The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-10-07
For October is Paul Before Felix. y
Acts "a.
A Saint Tried by a CRATER.
Gods ways are dark,
But soon or late
They touch the shining
Hills of day"


Hills of day"
Severest of all testings is that of
endurance. 1t is hard to BE stll'
and know that I am God inc
Psalmist, who continually eAno '
to wait on the Lord" knew wherein
men needed strengthenIng- me nero
of the present course of lessons, Paul
OF Tarsus, found himself in the grip
of a great testing. He who mad peen
afire with ambition to plant the Coon
News in virgin soil, must become 4
prisoner and wait and wait and Walt.
A sore trial was this. to the man, VINO
above all other men, mad cleir
vision of the worlds urgent need
That his rowing ministry should be ar
rested in the very midst of his power
and he be clapped into Roman
DriSon seems a strange providence
No wonder he needed special VISION
and message from his Lord, to fort11y
him for it.
AS we tarry in the court of Felix,
before this new trial of the apostle
begins, let US recall by preVlsloh'
few factors which help us to perceive
the providences in Paufs case me
arrest and Imprisonment of the great
missionary is clearly an event OF
magnitude, for oae-fourth OF the
Book of the Acts is devoted to II.
This simple fact does more 10 impress
the Importance of the current lessons
arrest meant ultimate arrival az
Rome. when Paul should stand at the
center of the known world ana non
aIoft the cross In the meantime, me
case of Paul had become celebrated
issue in Jerusalem, so -ethlnS loi
the people to talk about.
The CRATER on the Bench.
There were many kinks and crooked
places in this strange new trail that
was leading Paul TO Rome II must
have been hard for him to understand
the fact that he had been hailed beIore
this notorious CRATER and iecher' GOV
ernor Felix How often mas II nap
neued that the saint must stand trlal
before the sinner! Not seldom mas
innocence been placed at the par OIL
guilt. No evil in the organized ll1e OF
man is more revolving than the TACT
that so often men of unclean personal
life, and of corrupt professional prac-
tices. are elevated to the judiciary.
Even the bar associations of our day
are openly considering this evil so
deep is the popular resentment against
it. Yet in the Orient of old, as o1ten
today, the judge was shamelessly dis
honorable, merchandising his decl-
sions to the highest bidder.
This man Felix was a notorious
erafte--so infamous that he was re-
called by Rome. at the protest OF the
Jews His private life was on parity
with his judicial practices Even the
Roman historian Tacitus records his
infamv and cruelty. He was an old
man at the time of Paurs trial, but
he had recently seduced the child
wife of the King of Emesa and made
her his third wife. This Drusilla, who
had abandoned her lawful husband
for the old rake Felix, was the daugh-
ter of Herod Agrippa the First. She
was but a child when she listened to
Paul of Tarsus. Her fate it was to be
buried with her child in the ruins of
Pompeii
In the light of the immoralities of
Felix, is it any wonder that when, al
his second hearing, before both Felix
and Drusilla. Paul dealt with the
subjects of justice, self-control, and
the judgment that was soon to come
Felix became alarmed and cried
For the present, leave me. and when
! can find a convenient opportunity
will send for you?" The preacher
made his nearer squirm- Evil al
ways writhes in the presence OF
truth And like most who profess to
wait for a more convenient season
Felix was cloaking his real reason
for fleeing from truth and duty; he
was a CRATER, and hoped that this
influential prisoner had friends who
would come forward with a bride
There never came convenient sea-
son" for Felix The word for him
and US was To-day, if We will heal
His voice, harden not your hearts"
An Old-time "Frame-up."
In police and criminal circles there
is a colloquial phrase 'frame-up,'
which means a conspiracy to convict
an innocent person. On this occasion
Paul was the victim of a .frame-up.'
All the brains and power and inge-
nuity and wealth and INSCRIPTIONS
ness of Jewish ecclesiasticism was
leagued to take his life. The plot tc
murder him having been thwarted
the Organization" led by Ananias
the high priest, by the powerful men
famous Roman lawyer in Jerusalem
Tertullus. proceeded to Caesarea to
secure Paurs conviction.
All the modern questions concern
ing the ethics of the legal profession
come to mind as we listen to Tertullus
Then. as now, there was no cause sc
bad that it could not hire lawyer to
defend it. Then, as now, the nullifi-
cation of law and justice rested its
hope in high-priced lawyer. BY his
oath. a lawyer is an officer of the
court. sworn to uphold justice; and
the lawyers who have nobly fulfilled
their pledge are an ornament to the
nation.
Tertullus, however, was not of thi:
kind. His address to Felix was as full
some as it was false. Compare the
way in which he eulogized Felix with
the perfectly pollte but perfectly
truthful address of Paul. His charge.
against the prisoner were mostly hal
truths, which are ever the deadlies
kind of lies. Had Paul been, like mos
prisoners. ignorant of the law and un-
skilled in pleading, he would have
been convicted on the spot. The new
social conscience of our day concern
ing the prisoner is a notable evidence
of how the spirit of Him who came t.
set at liberty the captive is permeatins
the world.
a Dungeon as a Pulpit.
"A dungeon may become a pulpi
when it is occupied by prophet of the
Lord. says DR.. Charles r. Brown. il
The Congregationalist. Paul befor,
Felix gives an Illustration of how ever
adversely and injustice may become {
pinnacle from which the truth may b,
preached. For again we call attention
"a H.. =