The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-09
PRISONS AND PLOTS FOR PAUL
Lesson October 10 Is Paul Prsoner-The PlotActs
 30-xxii 35.

III. 50 through summer heat and win ter cold the man spent his Sabbath mornings on the steps of the church.
 Because he had been foolish one min
 ute. he felt that he was obliged to continue so indefinitely. Every politi- cal campaign reveals a crop of these rash and absurd pledges. Among fool
 ish vows that were also iniquitous.
 this one of the forty Jews who bound
 themselves neither to eat nor drink
 until they had killed Paul takes the front rank. It was an 'unwise vow ! and an -un-Mosaic vow. even though ostensibly made Tn the interest of the l law of Moses. The glaring inconsis- tency of this never appealed to the forty, or their colleagues, for some hhow bigotry and passion seemed al- ways to lack sense of humor.
 Low Politics in High Places.
 Once a man begins to follow policy rather than principle. or ambition
 rather than truth, he sets out on a
 way whose end he cannot forsee. A tragic life story was revealed in Penn sylvania a few weeks ago by the maud lin confession of a 20-year- suicide. At the age of 10 he began to steal money from his mother. He increased his thefts throughout the years. i'm poverishing his parents, until finally he wound up by murdering his mother.
 
 court as he has been for months in the pillory of public scorn. a college man whose religious and artistic ideals were famous because, rather than travel the toilsome way of industry to success. he made alliances with cor rupt politicians, Now he has won na- tional notoriety by, the accusations of graft made against him. Even more tragic Is the case of the ministers who once were noble messengers of the Word and shepherds Of Gods flock. who have degenerated into ecclesiasti- cal politicians. Some of them have attained high office, but at the expense of their honor and spiritual integrity. For they have made compromises which have been as the selling of their souls
 Astounding as 1t may seem, 1t was vet not inconsistent with their recor9 that the high court of justice and re- ligion of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. should lend itself to the murderous plot of these forty ruffians. We find that the Council entered heartily into the diabolical scheme which aimed to encompass the death of an untried prisoner. Such were the men who were supposed to be the spiritual ex- amples and leaders and expounders of truth for the Jewish people! Indeed. 1t is safe counsel in all times for the plain people to guard zeaiously the purity of the highest offices of the church.
 The scheme was a plausible one. and
 it looked to the plotters as If naught
 could foil it. With forty pairs of
 hands ready to be dipped into Paul's
 hlood. and with the ecclesiastical and social and official power of Jewry ready to deliver him within reach of those hands Paui's chance of escape seemed indeed small. But there were other human factors not reckoned on. In the long run, when man Is haroest
 pressed. he is likely to find help from
 his own kindred. Strangely enough,
 the Chritian Church in Jerusalem does not appear in this narrative when Peter was in prison we find that 1t was in turmoil, and prayer was made With out ceasing On this occasion we are
 not told that the church used It's hu-
 man or its spiritual influence Tor Pauls rescue. It was nephew Of Paul's. the son of his own sister, young. alert. and active. who caught tnis whis- pered story of the intended assassina- tion of his uncle. Forty mems secret is no secret. and 1t Is not surprising
 that a "leak" developed.
 The youth behaved skilfuily. He took the story straight to Paul. The
 latter, a man of the world. knew that 1t was not a tale for underlings. so he secured an interview Witn tno cum mander for the young man. The lat
 ter heard all the details. and then. placing the seal of silence on the nephaw's lips. sent him about his way. With Rome. to purpose was to act | Straightaway we hear the operation or the smooth running machinery of the
 Roman government. as Its wheels be- gin to turn preparatory to taking Paul to the capital Captain Lysias did not know 1t, but the most important work that ever came to his hand was the ! delivering of this victim of mob law one stage on his way to the Eternal City.
 As for the thwarted ecclesiasts and assassins, they were left to gnash their teeth in futile wrath and to find their own way out of that life-and- | death VOW, We may be sure that ras- calls with such powerful religious
 friends would not starve to death for my mere matter of sacred pledge.