Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-11-16
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VII NOV. IA. ACTS %;
1871.
Golden Text am Not Ashamed OF
the Gospel OF Christ: for 1t Is the
Power OF God Unto salvation to Every
One That NATURALIZATION 1. I6.

| 4. address to the Jews. Summer Of 81.
| martyrdom of James, the brother of our
Lord in Jerusalem. Autumn of 81, Paul
wrote epistles to the Ephesians. the Co
| lossians. and Philemon. Spring of g.
wrote epistle to the Philippians; soon az
| ter was released from prison. visiting An
| sioch, Colosse Ephesus (perhaps SPAIN
July, Ga, the great fire in Rome. charged
TO the Christians Nero's persecution
Autumn of Ga. Paul visited Philippi and
Corinth. and wrote First Epistle to Tim
othy and Episte to Titus. Autumn of 60.
Paul was made a prisoner at Ephesus,
ana taken to Rome, where he wrote the
Second Epistie to Timothy in prison
Summer of 66 (other authorities, 6S. Paul
was beheaded; little earlier, probably,
Peter had been martyred; four years later
Jerusalem was destroyed.
Place.-Rome the capital of the Roman
empire: center of the world
Rome in Pauls Day.-'At the time or
Paul's visit the city had outgrown the old
! Servian wall. and consisted of an extern
sye and irregular mass of buildings I'M
| protected by an outer wall. II was the
boast of Augustus that he found city
Of brick and left one Of marble. Within
circuit of little more than twelve miles
more than two millions of inhabitants
| were crowded, of whom about one million
were slaves. The free citizens were more
| than a million; of these the senators were
| so few in number as 10 be hardly appre-
cIaDleI the knights, WHO llieu d StSc>
| proportion OF the public offices, were not
more than ten thousand: the troops quar-
tered in the city may be reckoned at M
teen thousand: the rest were the pleos
urbaDa, or common Roman citizens.
Howson. The city had been enriched
| with the spoilS of many conquered ma
| tons, and on every hand was luxury, with
| it's attendant vices-avarice, debauchery.
and sensual pleasures-which, indeed, con-
stituted the daily life of the people the
arts were cultivated as never before, and
| they were made TO minister to the Viiest
| and most beastly lusts and passions and
| an almost wholly unrestrained dissolute-
| ness had taken the place OF the simpler
virtues OF earlier times. The religion or
| paganism Is wholly divorced from moral
| ity, and indeed the so-called worship was
! in many cases the grossest and the mosc
| impure orgies. There were also schools
| of philosophy, chiefly OF Grecian origin.
which pretended to teach something call
| ed virtue but their precepts were with
/ out authority, and the practices of the
| teachers gave the lie to their professions:
! and with the common people the sense or
| right and the claims of duty We're almost
! absolutely unfelt and disregarded. OF this
| seethng pool OF moral corruption ana
| charnel house of spiritual death view
| is given in the beginning of Paufs Epistle
TO the Romans. written only few years
! before. Curry.
| Paul in Prison.. Paul's labors. % He
preached and taught C0 he wrote to the
churches. We possess four of his writ
| ings composed while in prison at Rome
the epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians.
| and Philippians, and the short letter to
Philemon: go he prayed for them Eph..
| l. 16: 3. II; Phil. l. 4, %; O he sent mes
! Sengers and helpers to them (Eph. 6. q;
| Phil. .. 10. s5). .. Pauis trials. Cd Anx-
iety and danger CPhil. 2. 23); C) envy and
strife in the church CPhil. 1, 14-10: CD a
iolr frsz, n. Ia
| ment and apparent disgrace. 3. Paufs
| comforts % Faithful friends. duke.
| Timothy, Epaphras, Mark. Aristarchus
and Tychicus were among the friends,
| who, during the whole or part of this
| time were with the apostle (see Col. 4.
| 10-1D.
Advantages of Paul's Position at Rome.
- He was safe from all the intrlgues
| ard plots OF the Jews. He could not have
been better guarded. ?. He was brought
| into conspicuous notice Everyone could
hear OF the famous prisoner and learn
| the story OF his past labors and of his
! journey 10 Rome. The Gospel at Rome
| was thus "a city set upon HILL j. He
could preach the Gospel with perfect free
dom to all who came. He could converse
| with individuals or preach to companies.
| L. The soldier chained to him was relieved
! at stated intervals. so that a large num-
her of soldiers would come under his IN
| huence. They would hear all no said to-
! others he would converse also with then,
personally, and they would be won by the
| sweetness Of his spirit, his patience. his
carnestness and love. Tradition says that
| the great statesman Seneca was among
| the converts to Christianity by the
| preaching Of Paul. 1t is quite possible.
| according to Professor Lumby. that the
Gospel was introduced into England by
| Roman soldiers who heard Paul preach
the Gospel in prison "-feioupet.
Paufs Subsequent History Hints In
| the epfstles and traditions supply all that
! is known or conjectured respecting this
last stage OF the apostles ministry. 1t is
| supposed that. on being liberated writ
| ers DO not agree as to the precise order)
he visited again parts of Asia Minor and
Greece went 10 Crete and founded. or
more probably strengthened. the church.
! ss there: made his long contemplated jour-
| ney 10 Spain: wrote his First Epistle to
Timothy and his Epistle TO Titus: after
| several years OF effective labor was ap-
pretended again as leader of the Chris
tian sect was brought a second time as
| a prisoner OF Christ to Rome: was tried
there and condemned 10 suffer death. His
Roman citizenship exempted him from
the ignominy of crucifXion, and hence.
according to the universal tradition. he
was beheaded by the AK of the lictor. The
same testimony places his martyrdom in
tho year A. ID. GS, the last year OF Neros
reign. 1t was in the daily expectation of
| tniS event tNdt ne WTOte the idSt OI HIS
| epistles. the second to Timothy
! Hackett.
Hints to Teachers.
We have here a sermon. Note the cir
| cumstances under which ii was preached.
Paul. a prisoner, chained 10 a soldier by
his side (verse 49, though in his own
house; the leaders of the Jewish colony at
Rome gathered to listen, The dream Of
the apostles life was now accomplished
and he was at Rome. II mattered little
TO him whether he came as a prisoner or
as "A freeman for he was there as every-