The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-02-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson IN the international Series
Ter February ~, iOO2-The Are
rest OF stephen.
THE LESSON TENT.

(Acts C:7-i6)
Z. And the word OF God increased: ano
the number OF the disciples multiplied In
Jerusalem greatly; ard great company
OF the priests we're obedient to the faith.
And Stephen full OF faith and power.
dld great wonders and miracles among the
people.
Then there arose certain OF the syna-
gogue. which is called the syna.
gogue OF the L.5ertines. and Cyrenians.
and Alexancrians. and OF them OF cilicia
and OF Asia. disputing with Stephen.
10. And they we're rot able TO resist the
wisd om and the spirit by which he spake.
IL Then they suborned men. which said.
We have heard him speak blasphemous
words against Moses, and against God.
IL. And they stirred up the people. ana
the elders, and the scribes. and came upon
him. and caught him. and brought him TO
the council.
b. And set up false witnesses, which said.
This man ceaseth not 10 speak blasphemous
words against this holy place. and the law:
H. For we have heard him say that this
Jesus OF Nazareth shall destroy this place.
and shall change the customs which Moses
delivered US.
l5. And all that sa, in the council. looking
steadfastly on him. saw his face as II had
been the face OF an angel.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Fear not them
which XIII the body, but are not able
to Kill the soul-Mntt. lOs2s.
Full Of the Holy Spirit" 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 Partially. Jealousy between
different elements in large body is
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 the mselves 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 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 1t 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
a high reputation. should be wise and
should have the Holy Spirit in abun
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 .. ito serve" and j,
probably originated from the work oil
these men. All seven names are Greek
showing that ii was the purpose Of the
church to give the Grecans 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 Stephen.-Tne charac-
ter and spirituality Of stephen made
a great impression upon Luke. and, by
inference. upon the early Christian
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 Is. This mem
orv was no doub, heightened by the
brave death Of the first martyr, but il
cannot be an en- tirely imaginary hale
placed upon a man who was really or
binary. His call to office stirred hin
to great zeal in teaching. and he ais
followed the apostles In working mir
acles. The chief work that fell x
him, as verse shows. was arguin,
with Grecian Jews who had not &C
cepted Jesus as the Christ. His owl
wisdom and the aid Of the Holy Spiri
gave him the advantage in argument
and his opponents, as defeated oppo
nents are apt to do when they can, fel
back on force. The arrest Of Stephel
was the result of carefully WORKED
up conspiracy. First, men rouset
hatred against him by twisting his ut
terances into bold blasphemy. then h
was seized and brought before tn
Sanhedrin. who were waiting for hin
when he was brought in. The wit
nesses were also ready to give tes.i
mony that mt the requirements Of tn
law. which was understood to de
mand that the testimony should agre
perfectly. There had not been time 4
arrange for such agreement whe
Jesus was tried. but now everything
worked smoothly. Instead OF bein
angered by the accusations. Stepher
was 50 moved by the Spirit that h;
very face glowed and shone with