The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-28
\ MAN AND HIS ENEMIES
The International Sunday-SchoOl Les
son for october ; is paul q Pris-
Oner-the Arrest Acts 2~1:17-22:29.
d. N1-il1iona II, INIIic
BY William T. Ellis.

OISt-tllS IAITt--. Z 80
By William 7. Ellis.
In our quiet. commonplace life,
safe-guarded at every point by the ap-
planes of civilization, few OF us
know what IT is to experience q great
adventure. 1t is out Of the depths OF
our nature. therefore, that we hail
such explorers as Cook and ShackletOn
and Peary and Sven Hadin, who have
been at close grips with death, facing
it as q familiar foe. Used as we are TO
the Apostle Paul merely as the author
Of great New Testament writings, we
forget that he was one OF these he
roic, adventurous spirits who, turning
their backs upon ease, have dared all
the buffetings Of perilous fortune Paul
had almost grown accustomed to the
shouts Of murderOus mObS. He we'll
knew the feel Of rough hands clutch
ing his clothes n his bOdy-and any
one who has ever felt that sensation
is not likely to forget it. He knew.
as some sheltered persons know the
careSses Of I'VE ones, the stunning
blows Of tones thrown with deadly in
tent.
SO it vas no great shock to him
when the moo cry suddenly arose
around his ears in Jerusalem. He
might haxe expected ease and com
fort at this homecoming. Once again
he was amid his brethren at the CAPT
tai Of his nation. Surely he had left be-
AAtiiO, Oh his StOIt lily lIdSclS. Inc penis
n strife that had so often brought
him nigh to death. But Paul was
one Of truths adventurers, and moth
ing ever surprised him. He was pre-
pared for any contingency.
The Value of Foes.
Some valiant teachers have pointed
out the usefulness to every man Of q
few enemies. They teach him to keep
his senses alert. and they cultivate
his powers of self-restraint and re-
sourcefulness. Because Of them he
must live Watchfully, and prepared for
any onset. Probably these teachers are
right in assuming hat a life in the
midst of alarms is preferable to the
soft and easy lot which seeks sedulgrs-
~ to avoid offence to evils as ~: IS
TO good.
tSe point hOuld ever BE borne in
mind with reSpect to enemies: Let all
ones enemies be for truths sake, and
not on ccount OF ones own personal
m~e2nness. Some men have enemies
because their character provoke the
Indignation of all wholesome-minded
persons. They are disliked because
they are ~unlikable. No doubt there are
crooked sticks, tagged with a religious
label, who think that they are perse-
cuted for righteousness shake, when
1t IS only scorn Of their own perversi-
ties that touches them. Paul was
personally a lovable and attractive
man. He was not hated for himself,
but only for the cause that had been
~lncarnated in his life. His foes were
the toes OF truth and righteousness
and liberty.
The Mob Spirit.
Men who are individually sensible
yet lose their heads in a crowd. The
WitleSsness of mobs is rs ppare as
their laWlesSness. 1t is seldom indeed
that a mob does r~ighteousiy. The old
over writer shrewdly diagnosed
human nature when he pade the read
er not to follow a multitude to do
eVli' Muitltudes are prone to evil.
The mob is unsafe because it lacks
balance, self-restraint. and Judgment
The cry upon which the Apostle Pau
was mobbed as he went I'D to the
Jerusalem temple, after his three mis-
s1ohary vas actually a mis-
taken one. But then it is not uncom-
mon in this Western world for the
wrong men to be lyncned. Paul was
accused Of p%rofaning the emple,
whereas he had really done no such
thing.
The worst foe Of Justice and civili-
zation is h moi spirit. It is a. re-
turn to unrestrained barbarism. A
current magazine article points out
Britain's great glory by contrasting
legal procedure on the two sides Of
the Canadian border. Wherever Brit
fish law runs, there goes respect for
orderly legal processes. Private VEN
delta cannot exist under the British
flag. So important to our times is
this truth Of the sanctity Of the law,
that it needs to be taught in Sunday
schools as of more worth than many
plous remarks that suggest them
selves in connection with this lesson.
If the next generation is to rise above
the laWleSsneSS which has
lied the present one. they must learn
how and why in the Sunday schools
and public schools Of today.
Rome to the Rescue.
Paul was in the hands of a mol
bent on killing him. We can almost
hear the tunult Of thac rab-
BILE. The rOar which is the voice of
all nobs in action, SO that whoever
has heard it once can never mistake