Arizona republican., 1916-09-16
International Sunday School Lesson
 For September IT
A PRISONER IN THE CASTLE


 my fortress; My God, in whom l trust" Ps.. 9l: ?.
 Lesson Text-Ac 22 Commit vs. 27-29
 CID And it came to pass that, when l was come again to Jerusalem, even while prayed in the temple. l was in a trance; GSD And saw him saying unto me Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. Q9) And l said. Lord. they know that 1 imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: t20) And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed. l also was standing by. and consenting unto his death. and kept the raiment Of them that slew him. (2D And he said unto me, Depart: for l will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. (22) And they gave him audience unto this word. and then lifted up their voices, and said Away with such a fellow from the earth: for 1t is not fit that he should live. t23) And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air. (2G The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging.
 
 cried so against him. t25) And as they bound him with thongs. Paul said unto the centurian that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman. and uncondemned ] (26) When the centurian heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying Take heed what thou doest. for this man Is a Roman. (2O Then the chief captain came. and said unto him. Tell me art thou a Roman? He said. Yea (2S) And the chief cap tain answered. With a great sum ob tained l this freedom. And Paul said, | But was free born. (29) Then straiglrtway they departed from him which should have examined him: and | the chief captain also was afraid, af | ter he knew that he was a Roman. | and because he had bound him.
 l Timex. D.. 5S Place-Jerusalem. Exposition-I. I will send thee far i hence unto the Gentiies. 17-21. Christ's specific commission to Paul had come ] while he prayed ~. IT, cf. ch. 10: 2, | i0 90; 13: 2. 3. The reason why many sd seldom hear the voice of the 1 Lord speaking to them is because l they are so seldom in real prayer. Paul. in the ecstatic state in which , he fell (R N), not only heard a
 
 moving and uttering the commanl that follows. It may not be ours to have visible manifestation of Christ like that. but none the less. He is | ready to manifest Himself unto us tJno 14: 21) And whenever We read 1 His words as recorded in Matthew, 1 Mark Luke and John. We should see the living Christ uttering them. and take them as message direct from l Himself unto ourselves. What a pre- cious and living book the Bible becomes when We thus read it. We do not need the spirit given frances now: we have the spirit given words of Christ and the spirit given vision of Christ utterinC the words. What more do we need? As Jesus stood there He said. Make haste. and get thee quick lv out of Jerusalem" How strangely this must have sounded to Paul. The place of places for him to give his testimony seemed to be Jerusalem Here he was known. Here be had been active and prominent as per- secutor of Christ. Here of all places his testimony would count. Noi Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem" No wonder Paul was staggered. The place We would choose above all others is the place God has not chosen. We are not com potent to decide where our testimony will count most We may be able to give many good reasons why one place is the best place, but God knows bet T ter. We must leave it to Him tC de- eide and He will if we will let Him. Because they will not receive of thee testimony concerning me. That was the reasons for his getting away speedily. The place 10 testify Is the place where our testimony will be re- ceived. It must have been quite hu- initiating for Paul when Jesus said they will not receive Of thee testi- mony concerning me" That was just what Paul imagined they would do He had imagined his testimony would go farther in Jerusalem than that of anyone else (vs. 19 20) And l said'' Oh! Paul. you were made of the same stuff as the rest of us. You wanted to argue the matter with your Master You fancied He was making mis- take. But, Paul, you quickly learned to obey and ask no questions, and some of us have not learned 1t yet Christ did not argue the matter with Paul It was. not Pauls to know the reason, but simply to obey the orders of his Master. There is a deep lesson here that we all need. Jerusalem Jerusalem. Jerusalem Paufs healt cried. Far hence" Christ cried, and not only far hence, but unto the Gentiles.7 Boston" New York, Chicago" "St. Louis many hearts are crying today, "or at least Amer ica." But Christ is calling back, Far hence and not only so. but unto the heathen." unto the Chinaman." unto the despised negro It is well for us that Paul needed his Masters call Is it any less important for others that we heed it, too?
 II. Away with such fellow from the earth" 22-29. Up to the point when Paul mentions his commission , to the Gentiles, tho Jews listened ir silence. But no sooner had he said this than a mad cry arose. Away with such fellow from the earth for it is not fit that he should live Is it rot passing strange. this hatred | of the Jew for the Gentle? But is il