The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-09-28
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDNSOlOOL
LESSON
LESSON FOR OCTOBER !
PLOT THAT FAILED.
LESSON TExT-Acts "a

Jehovah. TO deliver thee.-Jer i;le
The stirring events of this lesson &C.
CURED In the Castle Antonio and the
Sanhedrin hall. near the temple court
of Jerusalem; also In Caesarea, the
>Roman capital Of Judea. on the Mcdl-
sternnean coast, In the year A. II. 81,
just at the close " Paul's third mis-
sionary journey. The lesson pictures
two successive days Of strange adyen-
lures In which Paul was CONCERNED,
narrow escape and the unexpected
providences used In his dellverunce.
The day was lnaugurated by Paul's
magic words II am Roman citizen"
which caused the commander, Lyslas,
10 relense him from the threatened
scourging. and made him more than
ordinarily careful In his treatment Of
Paul.
!. Before the Elders wv. i-l2). by
ferring back To chapter u. v. 13, we
md ne charge which really underlay
all OF Paul's trouble, his preaching In
the name OF the Lord Jesus. Paul's
defense Is interesting. lie gives US "A
rehearsal of his Christian life. laying
emphasis upon Its blnmelessness aud
the fact that he II not an npostate
jew. The high priest speaks to silence
him. but not gently. Although Paul
for n moment seems to give way to his
justlfiable Indignation. he quickly re-
venls his reverence for the rulers OF
the people. He then divides the san
hedrin. Read carefully chapter - :6-7.
aud compare with verses II and ~.
The snnhedrin could not explain this
Testimony Of Paul, and were seeking
TO put aside the whole question. An
interesting discussion would be to con-
slider the insult 10 Paul. Was his In
dignaIlon right and rightly expressedf
Another question. the matter of Pnul's
apology. Just for what did he apollo
gizei Is II ever wrong to speak evil
of rulers? These were indeed days OF
stress and storm. Was Paul justified
In dividing the sanhedrin In order to
conquer their opposition to hlmf
Again. how God used these incidents
In the furtherance ~ the Gospel Is n
suggestive lesson for us all. II has
been limited that Ananlns was not In
his pyiestly garments, and therefore
perhaps not readily recognized by
Paul Paul may never have seen him.
as he was elected high priest after
Paul had left the council. II il inter-
esting TO note that II Is not said that
anyone struck Paul or that Paul did
not apologize for his words or deny
them 10 be true. but only for their be-
ing spoken to the high priest. Read
In this connection what Christ said to
the Pharisees (Matt. % :27). Paul APP
ologized because he had broken the
law found In Exodus % 90. In the
trial Of Christ one of the officers struck
Jesus with the palm Of his hand,
whereupon Jesus answered him. say
ing: IF I have spoken evil. bear wit
ness Of the evil. but II well. why smit-
est thou Nef' On the other hand.
when -rsus was ill-treated by the COM
mon soldircs. he opened not his mouth.
u. The Plot and Deiiverance wv. -
35). Paul's prospect was not a pleas
ant one. In his darkness God appeared
to his faithful servant To cheer him
". III. Perhaps Paul was tempted to
think he had made mistake In com
ing tn Jerusalem over the protests Of
his friends, but evidently the Lord
heartily approved OF his testimony
there. A dangerous conspiracy was
forming against him. but God was, as
he always Is, beforehand with his CON-
fort and preparation for the crisis. We
have often speculated as to what be-
came Of the forty men who entered
into II (see v. 12)-whether they ac-
tually lived up to their oath. II they
did. they must have died of starvation.
They were determined men. willing TO
go any length. and fancied they were
doing the will OF God. There Is no
more dangerous man than he who fan
cles that he must be the judge as TO
who are Gods friends and who are his
foes, and that he IL the appointed exc
cutloner of Gods judgment The plot
was well laid. and seemed certain OF
success. but II failed misernbly. (See !
Psalm 2:i-4; % ITO; Isaiah Al l0). |
The wicked. who leave God out OF |
their plans, no matter how cunningly /,
they plot, are doomed TO failure (Rom. |
S:3I. These plotters co-Operated with |
the priest. Ecclesiastics have often |
descended TO the lowest yillainy. Men |
are not murdered today, though their
regulations are often blasted by I'M
principled and hellishly impelled pro-
fessed followers Of the lowly Naza-
rene. Paul had friends In this city. |
His nephew's discovery and revelation. |
and the Gentle soldier. colonel, eff
fered his deliyerance. In the boys
heart there must have been great adj |
mlration for the uncle. II would BIO
well for teachers OF boys to have them
repeat In their own language this boys
story. Paul was not safe In Jerusa-
lem. The Roman governor recognized
the nature OF the conspiracy. and the
desperate character OF the Jewish ia
natics. and therefore sent him under
strong guard to Caesarea. which was
reached after a Journew on horseback.
lasting through the night and the fol-
Ioufng dav