Middletown transcript., 1916-10-07
INTERNATIONAL
SUNlYSOON
LESSON
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 8
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.
By E. O SELLERS, Acting Director OF
the Sunday School Course of the Moody
Bible Institute, Chicago.)
Copyright 1915, Western Newspaper Union
LESSON TExT-Acts "A.

be well with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such
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.
I. The Prisoners Examination wv.
1-o). In addition to the Roman gov.
ernor, Felix, attired In his gorgeous
official regalia, on a 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 1t 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 robberies, but
the exact charges were three-fOld:
(See w. 5-6) (a) that Paul was
mover Of insurrectiO,. (b) that he was
g ringleader of a 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 q leader of
hereSy was not serious, for the Romans
had no desire to interfere between one
Jewish sect and another, but 1t led to
the last one, viz, profaning the tenn
pie. The Romans had legalized the
Jewish ritual. md for Paul to .prOfNne
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. 1O-21).
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 :15); (2) his appear
ance before James (21 :1S) g, 4, 5 and
g., the days Of his VOW (Ch. 81 :26, 27)
(7Chis arrest; (8) his appearance be-
fore the Sanhedrin; (9) the conspiracy
and his deliverance; (10 II, IL and 1877
in Caesarea (See Ch. PAID. Paul's
statement showed that the whole story
of his experience wTs 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
tiOn, but denied that this vas heresy.
Paul was a true Jew and a good
Pharisee, for ~ 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 tht Pharisees ". 15) in hope to
ward God. a resurrection from the
dead and immortal life. Paul's life was
''void Of Offense" toward God In heart
and worship, and toward men as shown
In good deeds. It was for this that he
exercised himself. Literally, he worked
upon the raw material, discipIining
and training 1t. Paul answers the third
charge by a 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
tegr1ty.
III. The Judges Delay wv. 22-27).
Felix had a "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
- Do~I ond NJ thu couno ffroa vo~,,
serious Offense to the troublesome
Jews who knew of his evil conduct.
From verse twenty-three we see that
Paul was given liberty, literally sGch
indulgence in freedom as would be con-
sistent with his safety. Luke, the ply
sician, 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 |
Christ" Drusilla was a daughter of |
Herod Agrlppa wv. 12-23), and Sis
ter Of HerOd II (See Ch. 26). She was
q beautiful woman, much younger than
Felix who was possibly about sixty |
years of age. She and her only child |
perished In the eruption Of VsS1Vius
A. D. 20. Paul before Felix empha-
sized three points. ~ Righteousness
right principles. right conduct. lnteg-
rity and justice duties which man
owes to man. (2) Paul reasoned Of |
temperance, literally self-eOntr0l. Tenn
perance. as here used. Is ability to !
guide and restrain ones emotions and |
appetites: having the passions and |
powers Of the soul under the control Of |
reason and conscience. (3) Paul
preached Of a judgment to come, where