Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-03-01
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the international series for
March 2. 1sO2-The stonins OF
Stephen.
THE LESSON TEXT.

So But he, being full of the Holy Ghost.
looked up steadfastly into Heaven, and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing on
the right hand of Cod
S. And said, Behold, see the heavens
opened, and the Son of man standing on the
right hand of God.
81. Then they cried out with a loud voice.
and stopped their ears, and ran upon him
with one accord,
IS. And cast him out of the city, and
stoned him: and the witnesses laid down
their clothes at young mans feet, whose
name was Saul.
So. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon
God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my
so. And he kneeled down and cried with a
| loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he fell
L And Saul was conserving unto his
death. And at that time there was a great
persecution against the church which was
| at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered
| abroad throughout the regions of Judaea
| and Samaria, except the apostles.
q And devout men carried Stephen to his
burial, and made great lamentations over
GOLDEN TEXT. for them
which despitefuIIy use you, and per-
| secute yOu.-Matt. 5:44.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
Martyrdom.-A martyr, literally, il
witness, and, by historic force, a
witness who seals his testimony by
his blood. That there should be
martyrs for the Gospel was inev-
liable. Truth and error cannot come
into contact without a conflict. The
secret of persecution is hatred of the
truth. Stephen revealed it when he
said to his malignant hearers: Eye
do always resist the Holy Ghost"
| ". 51). We have in our lesson, then,
the contrast between one filled with
the Holy Spirit and those who were
resisting Him.
Stephens Defense.-The right to be
| heard in ones own defense before
the Sanhedrin was complete and
carefully guarded. Even in the case
of Jesus it was freely accorded.
Jewish ideas, as expressed in the
laws for the procedure of the Sam
hedrin in criminal cases, were almost,
If not quite, as strong in favor of
giving the accused every opportunity
as are our own in America. In his
plea, Stephen reviewed the history
of the patriarchs and the early years
of Israel, with the purpose of show
ing that the system of worship in the
temple might be changed. The Jews
believed in Gods revelation to Abra-
ham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and
Joshua, none of whom ever had a
temple. AS Gods worship had
changed from altar to tabernacle,
and from tabernacle to temple, so it
might change again from temple to
spiritual worship. Verses 1850 point
out the fact that Gods superiority to
the temple was declared in Scripture
Us. 66:1, p. These words, however,
seemed to the Jews sacrilegious, as
throwing contempt on the temple,
and Stephen lost the sympathy and
interest of his hearers when he ut
tered them.
Stonirg of Stephen.-Such words
could only make the feeling of the
Jews more intense, and their hatred
showed itself by gesture. The hatred
was still further set aglow by
Stephens bold announcement of his
vision of Jesus in glory. That visions
comforting as it was to the martyr,
was to the Sanhedrin only greater
and more atrocious blasphemy. The
situation was too tense for the dig
nifty of the Sanhedrin. Stopping their
ears lest they hear still worse utter
ances, they themselves rushed upon
Stephen, not waiting for the guards
to remove him, and hustled him out
to the place of execution. Here the
procedure became more orderly. It
was the law (Deut. 17:7), that when
anyone was stoned to death for false
worship, the witnesses against him
should cast the first stones. The wit
nesses in this case prepared to act
by removing their outer garments,
which they laid at the feet of Saul.
in he
of which he soon becomes the cen-
trail figure. Evidently he did not take
any personal part in the stoning, a
fact which is one of the strongest
indications that he had attained to
the dignity of membership in the
Sanhedrin. His enthusiastic zeal
would have led him to enjoy hurting
stones at the supposed blasphemer
had his position permitted such ac-
ton. Stephens first prayer ". soy
proves how he kept the faith; his
second ". COZ shows how Christlike
his spirit was. This latter is exact
~ in the spirit of Jesus own words
duke 23:34), while so utterly differ
ent in form as to be evidently no quo
tation, but natural outburst of gen.
uine feeling.
Burial of Stephen.-Why the apos-
ties could remain in Jerusalem while
others were driven away does not ap-
pear. Perhaps they stayed from a
sense of duty and were especially
protected. Even so, they must have
remained as much as possible out of
sight The phrase "devout men" is
used only of Jews. The fact as to
Stephens burial proves that the
movement against him had pot been
unanimously supported by those who
had not accepted Jesus as the Christ.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
When a disciple OF Christ faithfully
witnesses for Him, he may expect to
arouse opposition and hatred.
The faithful Christian may look
for the sweetest visions to be given
him in his worst trials.
The true Christian viii show that
he is such by praying for his enc
mics.
To the true Christian death is but