Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-03-03
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON, MARCH 5
BY MARION NH. HULL, M. d.

death and I will give thee the crown
| of life." Rev. 2;10.
No successful movement is without
| danger The church at Jerusalem hat
| had unusual success and had overcome
| grave dangers. 1t had it's human limi
| tations after all. 1t is not surprisins
| therefore, that we find a defect in the
| brotherhood. They were too busy wltf
| the. work in Jerusalem to look towards
| the regions beyond. They were infatuat
| ed with the success which they were
having there, and were in danger of for
getting that their Lord, just prior to HIS
ascension, had told them that they
should be witnesses to Him not only II
Jerusalem, but also in Judea and II
Samaria. and unto the uttermost parts
of the earth.
Stephen, who was one of the Hellenis'
tic Jews, treasurer of the brotnerhood
had developed some unusual traits. lie
had so yielded himself to the spirit OF
God that God was nightly using him
He was full of grace and of power, and
miracles and signs were wrought by
him He did not confine his ministry to
the temporal affairs, but witnessed by
life and by lip with marvellous power.
Being a foreigner, naturally his
thoughts turned towards the Jews in his
own home; and he longed for them to
have the blessings OF the gospel as he
had learned to appreciate them in Jeru-
salem. In speaking with the Jews who
were of the synagogue of the Libertines,
the Cyrenians and the AleXandrians,
they resented his implication that God
could be worshipped in any other place
than Jerusalem, or in any other way
than according to the ceremonial wor-
shin originally established by Moses. He
backed up his opinion, however, with
scripture and with his own life to such
an extent that they were abashed They
could not withstand the arguments that
he presented Finally, when they could
not answer his arguments they became
angry, and charged him with disloyalty
Then they brought their charge before
the Sanhedrin. and set up witnesses to
swear that they had heard him speak
words against this holy place and
against the law.
STEPHENS CHARGE AND COUNTER
CHARGE
When stephen was given an opportun-
ity to speak he faced the charge
against him by boldly asserting that 1t
was true-that it was Gods plan to be
worshipped in some other place than
Jerusalem and in some other way than
according to the Mosaic custom. He an
swered this charge very adroitly by Giv-
ing an outline of the history of God
dealings with His people from the time
that He chose Abraham. He showed how
Abraham had worshipped in Haren, how
the fathers had worshipped in Canaan,
how the Israelites had been in Egypt
and had finally been led into Canaan. 1T
was not until Solomon's time that this
temple had been built, and even then
not at Gods request because God could
not be confined in any house made with
hands, since heaven was His throne and
earth was His footstool,
He declared also that even Moses, who
had given them the law, had prophesied
that another prophet should come like
unto himself, yet greater, who should
be the deliverer of his people; and that
therefore, the truth of his claim that lit
was Gods plan to be worshipped in
some. other. place and in some other
way also, was proven, by the history of
their nation and by prophecy.
Then Stephen made a counter-charge
against them. He probably saw from
the expression of their faces that they
were not receiving his claims kindly, al
though they could not answer them; so
he. seized this opportunity to boldly de-
clare the truth to them, hoping that
they might be convicted. by it, and
change their ways. He pointed out that
in their opposition to the truth they
history of the nation of Israel, which
had been one of rejection of Gods plans
from the very first. 1t was Gods plan
that they should be delivered by JOS
eph, and yet they had rejected him. 1t
was Gods plan that they should be de-
livered by Moses, and yet they mad re-
jected him twice.
They had rejected all of the proph-
cts who had foretold the coming of the
Messiah: and now that the Messiah had
come, they had even rejected Him and
murdered Him. He charged them with
being spiritually blind, unable to hear
Gods voice when He spoke, and to be
always resisting the Spirit of God.
They were so infatuated that the SUI
preme Court of the Jewish nation be-
came a mob! They carried their victim
out and stoned him to death This was
the ordinary mode of death for BIAS
phemy under the Jewish laws. The rea-
son why they were able to carry 1T out
at this time was because the withdraw
al of PLATE by the Roman government,
left an interregnum of a year or two
about A. ID. Sc, when the Jews prac
tically had the right TO condemn to
death; although just prior to this and
for a number of years afterwards that
right was withheld by the Romans.
STEPHENS CONTRIBUTION.
Stephens life was short, but he made
a marvellous contribution to the church.
First, in the power of personality. His
life and his lips witnessed to the truth
wit hgreat power, regardless of what
the result was to himself, Stephens
life illustrates what Paul wrote after
wards to Timothy. that all who would
live Cody in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution. This is just as true today
as in the centuries past. Persecution