Evening star., 1916-10-14
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

| posals and programs. Festus failed
! when the leaders of the SadHHcean
| party appeared at Caesarea before him
| determined IN sectre the death of Paul.
| lie may have stultified his conscience
| to win popularity. but it is more likely
| that he Eal accepted hribe. In any
| event. Paul soon learned that the court
was crooked and appealed to Caesar.
! Shortly after his return from Ieru-
| salem Festus called Paul before him to
make answer to the accusations that
were made against him by "the prose
| rutors from Jerusalem" They sur
| rounded him, stood vehementIy acrus-
! ing him. making up for their lack of
| evidence against the prisoner 'by the
! violence of their outcries. declaring
| that he was unfit to live The charges
! We're the old mes, that Paul had prov
! ed false before FeliS.
FHstus appears to have been SUR
hrise'i that Paul was not accused of a
ctImirhl ottense and that their COM
plants were concerning the Jewish re-
li9iot7. temple and law. and in particu-
Lar one Jesus. who was dead and whose
claims We're supposed to a fleet the po-
sition of Caesar" The apostle stand
| inG calmly i'll the midst of that scene
of turmoil, pointedly and uc ,itiyelv de-
MED each one of the charges that had
been presented against him
testuS. when III Jerusalem, had re-
fused TO grant the request of the Jews
that Pau be sent to Jerusalem for a
PROBABLY because he had received his
price. He manifests a strong incliua-
ton To send Paul to Jerusalem after
the hearine-In fact, he suggested to
Paul that he consent to a public hear
ing at Jerusalem before the sanhefrin
! he proposition was made not only to
please the Je VS., but evidently because
they had found way, probably by
bribery. to make F'estus see the rea-
sonahleness of their request as it was
a purely religious question that had to
be considered. The procurator CON
fessed to Asrippa that he could not
ma anything III Paul's actions that was
worthy of death. In fact. he did not
KNOW. as he stated, of a single valid
charge against Paul that he could
present TO the emperor 1t was the
duty Of Festus to have acquitted Paul
under the circumsta noes When he de-
clined TO give Paul his freedom because
MS rights lnterfered with the inter
ests of the court. the apostle surprised
testus by appealing to Caesar
Paul knew that returning to Jeru-|
salem meant the imperiling of his life
and the submitting of his case to the
sanhedrin, under the circumstance.
even with Festus al the sitting of the
great Jewish court as a guarantee of
justice. was to invite death His an
peal revealed to Fcstus that Paul did
not propose TO he imposed upon any
longer. His action was protest
against the plan suggested by Festus,
4
a pawn in the hands of the governor
for the political game he was PLAYING
with the Jews 1t was demand for
justice. He wanted that his trial
should take place In Roman court,
not Jewish one. for he was a Roman
citizen.
1t was the first time that a Jew had
appealed TO the emperor for protec-
zion against the Jews upon the oues-
ton Of religion. It was a test ase
Fa1.l -ealized that he was sharing in
the fellowship of Christs suffering
He planned to be faithful to the will
Of God. that he saw was opening. by
the pathway of providence, the oppor-
tunity for him to be transferred to
Rome where he could extend by his
presence and personality the gospel
of the resurrection of his Lord and
Savior. He had faith in God that by
his appealing TO Caesar his trial would
be removed from the prejudices, pas
sions and personal interests of Jeru-
salem Jews. BY the appeal he was
being led to wider proclamation of
the gospel.
BY this appeal Paul was used of the
Lord to make the wrath OF men to
praise Him" The apostle spent some
of the most important days OF his life
in prison. The world would never have
enjoyed "Pigrim's Progress" if John
Bunyan had never been imprisoned
Nilton's great epic would never have
been penned if he had not met with
the misfortune OF losing his eyesight.
Pauls appeal gave him the oppor-
tunity of not only preaching to the
members of the enperor's household
and army, but also of writing the
epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians,
Philippians and that gem of ali his
works, the letter to Philemon. Much
OF Christianity richest treasures came
as d result Of his appeal 10 Caesar