Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-06-20

OF wine and licentlous ahSctions! VIVA
Is thy life before God ana man in q
true domestic sense. Hast thou, u
immoral leper, n Drusilla sitting by
thy slider If thou hast, then Paul IS
preaching unto thee righteousness and
temperance and judgment to come
Thou canst not stop thine ears to hl,
,arralgnment any more than David
could ignore Nathan or Herod ignore
John the Baptist or Felix could tenn
porize with Paul. L. thy domestic lif'
n morally pure. clean life? That Ii
what God Is asking thee today. Better
crush that hideous skeleton Of stu
which thou hast hidden away in thy
closet Crush It in Gods name, and
crush 1t now
Felix Was Corrupt.
But Felix had more than the sin O.
llbcrtinism laid at his door. lie was,
like PLATE, officially corrupt. He was
ready TO sell his soul, his honor, his
onth of office. He was ready 10 sell
everybody about him and anything
that he owned for money or position.
lie knew. after he had heard the argu
ments, that there was no case against
Paul. Every sense Of justice demand.
ed that he should say to the prisoner,
Paul thou art free" But he kept
Paul for two long years in prison be.
cause he Felix was a financial robbeT
and wanted a bride to release Paul
from his prison bars
Can't you today picture the merce
nary RIGHTEOUSNESS of this Roman gov
ernor? The Bible reads thus "Us
hoped also that money should be giver
him Of Paul that he might loose him
wherefore he sent for him the oftepe.
and communed with him" What does
that mean; Every little while Fel1
turns to one of his officers and says
Bring out Paul and let me talk t,
him" Paul comes forth rafting in hil
chains. Felix turns and says paul
shall I release theef Why should d,
IT." Then the great apostle, the grca
orator. begins to show his innocence
He says: Why, governor, | have done
nothing. Why should you keep me II
jailI | have done nothing contrary Il
the law" Felix was perfectly aware O,
friends. some of whom were wealthy,
and he thought that by keeping tn,
case undecided some Of them would
come forward with a brtbe. But If b,
limited that idea to Paul we may be
sure it was Sldignantly secuted. Pau
preached to him. and as he reasoned
Of righteousness. temperance and judg
mont to come Felix trembled and an.
swered: Go thy way for This time
| When have convenient season will
call for thee, o my God, are soma
! of lis ;'''- ne our backs upon thee be,
cause, like Felix of Old the palms OF
| orr hands are tainted with dishonest
| gold?
The character Of Felix is q type that
rea ches far beyond governors and
judges in the present day There are
men in Office who would not accept a
bride. but they would be influenced by
the prospect of political preferment.
| They assess lightly the man whose
friendship they wish to gain; they ia
vor the men who can help them for
ward have known oven ministers
who shrank from denouucing certain
sins from the pulpit for fear they
should offend their influential hearers.
Modern Instances.
Felix trembled for his political pros
poets. We ell despise the hedger. the
trimmer, the man who is not willing
bravely to defy the powers that be and
dcnounce and rectify wrong, no mat
ter where he may End IT, Just read the
last verse Of this chapter Of Acts. What
do you find there? We find that Gov.
ernor Felix kept Paul in jail for two
long years for unjust cause. He kept
him there like the French government
held Captain Dreyfus on Devils island.
! Then. when the new governor WAS ep-
pointed, he handed over Paul a prison
or to him Why? The Bible tells usI
And Felix, TO show the Jews Il pleas
ure. left Paul bound" All" I can
hear that cowardly political governor
say, these Jews have a large political
influence. I must not do anything to
make thom angry with me. Therefore
will keep Paul in jail and hand him
over to my successor and he can de-
eide his case, and then will make nc
enemies unnecessarily DO You won
der that when Paul denounced Felix b.
made him cringe? Do You wonder also
that when Paul is denouncinC some OF
rs for our cowardly actions in life he
is making some Of US cringe as we'll?
No" you say II anu 10 coward
No one holds the whip hand over me.
You are not talking fairly when you
compare me to Felix" Am | not!
Why. my friend, you are such polit
ical coward that you are afraid to cal
your soul your own. and you know It..
II you arc not political coward, then
why do you not put on your hat aud
walk out OF the store where you are
employed? You know your employer
is not an honest man. You know that
some OF the goods you sell are MOI
marked right. Why are you staying
there unless you are Il party TO his
crime? II you are not political cow
ard. then why did you not turn your
glass down the other night at that
banquet and be brave enough TO say,
Boys, do not drink because | do not
believe 1t is right TO drink" II you
are not a political coward, then why