The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1916-10-05
INTERNATIONAL
SUNlNYS0IOOL
LESSON
CBy E. o. SELLERS, Acting Director Of
the Sunday School Course OF the Moody
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 8
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.
LESSON TExT-Acts "a

AlG
This Is court scene. and II might
be well with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such a
gathering. The lesson occurred five
dGys after the last lesson, and twelve
days after Paul reached Jerusalem,
bearing the collection for the poor.
Tho place. Caesarea, was the Roman
capital OF Judea.
!. Tho Prisoners Examination wv.
Lay. In addition to the Roman gov.
ernor, Felix. attlred In his gorgeous
official rega.ia, 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 Sanhedrln 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 II appear that Paul was "a dan
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 robberles, but
the exact charges were three-fOld:
(See w. 5-G) (a) that Paul was a
mover Of lnsurrectlon (b) that he was
a ringleader of sect OF Nazarenes
who were causing trouble In the prov
lnce: 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 lender OF
heresy was not serious, for the Romans
had no desire to interfere between one
Jewish sect and another. but It led to
the last one, viz, profanlng the tenn
pie. The Romans had legnllzed 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 Prlsoner's Defense wv. 10-2l).
Paul cheerfully made his defense. for
he knew the Jews and their customs.
and that Felix had married a .Tewess.
". 24D. We might consider this de-
fense first negatively and then positive
ly. On the negative side, Paul answers
each charge seriatlm. In the first
place there had not been time for him
to cnuse an insurrectiOn ". ~. Going
back over these days; ~ his arrival
In Jerusalem (21 :15); (2) his appear
ance before james (21 :1S); g. 4. & and
6), the days of his vow (Ch. 21 :2G. 27)
G) his arrest; (S) his appearance be-
fore the Sanhedrin; t9) the conspiracy
and his deliverance: 40, II, II and l3)
In Caesarea (See Ch. PAID. Paul's
statement showed that the whole story
Of his experience WIS 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. 14-10) that he be-
longed to The Christian way of saliva.
tiOn, but denied that this was heresy.
Paul was true jew and good
Pharlsee, for ~ he worshlped the
same God ". lD; (2) he believed In
the Jewish law and prophets. From
them he knew he could prove that
Jesus was the Messiah. (3) lie agreed
with the Pharlsees ". 15) In hope to
ward God, resurrection from the
dead and immortal life paurs life was
''vOid Of offense" toward God In heart
and worship. and toward men as shown
In good deeds. II was for this that he
exercised himself. Literally, he worked
upon the raw material. discipAnlng
and training II. Prul answers the third
charge by simple denial that II 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 frcm
the dead-that he came to Jerusalem
with aims for the poor, and, as before
the council, he stands upon his In.
tegrlty.
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 give
serious 0ffense 10 the troublesome
Jews who knew Of his evil conduct
From verse twenty-three we see that
Paul was given liberty, literally sdch
indulgence In freedom as would he con.
slstent with his safety. Luke. the ply
sician, and Philip, the evangelist. Wis
tied him here. bringing food, books and
letters. After time Felix and his
wife, Drusilla, sent for Paul to talk
with him concerning the faith in
Christ" Drusllla was daughter OF
Herod Agrippa | (vv. 1928, and As-
ter of Herod II (See Ch. 20). She was
beautiful woman, much younger than
Felix who was possibly about sixty
years of age. She and her only child
perished In the eruption OF v0suvIus
A. d. 70. Paul before Felix empha.
sized three points. M Righteousness
right principles. right eontIuct iutey.