The Elbert County tribune., 1916-09-29
LESSON FOR OCTOBER |
PLOT THAT FAILED.
LEssoN rExT-Aela ..

against thee. for 1 am with thee saith
Jehovah, to deliver thee.-Jer. 1.19.
The stirring events of this lesson oc-
Cured In the Castle Antonia and the
Sanhedrin hall, near the temple court
| of Jerusalem; also in Caesarea, the
Roman capital of Judea, on the Medi-
teranean coast, in the year A ID. 81.
just at the close of Paul's third mis-
sionary journey. The lesson pictures
two successive days OF strange adven-
lures in which Paul was concerned,
narrow escape and the unexpected
providences used In his deliverance.
The day was inaugurated by Paul's
magic words II am Roman Citizen"
which caused the commander, Lysias,
to release him from the threatened
scourging. and made him more than
ordinarily careful in his treatment of
Paul.
|. Before the Elders wv. 1-12). By
referring back to chapter 81. v. 13, we
find the charge which really underlay
all of Paul's trouble. his preaching in
| the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul's
defense Is interesting. He gives us a
rehearsal of his Christian life, laying
emphasis upon its blamelessness and
the fact that he is not an apostate
jew. The high priest speaks to silence
him. but not gently. Although Paul
/ for moment seems to give way to his
| justifiable indignation, he quickly re-
veals his reverence for the rulers of
rhe people. He then divides the san
| hedrin. Read carefully chapter 20 :G-7,
]
The sanhedrin 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 to Paul. Was his in
| dignation right and rightly expressedf
Another question, the matter of Paul's
| apology. Just for wbst did he apollo
! gize? Is 1t 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 him?
| Again, how God used these Incidents
in the furtherance of the gosped is a
suggestive lesson for us all. 1t has
been limited that Ananias was not in
his priestly 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. 1t Is inter
esting to note that 1t is not said that
anyone struck Paul or that Paul did
not apologize for his words or deny
them to be true, but only for their be-
Ing spoken to the high priest. Read
In this connection what Christ said to
the Pharisees (Matt. % 80. Paul ap-
ologized because he had broken the
law found in Exodus % :2S. In the
trial of Christ one of the officers struck
Jesus with the palm of his hand
whereupon Jesus answered him. say
ing: "If l have spoken evil, bear wit
ness of the evil, but If well, why smit-
est thou meT On the other hand,
when Jesus was ill-treated by the COM
mon soldires, he opened not his mouth.
II. The Plot and Delivcrance wv. 10
35). Paul's prospect was not pleas
ant one. In his darkness God appeared
to his faithful servant to cheer him
/ ". ID Perhaps Paul was tempted to
think he had made mistake in COM
ing to Jerusalem over the protests of
/ heartily approved of his testimony
| there. A dangerous conspiracy was
forming against him, but God was, as
he always is, beforehand with his COM
| fort and preparation for the crisis. We
have often specuated as to what be-
came of the forty men who entered
into 1t (see v. 12)-whether they ac-
tually lived up to their OATH If 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
cies that he must be the judge as to
who are Gods friends an1 who are his
foes, and that he is the appointed exc
cutioner of Gods judgment. The plot
was well laid, and seemed certain of
success. but 1t failed miserably. (See
Psalm 2:1-4; 64 :1-10; Isaiah al :10l.
The wicked, who leave God out Of
their plans, no matter how cunningly
they plot, are doomed to failure Qiom.
:31). These plotters co-operated with
the priest. Ecclesiastics have often
descended to the lowest villainy. Men
are not murdered today. though their
regulations are often blasted by un-
principled and hellishly impelled pro-
fessed followers of the lowIy Naza-
rene. Paul had friends in this city.
His nephew's discovery and revelation,
and the Gentle soldier, a colonel. eff
fered his deliverance. In the boys
heart there must have been great ad-
miration for the uncle. 1t would be
well for teachers of boys to have them
repeat in their own language this boys
story. Paul was not safe In Ierusa-
lem. The Roman governor recognized