The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-09

lS1on or the Jews, the Sanhedrln,
| should lend itself to the murderous
plot of these forty ruffians. We find
that the Council entered heartily in
to 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! In
| deed it is safe counsel in all times
! for the plain people to guard zeal
ously the purity of the highest Of
| fices of the Church.
A Relative to the Rescue.
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
blood, and with the ecclesiastical and
social power of Jewry ready to deliver
| him within reach of those hands,
Paul's chance of escape seemed indeed
small. But there were other human
factors not reckoned on. In the long
run, when a man is hardest pressed,
he is likely to find help from his own
Kindred. Strangely enough, the Chris
tan Church in Jerusalem does not APP
| pear in this narrative. When Peter
| was in prison we find that it was in
| turmoil, and prayer was made without
| ceasing. On this olcasion we are TOLD
/ that the Church used its human or its
| spiritual influence for PauPs rescue.
1t was a nephew of Pauls, the son Of
, his own sister, young, alert, and active,
who caught this whispered story of the
| intended assassination of his uncle.
Forty mems secret is no secret, and it
| IS not surprising that a leak" de-
veloped.
The youth behaved ski1fully. He
| took the story straight to Paul. The
| latter, a man of the world, knew that
! it was not a tale for the underlings,
so he secured an interview With the
commander for the young man. The
latter heard all the details, and then,
placing the seal of silence on the
nephew's lips, sent him about his way.
The Flight by Night.
With Rome, to purpose was to act:
Straightway we hear the operation of
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 de-
livering of this victim of mob law one
stage on his way to the Eternal City.
That same night, and with incredible
swiftnesS and silence, two hundred in
fantryrnen, seventy troopers, and two
hundred lancers were equipped to ac-
company Paul to Caesarea. What
court of honor for the lowly prisoner!
With them they bore a letter to Felix,
the Governor of Caesarea, explaining
the case. That was a mere detail
that did not bother Paul. He was on
the way to the fulfilment of his mis-
sion. AS he would put it, ct press to-
ward the mark" Nothing else count
ed. His beatings and stonings and i'm
prisonments were incidents quickly to
be forgotten. He was bound for Rome
where, as the promise assured him. he
should preach Christ at the center Of
the world.
AS for the thwarted ecclesiastics
and assassins. they were left to gnash
their teeth in futile wrath and to find
their own way out of that Ife-and-
death vow. we may be sure that ras-
Gals with such powerful religious
friends would not starve to death for
any mere matter of a sacred pledge.
The Preachers Place and Helpers.
Terse Comments for October 10. How
Can We Help Our Pastor?" Elk.
17:8-13.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
The Church and the world are both
ruzzling over the proper place of the
preacher in these changed times. Once !
he was accepted as the leading man
of the community. Everybody, in and
out of the Church, looked up to him.
Public men gave careful heed to his
opinions Lawmakers feared his re-
Duke. Honor and power were freely |
accorded to the minister of the gospel. |
But that day seems to have passed. |
Broadly speaking, the world disregards |
the pulpit, or speaks angrily of the at |
tempts of preachers to mingle in re- |
form movements. Even in the church |
the pastor is nowadays often regarded |
more as an employee than as a shep- |
herd and teacher. Reverence for his |
office has been greatly diminished. The |
situation is one of importance. and of |
interest to the community at large. 1t |
is well that the Christian Endeavor
societies are to consider some of the |
factors involved in it.
The man who speaks a positive mes
sage of spiritual truth is the final |
voice of authority.
The cure of souls is the career be-
hind which all others follow.
A man who has nothing to say to
the hearts of his fellow men has never
been called to preach the gospel.
The "modernization" of the ministry
has been one of the reasons for its
decadence. Instead of being shepherds
of souls and oracles of God, many min
lsterS have felt forced to yield to the
days tendency to become "al1-round
men"--which means, usually, being ex-
perts in organization, parish admin
istrations, errand boys for multiu-
ornaments, hail fellows we'll met with
all the other men in town, and, also,
in the way of politicians
and sportsmen. The progressive"
quiet mornings with books: he must
Keep "office hours like a business
man. He cannot peer quietly into the
souls of humanity: he is so driven with
petty cares that he scarcely knows
whether he has a soul of his own. No
onger does he dwell apart from men,
hat he may come back to them with
4 message of the unseen verities. YER
satile and skilful and busy to a degree
hat would have astonished the preach
ers of an earlier day, yet the modern
minister seems often to have lost that
note of truths gertrude, and of spir-
tual EXPERIENCES, which, after all, is the
supreme value of a minister of the
rnSnR1 |