Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1916-10-05
INTERNATIONAL
.S',lJnlg.1YS(NOL
LESSON
CEy z O. SELLERS. Acting Director 81
me Sunday Scs.coi Coorse OF the MOODY
lsible Institute, Chicago.)
fcoryright. i4.e Westeyn Newspapers Union
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 8
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.
LESSON TEXT-Aets q.

myself to have a conscience void of of.
Tense toward God and men always.-Acts
e4:16
This is court scene, and it might
be well with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such 0
gathering. The lesson occurred five
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 (vv
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
and the elders of the Sanhedrin who
had come down from Jerusalem to be
witnesses against Paul. OF Tertullus
It was said that, by his persuasive
tongue, he could make white seem
black, and could therefore more easily
ger to the Roman power, and not mere
ly a turbulent ard 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
meter of rebellion and robberies, but
the exact charges were three-fold:
(See w. Soy (a) that Paul was
mover of insurrection; (b) that he was
q ringleader Of Il sect of NazarenGs
who were causing trouble in the prov
ince and (cl that he had profaned the
Jewish temple at Jerusalem. The
charge of insurrecti0n would be espe
clally obnoxious to Felix who had just
been praised for keeping peace in his
dominion. That of being a lender Of
heresy was not serious, for the Romans
had no desire to interfere between one
Jewish sect and another, but it led tc
the last one, viz, profaning the TEN
pie. The Romans had legalized the
Jewish ritual, and for Paul to profane
the holy place would be 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. 10-2D.
Paul cheerfully made his Defense for
he knew the Je' and their customs,
and that Felix d married Jewess,
". 24. We might consider this de-
Tense first negatively and then positive
~ On the negative side, Paul answers
each charge seriatim. In the first
place there had not been time for him
to cause an insurrection ". ~. Going
back over these days; % his arrival
in Jerusalem (21 :15); (2) his appear
ance before James (21 :1S) g, A, s and
81, the days of his vow och. 81 :26, 27)
(7 his arrest; (S) his appearance be-
fore the Sanhedrin; (9) the conspiracy
and his deliverance; 30, II, - and 49,
in Caesarea (See 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 I'D.
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 ID 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 ". 15) in hope to.
ward God, a surrection from inc
dead and immoi ! life. Paul's life was
"void of often" toward God In heart
and worship, toward men as shown
in good deed. was for this that he
exercised himself. Literally, he worked
upon the raw material, disciplining
and training it. r I'll answers the third
charge by STRIFE denial that il had
actually taken - &c, and calls for wit
nesses. Positiy' y, 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 wv. 22-27).
Felix had more perfect knowledge
Of that way" We believe he had Sc
cured this 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 he con-
sistent with his safety. Luke, the ply
stefan, and Philip, the evangelist, Wis
tied him here, bringing food, books and
letters. After a time Felix and his
wife, Drusilla, sent for Paul to talk
with him concerning the faith in