward
IN Heaven" In the story of the death
of Stephen we see the" partial fulfill
ment Of these words of the Lord For,
as he died, God gave him an especial
vision into the other world, and there
he saw Jesus standing on the right
hand of God. This was to him COM
fort and JOY, SO that do not believe
that he in any way feared to die In
this way God especially honored His
servant and gave him the first view of
Jesus that anyone ON earth had had
since His ascension. Mr.. Moody even
thinks that he saw Jesus standing at
Gods right hand, as though He had
risen to welcome the first man who had
the courage to die for His names sake.
This may well be the case.
There Is much evidence in the Bible
that God honors those whom the world
dishonors; who for His names sake
pass through much tribulation- For in
the Epistle to the Hebrews, we have an
honor roll of the worlds great men as
they appear to those on the other side
of the veil which separates us from the
other world; and in that list is not one
of those men whom we are taught to
cali great look there In vain Tor
Eebuchsdnexzar, or for any of the
Pharaohs; nor do I find the name Of Bel
shazzar, nor Of Alexander the Great, nor,