Choice 4: Acts 7. The Martyrdom of Stephen
1.
1. Review Acts 6:6–8 and Acts 7:51–60.
Acts 6: 6-8
6 Whom
they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on
them.
7 And
the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in
Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the
faith.
8 And
Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the
people.
Acts
7: 51-60
51 ¶Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye
do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which
of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them
which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the
betrayers and murderers:
53 Who
have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54 ¶When
they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But
he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And
said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the
right hand of God.
57 Then
they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with
one accord,
58 And
cast him out
of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at
a young mans feet,
whose name was Saul.
59 And
they Stoned Stephen, calling upon
God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And
he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Respond
to the following items:
Write a summary
of Stephen’s last words and what impressed you about them.
The
last words of Stephen were words of criticism.
He called the people stiff necked and unwilling to heed to the
promptings of the Spirit of God. He goes
into specifics by pointing out how they and their fathers before them
persecuted the prophets. His words were
hard for them to hear and they gnashed their teeth towards him. As they did
this he testified to them that he could see Jesus Christ on the right hand of
God, which angered them further. As they
cast him out and stoned him he called upon God saying; “Lord,
lay not this sin to their charge.”
I
love how faithful this man was. He spoke boldly because the truth is the
truth. You could tell by his choice of
actions and words that he feared God over man and that he was not willing to
jeopardize his place in heaven because of unpopularity.
What do we
learn about the Godhead from these verses?
We
learn that God, Jesus Christ and the Spirit are Separate. These verses show
that Christ was on the right hand side of God.
1.
2. Compare Stephen’s death to Abinadi’s in
Mosiah 17:7–20. List how they were similar. What impact do their final
testimonies have upon you?
They
were similar because:
-These men of faith were not afraid
to stand for truth
-These men of faith spoke boldly
-These men of faith bore solid
testimony
-The wicked took the truth to be
hard.
Their final testimonies have a huge
impact on me because I want to be the
type of person that would care enough about my brothers
and sisters that are being lead astray that I would open my mouth no matter the outcome. Opening your mouth can be very difficult but as we develop a
Christ like love it will become easier
and easier.
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