The log cabin Democrat., 1909-10-09
Paul a Prisoner The Plot Sunday School Lesson for Oct. 10, 1909
 Specially Arranged for This Paper
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LOru ie IS my refuge anu my lOI tltSs, my God; in him will l trust."-Psa. 9l:2 | TIME-May, A. D. 57 or 5S.
 | PLACE.-Castle Antonia in Jerusalem. l 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.
 I. Darkness and Storm from the Jewish Rulers. Acts 22: 30-23:5 Paul Cited Before the Roman Author ities 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 discourteous word.
 He spoke as man to his equals Charged with crimes, he denied them in toto. This was no time for con- fessing any failures of reaching abso- lute perfection before God, as in his letters to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:8) and to the Corinthians q Cor. 15:9). All that would have been entirely mis- understood. Paul had no mock hu mility, no Uriah Heep humbleness. He stated the simple fact. (v. 1) Ear nestly beholding," looking steadfact- ly on" "the council" as if he would look into their inmost souls, he de- clared, "I have lived" Greek, lived as citizen" obeying the laws of the empire, and fulfilling his duties as a Roman citizen. He was a faithful GOV enant member of the commonwealth of God to which the other Jews, in- cluding the members of the Sanhe- drim, belonged. He lived as true and loyal Jew" His record was his defense. And this Fin 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. 6-11. 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 | tO olo against Paul.
 The Second Ray of Light came from Christ Himself 9 During the night following the Lord" the glorifed Je- sus, "stood by" Paul as he had at Cor inth (Acts 1S:9, 10), and as he did again two years later in the storm at sea (Acts 27:24D, showing that he was his ever-present helper, as the electric flash reveals the continual presence of the unseen electric power.
 3. Another Storm Cloud. An Ingen- ious Plot to Kill Paul.-Vs. 12-15. 12. Certain of the Jews (more than 40 (v. 13), . bound themselves under a 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 Sanfedrim 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
 4. The Silver Lining The Plot Made Known. The Result Was That Paul Was Sent Safely on His Way Toward Rome-Vs. 1885. Paul's Nephew. The narrative gives the impression that he was quite a young man" It 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 a 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, special class of light armed soldiers, and a band of 70 cay alrymen. They started secretly at nine o'clock in the evening, the third hour of the night" (v. 23), for Cesa- req, 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 Feix the governor. The whole caval- cade went little more thal half the whole distance, when they came to Antipatris, a 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 nromised him a larger and more difF-