Evening star., 1916-10-14
By Rev. Hugh 7. Stevenson.

purinS the two years that tranSpirefl
h''s"een last weeks study a.9d the
events recorded in this Lesson raul
had remained a prisoner In Cacsarea.
Felix. who ought te have given him
his freedom. ~ his desire to obtain
tavors from the Jews and in the hope
OF securing hrihe either frcIr PAUL
or one of his wealthy Christian
friends. had detained the rnastle
within the walls OF the praetariur
prison, had been recalled because of
tae numerous complaints that had
been lodged against his administration.
with the emperor, by the Jews who
had suffered us Z result of his orpreS-
SION aud Cruelty. 1t was common in
Suc; cases for the retiring procrrat6r
20 'cicar the docket" by diechateins
All unCOudtnned prisoners, but Felix
to inSrati@te himself with the I.ws
and prevent further Complaints against
his administration, after delaying for
tNo years to do justice, added to his
1nfamN by sacrificing an innocent mans
liberty on the altar of his own selfish
ness Like many modern public Of
."'fis VINO pass over to others Prob
,ems presented for their solution, 50
he passed over To his successor the
problem presented by Paul
Porcius Fes.Hs was appointed by
Nero as procurator in place of Felix.
He appears to have been a typical
Roman official and a much better man
than his predece ssor. Paul was 10
court fatterer and ne called him "nlost
noble Festus. which gives the most
light that is known of Festus. con-
cerning whose character almost moth
ing is known outside of what can he
gathered from the Acts. that portrays
him as an executive that lacked the
strength of character to carry out his
convictions OF duty. Festus probab biy
arrived
mer OF 81, and. after days rest at
the political capital. he went ur, on
the third day. to Jerusalem to get in
personal touch with the religious con-
ditions and people, who had been the
cause of the recall OF his predecessor
\ new high priest, Ishmael ben Phabi.
had succeeded Ananias but the ''httter-
ness and wrath and anger and cla,nor
of religious hatred continued against
Paul Festus presence gave the anti
Christian Jews an opportunity to re-
new thel" charges against Paul. They
requested as a favor, ROY as d matter
of justice. that the apostle be sent to
Jerusalem to be tried. because the ma
ture of The offense called for his ap-
pearance bafore the Sanhedrin. This
was j. do-sed by the whole people who,
IN . iruituous throng. deman ed his
death They had hoped that the new
prDcu"ator's desire to have a popular
and successful administration would
cause him to order that -uI be retired
l.
an idea of his ever facing that court
but as 4 pretc<t that would enable
them to secure his assa assination while
he vas being con uctcd TO Jerusalem.
the rocky r&sses of Judsa making il
easy for ths m to carry out their plans.
F:estus vas able to detect their
treachery and foil their plot by re-
ferring to the custom of his people and
Law that required them to appear be-
fore him ard testify against Paul in
the prisoners presence. at the caYital
city of Caesarea. While Festus blocked
their plans to murder Paul. he did not
by his refusal cool their religious
hatred of Paul, who had once been
their rinsleader in opposing the Chris |
tians. Nothing can strike so desper- |
ately a religious knife.
The first murder was due TO religious
Jealousy. for it was a manslaughter al
the altar. Christianity has failed to
make the progress that it ought to
have made in the world because men
that have professed but did not possess
the spirit of the Christ have been too
fond of hatreu, persecution and cruelty !
In place of conquering men by the
power OF love. they have tried TO force |
them into either the church or to car I
rying out their personal plans, pro- /;