The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-03-03

LESSON FOR MARCH S
THE pEArHE oE STEPHEN.

H ALEvlNlaN-anlk fI.aHsI-@ -Et.sr1N sL.I.H.l..
LEssoNsTExr-Acts 7:1-s3.
GoLDHNETEXTEBe thou faithful unto
q 4. win give thee the crown Of
This lesson closely follows that OF
last Sunday. There are some battles
of life that are not fought with fists
or Weapons. Tho boy who holds hts
temper Is more manly than the one
who goes into a fight simply to win.
RautSte US how and what to fight
tGEph. s6:11, 12l. We must show the
fscholars clearly the two great bat
ties Stephen fought and the victory
he won as described in today's les
son The charges made against
Stephen we're. made by false wit.
fnesses." This does not mean men
who invented false words. but men
whottook isolated statements. distort
ed them and by innuendo used them
for their own ends. Stephen was
charged With three things. tal Bias
sphemyt against God .t6:1l.13). tb)
That he had said Jesus would return
and destroy the temple (6:14), (c)
That he claimed that Jesus would de.
Sgtroy or abrogate the law t6:14l. This
great passage OF Scripture is SO pro.
found and SO 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
Amounted deacon made to the Sanhe-
8drtn.
q. stephen's Defense. Stephen was
Q Graoianized Jew, whose name
means "a!scrown." 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 ". ~. He called the coun-
oil Men, brethren and fathers" They
were common believers and all were
standing before the God.appointed
leaders of Israel. Stephen in his re-
ply showed that he reverenced God
and Gods prophet Moses, thereby an.
nwering the first charge ". III. and
while he %reyerenced the temple he
showed that it was not essential to
worship tT:47:49l. This last was in
answer to their second charge t6.14).
In answer to their third charge Ste
8phan then turned upon his enemies
and by direct and indirect charges he
convicted them OF. certain facts. In
directly, by skillful repetition of lew
3sh sEoFW and alreYiew of the
prophets, he disc1oses the v~acillation
and 3sinfulness OF. Gods chosen people
s(23, s29). Directly he accuses these
leaders Of having been subserytent to
certain customs as being superior to
the law they professed to obey. Ste
phen's accusers were, al we have
seer. from without Jerusalem t6:9,
100 and his first battle was concern
Eng the truth about Jesus. His second
great battle, and one of his ultimate
Victory. war with these avowed enc
mics of Jesus (6:11-S:3l.
gI. stephens Death. The real con-
test Of this occasion was Satan VS..
thefHoly Spirit. stephen put to rout
Etheseimen from the foreign synagogue,
hence the Jewish authorities deter
mined to take hold OF the problem
themselves and put q stop to this
EchTistian teaching. Stephens sud
den application Of the Scripture to his
Judges caused intense anger. He
preached the word of God In the dem.
Sonstration Of the Holy Spirit, andssuch
preaching always either pr0Sgees con-
vtctiun OF sin. Or else arouses anger
Rtfthe 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
him and in his hour Of testing he saw
6EWonderful vision OF heaven-"Tha
glory of God and q Jesus standing"
ct us accept theS testimony Of this
dying man as a literal fact. This
sight strengthened him for his sui.
sGering and for his witnessing. Death
had no more terror for Stephen and
he was faithful and ~steadtast to the
end.
FIJI. s%tephsnra Burial. These men
~oysrreached themselves, for persecu.
tion simply scattered those VINO gave
che Christian. testimony a wider and
8 more effective hearing (11:1s.21).
this force of circumstances thrust the
early church forth from jerusalem.
Now. after o period Of perhaps five
~cfggeyen years, we see the beginning
Of the literal tulnl1ment OF the Pente.
costalS program (Acts $3.50. During
FfhiBSstorm Of persecution the apostles
remained at their posts in Jerusa'
Tenn.
Esaurs rage knew no bounds. and,
not content with disputations in the
synagogues,h he prosecuted the church,
S6paFing neither sex nor age GID.
SStephen's success was in his per
scnal life and his answering testt.
mony.
stephens victory has been q FIRST
fruit OF the triumph Of the church
throughout It's history. In heaven he
wears the Victor's crown among "tha
oyercomers."
0yar7 +he5S crave ~ ma AIwo weaIaya