367
June 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
P ith and P oint ; “ Stephen” means “a crown.” He won the crown foreshadowed in the name he bore. Fidelity to truth is sure to promote an tagonism. In the proportion in which we manifest His Spirit, we shall provoke the enmity with which He was assailed. - The opposition o f the ungodly and of religious “stiffs” is one o f the seals o f the genuineness o f our discipleship. The antagonism of spiritual adversaries is valuable in that it' brings forth to view those traits o f Christian character which otherwise would have been unobserved. Jesus keeps His richest cordials for our sorest need and' in the hour of our deepest extremity reveals Himself most clearly to us. Jesus cannot sit when a saint is suffer ing for His glory, for He Himself is suffering in His dying disciple (cf. Acts 7:56). “Thy foes can strike thee only through thy Saviour’s heart.” Persecutors could kill Stephen, but they couldn’t arrest the progress of his words for Christ. —o— B rief C omment on T he T ext Acts 7 :54. They were "cut to the heart," literally “sawn through.” It was like the ragged edge o f a saw to the flesh. V.55. This 1 was the first manifestation o f the glorified Christ. He was “stand ing” (cf. Col. 3:1; Heh. 1:3). He stood to welcome the first martyr (cf. Rev. 5:6). V. 56. "The heavens opened.” Note the other occasions when the heavens were opened (Acts 9:3-5; 10 :llj»R ev. 4:1; 19:11). V. 57. They “stopped their ears” The reason—Jn. 3 :19-20. V. 58. The first mention o f Saul—-a delighted spectator of the pitiless fury of the mob. Paul suffered' what Saul inflicted. Cf. 2 Cor. 11:25;, : cf. Acts 22:19 with 2 Cor. 11:25-33; c f. Acts 9 :21 with 24:27; c f. Acts 8:3 with 2 Cor. 11 23; c f. Acts 22:4, 20 with 14:19. V.59. "Receive my spirit.” No pur gatory or annihilation (cf. Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8). V. 60. Stephen owned Jesus the dis poser o f the eternal states o f men, the Judge o f men, the Lord o f all. If Jesus is not o f the Godhead, the first martyr of the church died in the very act of idolatry. Both of his prayers bring to memory our Lord’s words on the cross (cf.Lk. 23: 46,34). They have silenced the voice of Stephen. What a calamity! The enemy had won. But God makes no mistakes. Time will tell. The Gospel was about to go to the distant regions. The violent hand of the persecutor becomes the scattering hand of a sower. The seed' falls in every nation and sprouts up quickly. The blood o f the martyrs is the seed o f the church. G olden T ext I llustration Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown o f life (Rev. 2:10). “ You have preached 20 years and have only made one convert,” was the taunt with which a man assailed a servant of the Lord.
“ Have I converted one?” asked the faithful minister. “Yes, I know of one man really saved under your ministry in this place, ” was the reply. “Then,” replied the minister, “here goes the rest o f my life in the effort to win another.” “ Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for asmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15 :58) . Saul’s Cruelty To Christian People. Acts. 7 :54-8:3; Acts. 22:3,4,19,20. Memory Verse .—-“I obtained mercy be cause I did it ignorantly in unbelief” I Tim. 1 :13b. Approach .—The boys and girls will get great inspiration from the story of Stephen and his heroism. Emphasize the tenderness o f his nature, as shown in the Lesson Story .— (Review, emphasizing the importance of Bible study, which is as necessary and blessed for us today as for Saul and the other Jewish boys o f the first century.) Today our story is about Stephen, a deacon in the early church, who was one of the most loving-hearted and earnest o f all the followers of Jesus. Some o f the old enemies of Christ were stirred to hate Stephen because when they tried to talk and argue with him they could not answer his wise and' loving words about Jesus. This made them very angry, and so they wanted to kill him. Have" you ever heard it said of some good person, “His goodness shines all over his face” ? If you have known such a person it will help you to understand how Stephen’s face looked as he stood be fore those who were talking against him. Stephen began to talk very politely, and called the great men before him his brethren and fathers. He began his talk by telling them the story o f their people as it was given in the Old Testament Bible. He showed them in this way that he loved' and believed in the Bible. He showed them that he also believed in Moses, their great law-giver; then how could he have talked about Moses? He also spoke o f their temple, and so showed that he loved it even as they loved it. Then he began to talk about the sin of his people and told them also o f their own sin. At last he charged them with having put Jesus to death. After the.Jewish leaders had cried out in their anger, and stopped their ears, they rushed upon Stephen all together and drove him outside the city gate. The witnesses who had wrongly accused Ste phen, laid down their loose coats at the feet o f Saul, that they might be free to throw stones at Stephen. As the stones were falling about Stephen, he kneeled down and asked God to forgive his ene mies. He tried to have them forgiven even in the midst of their sin. care o f the poor widows, and h i s bravery in standing up for Christ before the Sanhedrin and in the presence of death. Show the pupils how they can combine tenderness and' courage in their own lives.
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE
Stephen Saul /C O N S ID E R A T E " D l i n d e d C o u r a g e o u s J D i g o t e d (Rev. 3:10) (1 Tim. 1 :13) When he had finished praying, he closed' his eyes to the pain and sorrow of this world', to have them opened to the joys of heaven. Our lesson says this in a very beautiful w ay; it says Stephen “ fell asleep.” Our memory verse gives us the words o f Saul after he came to know Jesus as his Saviour. Saul was very cruel to those who believed in Jesus, but at that time he did not believe Jesus was God’s Son. Because o f his unbelief he treated Christians cruelly. He watched the clothes o f those who were stoning Ste phen to death. Are you standing by today and letting other boys and girls speak lightly of Jesus or the Bible? When others speak unkind ly to you, do you answer back in the same way, or do you speak kindly and gently, and does the love o f Jesus shine out in your face? (Prayer.) July 15, 1928 Conversion o f Saul Text : Acts 9:1-19; 22:6-10 — o — L esson I n O utline Acts 9 :l-19a; 22:6-16; 1 Cor. 15:8 I. Account According to Luke, the Historian. 9 :l-19a. 1. Letters o f Authority to Persecute Saints. Vs. 1,2. 2. Appearance o f Jesus to Saul. Vs. 3-7. a. The Voice of Jesus. Vs. 3,4. b. Saul’s Query. V. 5a. c. Reply o f Jesus. V.5b,6. d. ^Saul’s Companions Speechless. 3. Finish of the Journey, Vs. 8 , 9. a. Saul, being Blind, led by Com panions. V. 8 . b. Fast o f three days. V. 9. 4. Ananias Sent to Saul. Vs. 10-19a. a. Command to go. Vs. 10-12. b. Protest of Ananias. Vs. 13,14. c. Second Command. Vs. 15,16. d. Obedience to Command. V. 17a. e. The Message. V. 17b. f. Restoration o f Sight, Baptism, and Taking Food. Vs. 18, 19. II. Account According to Paul. Acts 22: 6-16. 1. The Shining Light. V. 6 . 2. The Voice from Heaven. V. 7. 3.. The Query of Paul. V. 8 . 4. The Attendants. V. 9. 5. The Instruction to Saul. V. 10. 6 . The Remainder of the Journey. V .ll. 7. Ananias, the Gospel Minister. Vs. 12,13. 8 . His Message. Vs. 14,15. 9. Baptism of Saul. V. 16; III. Appearance of Jesus to Saul. 1 Cor. 15:8.
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