Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-23

ceive forgiveness of sins and inherit
ance among them which are sanctifcd
by faith. This was the secret OF his
conversion; this the source Of his zeal
and the explanation of his life 1t was
the gospel which Moses preached That
Christ should suffer and that He should
be the. first that should rise from the
dead and should show light unto the
people and the gentiles." Such was the
sermon. What it's effect upon the other
members Of his audience was We have
no means of knowing; but the two men
most prominent among them showed
Dy their language the impression that
the sermon had made upon them. These
were Festus and Agrippa.
festus was a thorough Roman. In
otner words. he was a heather. Like
most OF the prominent men Of his time.
he had little or no religion He would
doubtless have cast incense upon the
altar where sacrifice was offered 10
caesar. But beyond that, 1t Is probable.
ms thoughts did not go. What could a
man IKE Festus make of such a sermon
as Paurs? He saw that Paul was
learned. He was a man Of wide reading:
put he was utterly impracticable. He
mad so given himself to philosophical
specuiations and metaphysical disouisi
tons that he had become a dreamer and
was mad Unable to restrain himself
restus interrupted the sermon. by ex-
claiming. Paul, thou art beside thyseIf:
hiuch learning doth make thee mad"
!. How quickly Paul showed that while he
coulo soar to heaven his feet never left
tne earth. am not mad. most nobl.
testus, but speak forth words of trutI,
-ano soDerhess. The incident shows how
utterly lncomprehensible the position and
teaching OF Paul are to one of Fesf >.
training. The things of the spirit .
spiritually discerned The effect of
sermon upon Festus was probably sill. de
not criminal. His rawlings as he deemed
tneH, Old not amount to an mira ction OF
the Roman law, but beyond that he did
not think them worthy of consideration.
Asrippa was a man of different train
ing and with broader views He was /.
Jew AS such he was doubtless acauaini-
ed with the life and teachings of our
Lord. The tragic death of Christ was
widely known. The story of His resur-
recllon had been discussed through all
Judea. Besides, Agrjppa was the SON of
Herod Agrippa, who slew James and i'm
prisoned Peter. He had a palace i'm Jern-
salem. and SO he must have been familiar
with the leading events which marked tho
beginning OF Christianity
But the Herods were a corrupt and cruel
family. They were magnificent and clever
Their chief purpose in life was To SWAY
the baton OF power and to indulge to the
1ull the desires of their carnal nature.
Drusilla, the sister of Agrippa, had left
her husband to become the wife of Felix.
a Gentle. Such men as Herod are not
easily moved. Preaching to them is like
pio"iiS diiu SoN lHS On the rock. Agrip-
pa s. response to the question OF Paul has
long been misleading. The authorized
version reads: almost thou persuadest
me to be Christian" The revised ver-
sion renders it more correctly: with
but little persuasion thou wouldst fau
make me Christian This is the Ian
guage of ridicule and sarcasm. AS though
he had said: You are supposing that
accept these words Of the prophets in the
same sense as you do, and you are fool
for your pains to think that with so little
trouble and in so short space you can
win me over to your side. And such A
side, To be Christian.
But neither ridicule nor sarcasm could
change the responsiveness of Pauls
speech His reply is memorable II would
to God that not only thou, but also all
that hear me this day, vert both almost
and altogether such as | am, except these
bonds Nothing more gentle and dig
nified has ever fallen from human lips.
After this but verdict was possible
This man might have been set at liberty
IL he had not appealed unto Caesar"
Thus the gospel is seen to be a revealer
of human character. Paul. in all condi-
lions and under all circumstances il seen
to be saint; while Festus and Agrippa
are made to stand forth as types of the
hardened and impenitent