The Yale expositor., 1909-10-08
Paul a Prisoner
The Plot
Sunday School Lesson for Oct. 10, 1909
Specially Arranged for This Paper
Specially Arranged for This Paper

my God; in him will / trust."-Psa. 9l2.
TIME.-May. A. ID. 81 or 5s.
PLACE.-Castle Antonio in Jerusalem.
The way between Jerusalem and Cesarea.
A prison in Cesarea.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
Storm clouds and their silver lining
The darkness deepens, oh, abide
with me.
]. Darkness and Storm from the
Jewish Rulers. Acts %: 30-23:5.
Paul Cited Before the Roman Author
tiles and the Jewish Sanhedrim. The
next morning after our last lesson the
puzzled commandant summoned the
Jewish rulers to meet him.
Paul's defense. Paul did not at this
time use his accustomed tact and
courtesy. But, with one unconscious
exception, for which he apologized
like Christian gentleman, he did not
utter a discourteous word.
He spoke as a man to his equals.
Charged with crimes, he denied them
in toto. This was no time for con-
Tossing any failures of reaching abso-
lutte perfection before God, as in his
letters to the Ephesians (Eph 3:S)
and to the Corinthians Il Cor. 15:9).
All that would have been entirely mis-
understood. Paul had no mock hui
mility, no Uriah Heep humbleness He
stated the simple fact. ". u Ear
nestly beholding," looking steadfact-
ly on" 1.-THE council" as if he would
look into their Utmost souls, he de-
clared. II have lived" Greek, "lived
as citizen" obeying the laws of the
empire, and fulfilling his duties as a
Roman citizen. He was faithful COW
enant member of the commonwealth
of God to which the other Jews, in
Guiding the members of the Sanhe-
drim, belonged. "He lived as true
and loyal Jew" His record was his
defense. And this 'in all good con-
science before God" However men
may misjudge him. by their false
standards or in ignorance of the facts.
he is right in the sight of God, and
acquitted ''in a higher tribunal than
that of the Sanhedrim or or Caesar"
2. The Silver Lining to the Clouds.
VS.. Gil. The First Rays. To Di-
vide and Conquer came to Paul while
he was explaining his teachings and
his work in words of which the rec
ord is the barest epitome. He per-
ceived a difference of opinion among
the rulers. The two leading parties
were almost as much opposed to one
another as they were to the Chris
tians.
The Result was that the council
came to no decision as to the charge
against Paul.
The Second Ray of Light came from
Christ Himself 2 During "the night
following the Lord" the glorifled Je-
sus. stood by" Paul as he had at Cor
NTH (Acts 1879, 1O), and as he did
again two years later in the storm at
sea (Acts 27:2D, showing that he was
his ever-present helper, as the electric
flash reveals the continual presence
of the unseen electric power.
g. Another Storm Cloud. An Ingen-
ious Plot to Kill Paul.-Vs 1915.
II. Certain of the Jews (more than
40 ". 49,, bound themselves
under curse" They invoked the
curse of God upon them if they should
"eat or drink until they had killed
Paul"
The Plan was to ask Lysias to bring
Paul down from the barracks in the
castle of the Sanhedrim hall. under
pretense of examining him further. A
small guard would seem sufficient.
They would excite a tumult, murder
Paul and represent the murder as a
mere accidental incident.
A. The Silver Lining. The Plot Made
Known. The Result Was That Paul
Was Sent Safely on His Way Toward
Rome.-Vs. 1886. Paul's Nephew.
THE narrative gives the impression
that he was quite young man." 1t
is uncertain how he came to be in Je-
rusalem, or how he discovered the
plot.
The youth told Paul what he had
learned. Paul asked centurion TO
take the youth to commander Lysias.
who Immediately laid his plans to foil
the plot
Commander Lysias was more In
sympathy with Paul than with the tur-
bulent Jews who gave so much
trouble to the Roman authorities.
He assembled a guard of 200 infan-
try. the ordinary Roman soldiers, 200
spearmen, a special class of light
armed soldiers, and a band of 40 cav
alrymen. They started secretly at
nine o'clock in the evening, 1.-THE third
hour of the night" ". 49, for Cesa-
rea, the Roman capital of Judea, the
seaport from which Paul embarked
for Rome two years later. They car
ried a letter from Claudius Lysias to
Felix the governor. The whole caval
cade. went a little more than half the
whole distance. when they came to
Antipatris, fortress and pleasant
place of residence built by Herod the
Great in the plain of Sharon. The
foot soldiers went no farther, but re.
turned the next day to Jerusalem
The great desire of Paul's heart
was assured. Death nor prison. nor
Jews, nor Romans could prevent. His
work was so approved of God that he