The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-04-10

! the last glimpse, save one, we snail
have of the Apostle Peter, in this Sc
ries of lessons. Five years or more
had elapsed since he had preached to
Cornelius. Again we find him in Jer-
usalem, where it seems most of the
other apostles persisted in living. The
church at Jerusalem was apparently
less prosperous than it had been some
years previous. Certainly there had
been restitution and real want among
the membership, which had been re-
leved by the contributions of the
Gentle saints at Antioch.
The Herod mentioned in the first
verse of the lesson is Herod Agrippa,
and was a grandson of that Herod
who more than forty years before had
killed all the babies in Bethlehem
that were under two years old, hop
ing thereby to destroy the infant Je'
sus. He had lately become ruler over
all of Palestine, and he was very anx-
ious to curry favor with the rich and
influential Jews. The James, whom
he killen with the sword, was the older
of the two sons of Nebedee, whom
Jesus surnamed Sons of Thunder"
On one occasion these two brothers
e I,O loo q fbn,-
sit, one on his right hand and one on
his left, when he came into his king
dog, and boosted that they were able
to drink the cup that he drank of, and
to be baptized with the same baptism
whereWith he was baptized. Both of
them belonged to the inner circle Of
three. among the twelve. James was
the first among the apostles to wear
a martyrs crown, while his brother,
if tradition can be relied on, was
the only one of the number that died
a natural death. They were the first
and the last of the personal following
to occupy the places that had been
prepared for them in the house OF
many mansions.
When Herod beheaded James he
saw it pleased certain Jews so well,
that he resolved to Stay another noted
leader. 1t may be that Peter had just
arrived in the city, having come to
the passover, and was apprehended on
his arrival. At any rate, because the
Jews were opposed to having execu-
tions occur during the feast, Herod
decided to wait until after the pass
over, before he put him to death. 1t
may be that some one told Herod how
Peter and the other apostles had gone
out of prison, with the doors all lock
ed, and the guards all in their places,
some ten or twelve years before, and
so he resolved to take extra precau
tions.
Sixteen men were detailed to guard
him. They were divided into foul
"reliefs;" so that no one was on duty
more than three hours during the
twenty-four. This would entirely re
move every excuse for sleeping o.
the post of duty. One soldier was
chained to each of Peters arms, sc
they had to walk, or sit or lie, three
of them abreast, with Peter in the
middle. And l think a right-hande
man would be chained to Peters right
hand, and a left-handed one to his
left; so the free arm of each soldie1
would be the one most expert in the
use of a weapon. The other two sol
diers of that relief" stood guard a
the inner and outer doors of the pris
on.
The church was praying earnestly
for Peter during all these days, bu
we are not told that they prayed fol
! his escape from prison. The night
/ before he was to be led for tn to ex
ecution (for his conviction was al
ready determined ON, Peter slept
soundly in his cell. Suddenly a light
oIlOLc III inc piloOli, anu elil dll5Cl vi
God" smote Peter on the side, awoke
him out of his sleep, and commanded
him to get up The chains fell from
his hans, and he was hidden to dress
himself, and follow his deliverer Out
from the cell, past the other two
guards, and through the great iron
gate that opened on the street, he fol
lowed his guide, not knowing whether
he was in the body or not. On the
street, he followed his guide, not
knowing whether he was in the body
or not. On the street, after the angel
had left him, he came to himself, ana
realized that a great misacle had been
wrought in his deliverance.
At once he went to the house OF
Mary, the mother of John Mark, where