THEMES FROM THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS AND THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
(a) Give an account of Stephen's defence before the Sanhedrin.
(b) State three lessons that can be learnt from Stephen's defence.
STEPHEN'S DEFENCĚ BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN (ACT6: 2-6; 8-9 7:1-10)
i. Stephen was one of the seven deacons appointed to be in charge of the welfare of the poor and needy in the early church.
ii. He was full of faith, grace and power and performed great wonders and signs among the people.
iii. Some of the Jews argued with Stephen but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
iv. They instigated some men who accused Stephen of speaking blasphemous words against God and Moses.
v Specifically, that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the temple, and change the customs which Moses delivered to them.
vi. By Jewish law, the accusations leveled against Stephen constituted serious offence punishable by death.
vii. In his defence, Stephen tried to prove that even in the past, God did not confine His presence to the temple at Jerusalem.
viii. He decided to trace the history of the Jews to show that God is universal and does not only dwell in the temple.
ix. He cited the example of how God appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia and asked him to go and live in Haran and Abraham obeyed.
x. He stressed that God told Abraham that his descendants would become slaves in another country where they would be maltreated for four hundred years
xi. But God would punish that nation which enslaved them and later Abraham's decendants would go out and Worship him in the land of Canaan.
Xii. Again, Stephen said that God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision and when he became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day.
xii. Isaac also became the father of Jacob and Jacob became the father of the patriarchs.
xiv. The Patriarchs were jealous of Jacob and sold him into Egypt.
xv. God was with Joseph and rescued him from all afflictions.
B.LESSONS TÖ BE LEARNT FROM STEPHEN'S DEFENCE
I. We should be bold and courageous when we face trials.
ii. We should have strong faith in God.
iii. In times of persecution, we should rely on God to defend us
iv When God blesses us, the enemy cannot overcome us
v There is the need to remember our history
vi bearing false witness destroys one's personality/ integrity
vii To obtain protection against the devil. we should always pray.
viii. We should be prepared to defend our faith even when we face opposition
ix We should forgive those who hurt us.
x. We should be bold to spread the gospel.
xi We should be knowledgeable in scriptures.
xii. We should be respectful to elders.
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