The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-12

and John weak brethren. If these weak
brethren are troubled in their conscience
you had better let it go for while.
HIS GREAT QUALITIES.
'In all this career, with the difficulties
and with the dangers, the characteristics
OF Paul stand out luminous against the
background of pagan history. / have al
ready indicated that he was man of Gull
ture and of competence and something of
cosmopolitan spirit. He had beside those
qualities which belong to good in a red-and-
white-striped jersey who kept breeding. He
had passion and intensity, but he had great
self-poise. He always seems to have had
presence of mind. He had great versatility.
He was equally at home in Athens before
the university. in a synagogue before jew
ish audience and before Festus or Felix in
a semi-royal court. He had great magne-
tism. He seems to have had power to cap
tivate men by his personality. You re-
member how Felix and how Festus listened.
You remember how Agrippa SAID, 1 nave nave
heard of him and / would like a chance to
hear him You remember how, when the
captain was about to scourge him, to ma
out who he was, he said to the centurion:
Is it lawful to Scourge a Roman without
trial or condemnation? And the centurion
is Roman And they are careful. You
remember how, when he is told by his
nephew that more than forty Jews nave
taken a VOW and pledge that they would
eat nothing and drink nothing until they
had killed him, that their plan was to take
him and destroy him. Paul calls the guard,
and he says: Take this young man TO the
centurion; he has message for him. And
the guard is increased and Paul is brought
safely, and / suspect the Jews broke their
VOWS and did eat something: lie mas YER
satility, he has magnetism, ne mas dignity
and a mastering character. He IS speaking
before the court in Jerusalem, and the hlgh
arie C.Y,aif n no mo r
turns Indignantly and says: God shall
smite thee, thou whited wall. And yet,
when some one says to him. Do you an an
swer the high priest so?' he says, 1 did
not know he was the high priest he half
takes it back. Paul with all his impetu-
osity, holds himself thoroughly under con-
troll He has remarkable self-poiSe.
These qualities of courage, of po1se or
magnetism, of versatility receive perhaps
their most dramatic illustration in the dra-
matte story of his shipwreck-too long to
attempt TO tell in any detail at this close
of this evenings lecture. He is put on
board ship as prisoner He carries MS
two companions with him as body servants
He is at once made friends OF with the
centurion, who is taken into his counsel
when they debate whether they snail san
from a given port or not. But the centurion,
who is the commander Of this war snip,
this government ship, decides that they
shall set sail in spite of Paul, for the cap
tain of the ship cOunselS it. And the storm
comes on, they are in bitter stress or
weather and all hope is gone. Finally they
have come to that condition in which there
is utter despair. And then it is that this
little, bent, half blinded Greek, Roman Jew
goes about among the frightened sailors
and the frightened soldiers and says Have
courage; eat something; that is the first
thing And then when they have eaten
something Believe you will be saved. L
have had q vision and we are all going to
get to the shore And then when the
sailors contriVe to drop a boat over the side
of the ship that they may get into it and
get away it is PaulS eyes (perhaps he was
not as blind after all as they thought he
Was) that detect the fact, and he is the
one who says to the centurion, If these
sailors leave the ship there is no safety for
any one,' and with sharp cut of his sword
the rope is severed and the boat drops and
drifts into the night. And when they land
catches hold of Paul's prm he just shakes
it off into the fire again and is not troubled.
This man is no figure on which philos-
Ophy hangs like clothes on skeleton in
dry goods window. He is a living man,
with culture, with refinement, with courage,
with versatility, with magnetism and with
the heroism which comes of an earnest pur-
pose and a profound faith.
I'm order to understand letters we must
understand the person written to as well as
the person writing. Next Sunday evening
/ shall attempt to give you some general
description of the primitive churches, and
then these Introductory lectures will have
come to an end and we shall be ready to
take up the epistles. one by one and read
them, interpreting them in the light of the
views which 1 have tried to give you of
the character of Paul. the writer, and the
character of the churches written to. At
the close of this service i will remain for
any questioning which we will have, as last
Sunday night, in the church"