The Tupelo journal., 1916-03-03
!. INTERNATIONAL
NNDMSQlOOL
i. LESSON
(By =. o. SELLERS, Acting Director Of
Sunday School Course. Moody Bible
Institute.)
Copyright. 1915. Western Newspaper Union.)
LESSON FOR MARCH 5
THE DEATH OF STEPHEN.

suE Of
LESSON TEXT-Acts 7:1-S:3.
GOLDEN TEXT-Be thou faithful unto
death and I will give thee the crown OF
nfe.-Rev. 2:10.
This lesson closely follows that of
last Sunday. There are some battles
OF life that are not fought with fists
or weapons. The BOY who holds his
temper is more manly than the one
who goes into a fight simply to win.
Paul tells us how and what to fight
"(Eph. Gil, 12). We must show the
scholars clearly the two great bat
ties Stephen fought and the victory
he o as described in today's les
son. The charges made against
Stephen were made by false wit
nesses." This does not mean men
who invented false words, but men
who took isolated statements, distort-
ed them and by innuendo used them
for their own ends. Stephen was
charged with three things: (a) Bias
phemy against God (6:11-13), (b)
That he had said Jesus would return
and destroy the temple GID, (c)
That he claimed that Jesus would de-
strOy or abrogate the law GID. This
great passage of Scripture is so pro-
found and 80 closely connected that
we hesitate in trying to separate it
into divisions or sections. We much
prefer to note the logical argument
and presentation Stephen the Spirit
anointed deacon made to the Sanhe.
dr!n.
!. Stephens Defense. Stephen was
a G~recianized Jew. whose name
means "a crown" He answered the
charges of these foreign accusers,
made before the Sanhedrin, seriatim.
HIS point of contact was to respect
fully remind the council that he
was an orthodox Jewish believer and
worshiper ". y. He called the coun-
Gil Men, brethren and fathers" They
were common believers and all we're
standing before the God-appointed
leaders Of Israel. Stephen in his re-
ply showed that he reverenced God
and Gods prophet Moses, thereby an
swering the first charge ". ~, and
while he reverenced the temple he
showed that it vas not essential to
worship ~(7:47:49). This last was in
answer to their second charger{6tl4).
In answer to their third charge Ste
phen then turned upon his enemies
and by direct and indirect charges he
convicted them Of certain facts. IN
directly, by skillful repetition Of Jew
ish history, and a review Of the
prophets, he discleses the ~vacillation
and sinfulness of Gods chosen people
(23, 29). Directly he u these
leaders of having been subservient to
certain customs as being superior to
the law they protested to obey. Ste
phen's were, as we have
seen, from without Jerusalem (6:9.
10), and his first battle was concern
ing the truth about Jesus. His second
great battle, and n of his ultimate
victory, was with these avowed enc
mics Of Jesus (6:11-S:3).
II. Stephens Death. The real con-
test of this occasion was Satan VS..
the Holy Spirit. Stephen put to rouG
these men from the foreign synagogue,
hence the Jewish authorities deter
mined to take hold OF the problem
themselves and put a stop to this
Christian teaching. Stephens sud
den application of the Scripture to his
judges caused intense anger. He
preached the word of God in the DEM
o%nstration of the Holy Spirit, and such
preaching always either produces con.
viction OF sin, or else arouses anger
at the preacher. These men could not
deny the truth OF his accusation; they
therefore turned upon him in anger.
Being full OF the Holy Spirit" is an
abiding condition and inevitably in.
wolves q conflict with Satan. It led
Stephen to look up and not about
MIN. and in his hour OF testing he saw
q wonderful vision Of heaven-"The
glory of God and of Jesus standing
Let is accept the testimony OF this
dying man al . literal fact. This
sight strengthened him for his, SUIT
fering and for his witnessing. Death
had no more terror for Stephen and
he was faithful and ~steadfast to the
end.
III. Stephens Burial. These men
overreached themselves, for persecu-
ton simply scattered those who gave
the Christian testimony a wider and
q more effective hearing (11:19-21).
This force OF circumstances thrust the
early church forth from Jerusalem.
Now, after a period of perhaps five
or W years, we see the beginning
OF the literal fulfillment of the Pente-
costal program (Acts 1:8). During
this storm of persecution the apostles
remained at their posts in Jerusa-
lem.
Sauls rage knew no bounds, and
not content with disputations in the
synagogues, he prosecuted the church,
anarinp uoifhor cov nor 600 fQ19l