The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1885-02-19
The Sunday Schools.
LESSON FOR NEXT SUNDAY
February 22d, 1855.
FIRST @UARTER-
LESSON VIII Paul Before The Council

| FIRST GU ART5R-
LESSON VIII. Paul Before The Council
ACTS 23 ILL.
CCommit to memory verses Gill
1. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council
said, Men and brethren, have lived in all good
conscience be ore God until this d-y.
2. And the high priest Ananias commanded
them that stood by him to smite him on the
mouth.
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite
thee, thou whited wall; for slit st thou to judge
me after the law, and commandest to be
smitten contrary to the law?
And they that stood by said, Revilest thou
Gods gh priest?
Then said Paul, visit not, brethren, that
he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou
shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people
6 But when Paul perceived that the one part
were Sa lducees and the other Pharisee es, he
cried our in the council, Men and brethren, !
am Pharisee, the son of Pharisee: of the
hope and resurrection of the dead 1 am called
| in question.
| And when he had so said, there arose a dis
sension between the Pharisees and the Ssddu-
Gees: and the multitude was divided.
| For the Sadducees say that there is no res
| direction, neth.r angel nor spirit: but the
| PhariseeS confess both.
| And ther- arose a great cry: and the scribeS
that Were of the Fharisees' part arose, and srove
saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a
spirit or an angel hath spok en- to him, let not
! fight against God
10 Aud when there arose great dissension.
the chief aptain, fearing lest Paul should have
| been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the
| soldiers to 20 down, and to take him by force
| from among them, and to bring him into the
CASTLE
IL And the night following the Lord stood by
him, and said Be of good cheer, PAUL. for as
thou hast test fled OF me in Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness, also at Rome.
GOLDEN TExT-'And the night following the
Lord stood by him. and said, Be of good
cheer, Paul. "-Acts 23-l1.
In the last lesson Paul was described as
addressing the multitude upon the pave
ment of the temple court. They listened
respectfully until he reached the word
"Gentiles," when there was a great up
roar. They attempted in various ways
to display their anger. The Roman Off
Ger could not understand the language of
Paul, for he spoke in the Hebrew tongue,
but the officer became convinced that one
so much hated by the multitude must be
a great offender, and determined to COM
pei him to confess his crime. He ordered
the soldiers to take Paul into the castle
OF Antonia, and scourge him until he
should confess his sin. While they were
stripping Paul, however, he informed |
them that he was Roman citizen. 1t |
was contrary to the law to bind or strike |
free citizen without trial, and Paul's |
statement filled them with alarm. They |
placed him in cell for safe keeping un-
til morning, when he was arraigned be-
fore the Council.
This Council or Sanhedrim was COM
posed of the heads of the priestly order,
the hereditary chiefs of clans, and leaders
among the scribes. Paul was brought be-
fore the Council for a preliminary hear
ing. He did not consider himself on trial,
and as the scene was familiar to him-for
he had stood there and listened to Steph-
ems address, and assisted in his murder
afterward-and he began his address
without waiting for any accusation to be
made against him. Paul had not pro-
ceeded far when the High Priest Ananias
called to those near him to "smite him on
the mouth. This Ananias was very
mean man, who had obtained his office by
favor, and was under accusation for crime
at the very time he was calling for some
one to smite Paul His Priestly office
gave him no authority over a Roman citi-
zen, and his exhibition of anger was ex-
ill-timed.
Pauls reply, God shall smite thee"
was prophetic, for Ananias was afterward
slain. Those standing nearcensured Paul
for speaking thus to a High Priest, and he
FASTENED to apologize for his forgetful-
ness and hasty words. His plan was to
make a candid defense of his position as
a Christian, but perceiving that they were
in no mood to listen to him, he adopted
shrewd plan for getting up dissension
among them. There were two classes in
this Council-Sadducees and Pharsees
The former were skeptical with regard TO
the Old Testament, the latter were firm
deavored to make their lives conform to
the precepts of Moses. Paul cried out
that he was a Pharisee. This at once
created a division in sentiment among
the members of the Council. "Of the
hope" here, refers to the great hope of his
people. the appearance of the promised
Messiah. The Sadducees did not believe
there could be resurrection, and held
that the spirit died with the body. The
Pharisees believed in an invisible world,
and final judgment.
Upon the arising of this dissensiOn.
Claudius Lysias. the Colonel in command
of the Castle of Antonia, and who was
for the safety of Paul as a
Roman citizen, commanded the soldiers
to go down and take him by
force and bring him into the
Castle. The night following, as Paul was
in his prison, perhaps blaming himself
for having come, against the advice of
many of his friends, and possibly feeling
greatly discouraged, the Lord appeared
unto him, and stood by him, and spoke to
him, thus assuring the Apostle of the Di-
vine Endorsement of his course. Paul now
felt secure and all through his prison ex-
perience this Divine visitation was a
source of encouragement and comfort to
him. In the midst of prosecutions we
should ever trust our Divine Father with
an implicit faith. Cares may gather
about us, the clouds of sin may lower
threateningly, and everything seem indi-
cative of personal danger. Yet He never
loses sight of US or fails to understand |
our needs