The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1916-10-06
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 8
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.


GOLDEN TEXT-Herein also exercise
myself to have conscience void OF Of
fense toward God and men always.-Acts
A:l6.
This is a court scene, and 1t might
be well with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such q
gathering. The lesson occurred five
days after the last lesson, and twelve
days after Paul reached Jerusalem
bearing the collection for the poor.
The place, Caesarea, was the Roman
capital Of Judea.
!. The Prisoners Examination (vv.
10y. In addition to the Roman gov.
ernor, Felix, attired in his gorgeous
official regalia, on platform nearby,
were the high priest of the Jews. in his
highly colored and jeweled robes, the
lawyer, Tertullus, in his Roman toga,
and the elders Of the Sanhedrin who
had come down from Jerusalem to be
witnesses against Paul. OF Tertullus
1t was said that. by his persuasive
tongue, he could make white seem
black, and could therefore more easily
make 1t appear that Paul was "a dan
ger to the Roman power, and not mere
ly turbulent and renegade jew" The
judge. Felix, was an exceptionally bad
governor, who two years later was re-
called by Nero to Rome. The infer
ence of verse two is that Paul was an
inciter Of rebellion and robberies, but
the exact charges were three-fold:
(See w. 5-6) (a) that Paul was q
mover Of insurrection (b) that he was
ringleader Of a sect Of Nazarenes
who were causing trouble in the prov
ince: and (c) that he had profaned the
Jewish temple at Jerusalem. The
charge of insurrection would be espe-
cially obnoxious to Felix who had just
been praised for keeping peace in his
dominion. That of being a leader of
heresy was not serious, for the Romans
had no desire to interfere between one
Jewish sect and another, but it led to
the last one, viz, profaning the tenn
pie. The Romans had legalized the
Jewish ritual, and for Paul to profane
the holy place would be a serious out.
rage. The weakness of Tertullus' case
was that he produced no evidence to
were there. but they had no witnesses.
II. The Prisoners Defense (vv. 1O-21).
Paul cheerfully made his defense for
he knew the Jews and their customs
and that Felix had married Jewess,
". 24). We might consider this de-
fense first negatively and then positive
ly. On the negative side, Paul answers
each charge seriatim. In the first
place there had not been time for him
to cause an insurrection ". ~. Going
back over these days; ~ his arrival
In Jerusalem (21 :15); (2) his appear
ance before James (21 :1s); e. 4, 5 and
81, the days Of his vow (Ch. 21 :26, 27) |;
T) his arrest; (S) his appearance be.
fore the Sanhedrin; (9) the conspiracy
and his deliverance; 90, IL, - and 13)
In Caesarea (See Oh. PAID. Paul's
statement showed that the whole story
Of his experience was fresh in the
memories of both friends and foes. 1t
was the Jews who did the stirring up
Paul answers the second charge by
acknowledging (vv. 14-16) that he be-
longed to the Christian way of saliva
ton. but denied that this was heresy
Paul was a true Jew and good
Pharisee, for (1) he worshiped the
same God ". 14); (2) he believed in
the Jewish law and prophets. From
them he knew he could prove that
Jesus was the Messiah. (3) He agreed
with the Pharisees ". 15) in hope to.
ward God, a resurrection from the
dead and immortal life. Paurs life was
"void Of offense" toward God in heart
and worship, and toward men as shown
In good deeds. 1t was for this that he
exercised himself Literally, he worked
upon the raw material, dlsciplining
and training 1t. Paul answers the third
charge by simple denial that it had
actually taken place, and calls for wit
nesses. Positively, Paul explains that
he had followed the God of his fathers,
that he believed in fulfilled prophecy
literally the resurrection of Jesus from
the dead-that he came to Jerusalem
with aims for the poor, and, as before
the council, he stands upon his in.
tegrity.
III. The Judges Delay (vv. 22-27).
Felix had more perfect knowledge
Of that way" We believe he had Sc
cured this knowledge from Philip, the
evangelist, and from Cornelius, the Ro-
man centurion, both Of whom lived in
Caesarea. By deferring his decision
Felix avoided an outrageous injustice
to Paul, and at the same time gave
serious Offense to the troublesome
Jews who knew of his evil conduct.
From verse twenty-three we see that
Paul was given liberty, literally such
indulgence in freedom as would be con-
sistent with his safety. Luke, the ply
sician. and Philip, the evangelist, Wis.,
tied him here, bringing food, books and
letters. After a time Felix and his