Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-20
PAUL'S PREACHING
WAS SENSATIONAL.
Minister Should Be Most Gen
erally-Discussed Man
in Town
tBy William T. Ellis)
THE ORATOR AND THE KING


Oriental pomp and pageantry con-
front the Sunday schools as they en-
ter the great audience hall OF Gov
ernor Festus, on the special occasion
of formal appearance of King Herod |
Agrippa II and his wife Bernice, who |
was also his full sister Lovers of
show and state were all the Herods-
they gave more heed to the outward
form than the inner integrities. They
were courtiers alike OF the Jews and
Of Rome, cloaking their selfish ambi-
tions and unscrupulous intrigues be-
doSy. The sumptuously robed monarch.
and his beautiful wife. blazing with
jewels OF state, looked the part OF Ro-
mans rather than Jews. 1t was such
occasions OF ceremony as this. when all
the lick-spittle officialdom of Caesarea
jaded Herod blood
Did the proud king and his wife re-
call, as they confronted the manacled
prisoner who had been brought before
them TO crafty their curiosity. that
II was in this very city that their faith
er, Herod Agrippa I, who had slain the
Apostle James with the sword, had died
a horrible death. smitten in his pride
as he paraded himself god? And did
their thoughts go back to their great
grandfather. Herod the Great. who had
vainly sought to slay in childhood the
infant Jesus. after whom all these
Christians were named? A sort of dire
judgment seemed TO attend the contact
OF the Herods with all who were as
sociated with this new religion. Did
Agrippa and Bernice recall their great
uncle Herod Antipas who had slain John
the Baptist. at the behest Of a dancing
sirl? The king and queen were not
without imagination, and their facing
OF the foremost Christian OF the CAV
did not leave them wholly comfortable
even II he were but a prisoner, with
fetters on his wrist and ankles
Little would the world to-day know
or care about the whole tribe of Her
DDS. were it not for their connection
with Christian history. Gone l. Cae-
sarea, the scene OF the stately Herods in
triumphs. The allied warships that
patrol the coast OF Palestine to-day
waste never shot upon it. Gone
too, is. Rome, with all her might. while
the messages OF Paul and the spiri-
tual forces which he represented are
world. The world passeth away. and
the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
vii! OF God abideth forever"
The Preacher as a Sensation
Those jaded Jewish Roman poten-
tates. who sought a new sensation bv
hearing Paul, have their counterparts
In modern society leaders who lionize
evangelists. Billy Sundays ovation in
ar
and social leaders. rather brings the
matter down to date. Thank God for
the men who have made the sospel a
sensation; who have set cities by the
ears who like Savonarola, have been
preachers Of righteousness to entire
communities. The preacher should be
the most generally-discusse man in
town His words should set the people |
talking about the truth he breaches. |
But woe unto him IL he yield to the
temptation to be a mere entertainer
seeker after notoriety and social po- |
sition. II We have one gospel for the |
rich and another for the poor; If he
be afraid to speak in Dame Society's
parlor the message he delivers in the
rescue mission. then ne is an unworthy
wearer OF the name Of the minister of |
the gospel
This man Paul never swerved or hesi
tated or compromised when he stood |
before King Agrippa- His Grafton was
almost the high-water mark of his re-
corded utterances Essentially though
It was the same old speech that he had
been delivering up and down the land.
Because II is great and classic ut
terance, more impressive than any COM
menis upon it. the address is quoted
in full:
Famous Grafton
So Paul with outstretched arm pro-
seeded to make his defense.
The kind of life I have lived from
my youth upwards, as exemplifed in
my early days among my nation and
n Jerusalem. is known to all the Jews
For they all know me Of old-if they
would testify to the fact-how, being
IN inherent OF the strictest sect of our
-eligion. my life was that of a Pharisee
AND now stand here impeached because
u my nope in the fuilment of the
promise OF God to our forefathers-the
promise which our twelve tribes. vor-
shipping day and night with intense
ieyotedness, hope TO have made good
q them. 1t is on the suhiect 30 ,h,.