The Raymer enterprise., 1916-10-05
INTERNATIONAL.
SUNDNS0lD0L.
LESSON
Dy a o. SELLERS, Acting Director Of
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute. Chicago)
Copyright. 1915. Western Newspaper union-)
FrSS()|Y
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 8
PAUL aEyoRE FELIX.

GOLDEN TEAT-derein also exercise
myself to have conscience void Of Of
Tense toward God and men aiwaya-Acts
A:lk
This is q court scene. and 1t might
be well with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such q
gathering. The lesson occurred Eve
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 wv.
1.9). 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 It appear that Paul was "a dam
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. 5-8) (a) that Paul was a
mover Of insurrection; (b) that he was
a 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 leader of
heresy was not serious, for the Romans
had no desire to interfere between one
Jewish sect and another, but ii led to
the last one, viz, profaning the tenn
pie. The Romans had legalixed 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
support his charges. The accusers
were there. but they had no witnesses,
II. The Prisoners Defense wv. 1021).
Paul cheerfully made his defense, for
he knew the Jews and their customs,
and that Felix had married a 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 ". 11). Going
back over these days; ~ his arrival
In Jerusalem (21 :l5); (2) his appear
ance before James t21 :1S) e, 4, 5 and
81, the days Of his vow tCh. 81 :26, 27);
O his arrest; tS) his appearance be-
fore the Sanhedrin; t9) the conspiracy
and his deliverance; no, II, u and 1877
In Caesarea tSee Oh. PAID. Paurs
statement showed that the whole story
OF his experience was fresh in the
memories Of both friends and foes. II
was the Jews who did the stirring up.
Paul answers the second charge by
acknowledging wv. 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 a good
Pharisee. for t1) 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 tv. 15) In hope to-
ward God, resurrection from tine
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, disciplining
and trimming 1t. Paul answers the third
charge by simple denial that 1t 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 tyv. 22-27).
Felix had q more perfect knowledge
Of that way" We believe he had Sc.
cured ills 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 phy.
sician. and Philip. the evangelist, yis.
ited him here, bringing food, books and
letters. After time Felix and his
vpl%n TNv,,etl1n scr% -. n,