The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-06

great number. We have in the record
bare glimpse of striking scene. Paul
expounded the relation of the Gospel to
the real religion of Israel. He showed
how Christ was implied in the law of
Moses and in the prophets. His plead
ing with his auditors continued from
morning till evening. The result was
what might have been expected. Some
beliered the things which acre spoken,
and some disbelieUed.
2. Paul Turns to the Gen
tileS,-ve. 25-28.
The Jews were sharply divided among
themselves. especially as Sadducees and
Pharisees; their contention is mildly
described by the words they agreed not
among themselves. The Sadducean
party in Jerusalem had been favored by
the Romans; it is probable that the Sad
ducees predominated among the Jews
in Rome. That they should ridicule
the Christian doctrine..of Christs resur.
there is no resurrection of the dead, is
matter Of course; and that this should
arouse the antagonism of the Pharisees,
who were equally strenuous for the
general immortal hope, is likewise mat
ter of course. That the strife between
Sadducees and Pharisees should rage to
the exclusion of the claims of the Cos.
pei, is implied in the narrative. Paul
thus found in the hearts of the Jews
hard soil for the Gospel. They simply
would not receive it; they wilfully shut
their minds and hearts against it's proof.
For the possible benefit of these perveree
people, as they were leaving Paul's
presence, he commended to their atten-
tion passage from Isaiah wi: 8. 10, Sep
tusgint) which Jesus himself had more
than once quoted Matt. xiii: Is; John
xii: 10y as describing the perverse Jews
who wilfully exclude the truth.
Go thou unto this people and say,
BY hearing We shall hear, and shall in no
wise understand;
And seeing We shall see; and shall in no
wise perceive:
For this peoples heart is waxed gross,
And their ears are dull of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed;
Lest haply they should perceive with
their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And should turn again,
And l should heal them.
How natural for Paul to remind these
Jews that. by their mutual jealousy and
common hardness of heart, they were
multiplying their own spiritual Inherit
ance as children of Israel. and that the
Gospel, with it's pEoffer of salvation,
must now turn for believers to the Gen
tiles. Out of his personal experience
Paul testified to the eagerness with
which the Gentiles received the Gospel.
Some good ancient authorities tell ue
that the Jews departed from Paul's pres
ence in state of angry disputation
among themselves.
3. Paul in Chains Continues
to Preach, VS.. 1881.
The final words of the Book of Acts
are explicit: And he abode ttUo whole
gears in his oaon hired daeelling, and
received all that soent in unto ham,
preaching the kingdom of God, and
teaching the things concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ Nth all boldness.
none forbidding him.
We behold Paul now at the climax
of his mission. In the persecution by
Nero which came two years afterwards,
it was found that the new faith had
taken a vital hold of masses of the Ro-
man population. This is testimony of
the success of the preaching of the
chained apostle.
As to his subse quent histoay his
epistles and credible traditions make it
probable that, on being liberated, he
went to parts of Asia Minor and Greece,
and visited Crete, and made his long
contemplated journey to Spain; and
that during this period he wrote his
First Episile to Timothy and his Epis-
tie to Titus. AFTER several years of
effective labor" says Hackett. she was
apprehended again as leader of the
Christian sect; was brought second
time as prisoner of Christ to Rome;
was tried there and condemned to suffer
death. His Roman citizenship exempted
him from the ignominy of crucifixion.
and hence. according to the universal
tradition, he was beheaded by the ak of
the lictor. The same testimony places
his martyrdom in the year A. d. 60. the
last year of Nero's reign. It was in the
daily expectation of this event that he
wrote the laet of his epistles, the second
to Timothy"
TEACHING POINTS.
No l,ouo oo,,o - A.