840
1'HE
KING'S BUSINESS
AUGUST 19, 1923 STEPHEN THE MARlYR
Golden Text: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribula– tion, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Ro. 8:35. LESSON TEXT Ac. 6: 8-15; 7: 54-60. Devotional Reading.- Ro. 8: 31-39. Time.-35-37 A. D. Place.-Jerusalem.
Outline: (1) The Mlnl•ter's Wisdom and Works, 6: 8-15. (2) The Murderous Hearts, 7:51-54. (3) The Manifest Glory, 7:55, 56. ( 4) The Magnanimou• Prayer, 7 : 57-60. ( 5) The Martyr's Death and Bur– ial, 8:1-3. Introduction: Among the seven deacons chosen to have charge of the dally distribution of funds for the poor of the early church, only two are memorable, Stephen and Philip-and of these LESSON two, Stephen easily EXPOSITION ranks first. Little is T. C. Horton known of him, but what we know is good. The record of his life Is brief, but beau– tiful, flashing before us like a beautiful meteor. We wonder that he who gave promise of such great usefulness should have passed away so soon. (1) THE MINISTER'S WISDOM AND WORKS, 6: 8-15: "A man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." Stephen was a man of bonest re– port, well tested; the publk knew him for a good man. He had a transparent character, oue through wblcb people could look and see God. He was "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost" (v. 5) and this being so we are not sa rprised to find him a faithful man. As a dea– con, he was full of grace and power (in the R. V. the word "faith" is trans– lated "grace"). Faith and !Jiety are
sometimes equivalent. The man of faith is, from one point Qf view, a man of piety, and from another, a man of activity. Power was manifested in his ability to attest his message by his miraculous works. (2) THE MURDEROUS HEARTS, 7: 51-54: "They gnashed on him with their teeth." The opponents of Stephen were from the various synagogues of Jerusalem . They were learned, but not the equal of Stephen either In learning or In elo– quence. As they could not meet his argument, they resorted to physical force, suborning men to lie and falsely accuse him of blasphemy. This Is the same device which they practiced so successfully with the Lord Jesus. The accusation of Stephen before the council was followed by an exposition of Scripture remarkable for its rapid review of the history of Isra9l, ln which be proved that Israel had always been a rebellious, stubborn, stout– hearted nation, constantly resisting the testimony of God, and that' they were following in the footsteps of their fathers, v. 51: '•Ye stllYnecked and unclrcumcffiJed to heart and l.'nrs, ye do alwnys resl.st the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." It is Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, who is speaking-Stephen, with the glory of God in bis face! There Is something awfully impressive, awfully solemn, in such a charge as this. It
THE REWARD IS WELL WORTH WHILE.
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