The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-15
THE INTERNATIONAL
 SUNDAY-SCHOoL LESSON.
The First Quarters, Lesson vii: Acts
 v, 33-42: February 16, 1902.
The Second Persecution.


 The Church had it's planting amid stirr- ing scenes> and astonishing scenes-the as tension of Jesus: the descent of the Spirit; the dauntless preaching of the Apostles; the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful; the unexanpled. seif. leaving love and charity of the Christians. That lovely colonnade, com meniy called Solomon's Porch, had be- and inquirers. and mulrtu1es resorted there to see and hear. Miracles of heal ing were multiplied, and the fame of the new faith swept far beyond the suburbs of Jerusalem. The highways were crowd minding one of Judcan feasttime. And. although there were already ten thousand converts to the Nazarine. the number increased daily.
 None could be 50 blind as not to recog- tined to revolutiontze the current reiig- fous thought of Judea, if not of the world. The Hebrew hierarchy could not eo%sr Rsy w1sss o sssoS ss s H"a ancient et prestige. They had not the Baptists grace to say, Tt must increase while We decrease" They were filled with envy. They studied how to check the rising tide,- They were ill~adyised enough to take that oft-tried but ever unsuc- cessful method of persecution. they cast the apostles into the common prison.
 The next morning the Sanhedrin met
 
 and the best that interruptions and en- vious minds could invent. Part of 1t was 10 overawe the Gaiilean peasants with the pomp and circumstance of the court retinue, and the full Council and Senate of Israel There sat the Sanhedrin in horseshoe form. so that every eye could scan the accused without obstruction.
 But bewiidering surprise was in store for the court. During the night there had been an angelic jail delivery. The officers returned to the courtroom empty handed. Their report of the condition in which they found the prison left no man. ner of doubt but that the means by which the prisoners had escaped were supernatural. The embarrassing confu- sion of the situation was augmented by the report, that moment brought in, to the effect that the escaped prisoners. in stead of trying to hide themselves. were actually standing in the temple and teaching.
 The Apostles were not rearrested. In- stead. they were politely escorted into the judgment hall. The studied plan of prosecution was found impracticabie un- der the changed conditions. The tables are strangely turned. The court pleads. There is deprecating, almost beseeching strain In the high priests address He inadvertently compliments the courage and Zeal of the apostles, which had in so short time filled Jerusalem with the ing horror at the blood of Jesus which they had once so vociferously impre- cated.
 Peter. with incomparable courage. nails hedrin the crime of having slain the Mes sfah, now risen and exalted as a saving Prince, of whom they and the Holy Ghost were witnesses. But with the same voice he tells. as ever in the Gospel. of the gift of repentance and forgiveness.
 But the repentance of the Sanhedrin was legal only. They feared the conse- quences. and would fain rid themselves of further trouble and danger by staying the witnesses of Jesus also. Providence < used the commanding influence and po- lite address of St. Paul's old teacher, Gamaliel, surnamed "the Beauty of the Law to screen the Apostles from immi- nent peril.
 One is apt to almost overlook the pass ing statement, 'and beaten them." or at least not to appreciate its full signifi- cance-the inhumanity and terrible se- verity of the punishment It may have been the bastinado, the knotted scourge. or the "scorpion' At all events, the Apostles left the judgment-hall bathed In blood. yet happy-o how happy!-re-
 Not speak in the name of Jesus" As well might the sanhedrin bid the sun stop shining. or the tide rising. A light destined to enlighten the nations was malicious power of man or devil could quench or check the other.
 The Teachers Ltntern.
 The implacable character of religious jealousy illustrated in the attitude of the Hebrew hierarchy toward Christianity. The number and severity of religious prosecutions Their invariable and his- toric impotence.
 The brilliancv of Christianitys planting Supernatural signs and wonders. Signif- icant and beneficent miracles. The tire less zeal and dauntless courage of the apostles.
 The spirit of conservatism seeks its historic justification in the address of Gamaliel But 1t should be remembered that his words are not inspired. insplra- ton only insuring their faithful record. They are not even approved by a sacred ansalist. His words though apparently the very embodiment of practical sa- gacity are really fallacious. The course he advised might be allowed as relates to minor errors. Many a public folly has been given an undue dignity by persecu- tion. which. If left alone. would have come to nothing. But graver errors, known to be such. are to be opposed: while the truth. known to be such. is to be upheld at any cost. The Christian re- liRion. even in Gamaliel's day had aI-