The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1902-02-20
rHR SUNDAY SCHOOL.
tsssen IN the lntsfassienal Series
ter February n, loo9-The Ar.
rest Of Stephen.
THE LESSON TEXT.
(Acts e.7-Kl


(Acts e:7-k)
Z. And the word Of God increased: and
tho number Of the disciples multiplied IN
Jerusalem greatly: ard q great company
or the priests were obedient to the faith.
9. And Stephen. full Of faith and power.
did great wonders and miracles among the
Q. Then there arose certain Of the syna-
gogue. which II called the syna-
gogue Of the Libertines. and Cyrenians.
and Alexandrians. and Of them Of Cilicia
and OF Asia. disputing with Stephen
10. And they were not able to resist the
wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
II. Then they suborned men. which said.
We have heard him speak blasphemous
words against Moses. and against God.
II. And they stirred up the people, and
the elders, and the scribes. and came upon
nim' ana caught him. and brought him to
the council.
l3. And set up false witnesses, which said,
This man ceaseth not TO speak blasphemous
words against this holy place. and the law:
IA. For We have heard him say, that this
Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place.
and shall change the customs which Moses
delivered u.s.
le. And all that sat in the council, looking
steadtastly on him. saw his face as 1t had
peen the race OF an angel.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Fear not them
which Kill the body, but are not able
10 Kill the soul.-MIu. 4U;.S.
"Full of the Holy SPIRIT. TO be full
OF the Holy Spirit meant to be full of
faith, wisdom, grace and power. In
the lessons hitherto given we have been
impressed with the fact that upon be-
ing baptized with the Holy Spirit the
disciples were energized with His
power. This lesson calls attention to
the higher truth that their characters
were affected by his indwelling. They
were wiser, better, more trustworthy,
more full Of grace,
Appointment of Deacons.-The diff
Guilty that arose in the church was
| almost unavoidable, though, Of course,
the apostles did not show any inten-
tional partiality. Jealousy between
different elements in large body il
seldom escaped. The German Jews
were those whose homes were outside
OF Palestine, and who spoke Greek or
some language other than Hebrew.
: The Hebrews were those who Lived in
Palestine and spoke the language Of
that region. Many Of the Hebrews
thought themselves little better than
those who had forsaken the Holy Land.
The reference to daily ministration"
shows that it was the custom to
distribute food or supplies of money
each day to those who were in need.
The account also suggests that the
gifts were given chiefly to those who
had no other means Of support, rather
than to able-bodied men and those who
had had means. This fact is another
suggestion how limited the commun-
ism Of the church really was The
apostles plan for avoiding the difficulty
was an excellent one, but they did not
impose it upon the church. The peo-
pie accepted the plan and then elected
the officers. The qualifications for the
office were that the men should have
high reputation, should be wise and
slIU uTu h.sse'tLS nSiss SPIRIT III ALUM
dant measure. Neither business ca
pacity nor spiritual life was enough
alone. The name deacon" is not ap-
piled to these officers here or else
where, but the word is derived from
one used in verse 2, ITO serve" and IL
probably originated from the work Of
these men. All seven names are Greek,
showing that it was the purpose Of the
church to give the Grecians full op-
portunity to look out for the widows
Of their own class. The deacons were
set apart for their work by prayer and
the laying on of hands. They were thus
helped to feel the value Of the work
they were called to do. There is no
distinct evidence that the apostles
touch was thought of as comforting
upon them any special grace.
The Arrest Of ephen.-The charac-
ter and spirituality Of Stephen made
great impression upon Luke, and, by
inference, upon the early Christians
from whom he got his information.
His grace and his abundance of spirit
ual power are spoken of in verses 5, s,
10, and implied in verse 15 This mean
ory was no doubt heightened by the
brave death of the first martyr, but it
cannot be an entirely imaginary halo
placed upon man who was really or
dinary. His call to Office stirred him
to great zeal in teaching, and he also
followed the apostles in working mir
acles. The chief work that fell to
him, as verse 5 shows, was arguing
with Grecian Jews who had not ac-
cepted Jesus as the Christ. His own
wisdom and the aid of the Holy Spirit
gave him the advantage in argument,
and his opponents, as defeated oppo-
nents are apt to do when they can, fell
back on force. The arrest of Stephen
was the result Of carefully worked
up conspiracy. First, men reused
hatred against him by twisting his ut
terances into bold blasphemy, then he
was seized and brought before the
Sanhedrin, who were waiting for him
when he was brought in. The wit
nesses were also ready TO give testi-
mony that met the requirements Of the
law, which was understood to de-
mand that the testimony should agree
perfectly. There had not been time to
arrange for such agreement when
Jesus was tried, but now everything