The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-09-15
For September IT is: "a Prisoner in
the Castle."-Acts %.

The Roman garrison OF Jerusalem ndu
rescued him from a mob that was do
ing him to death. Thwarted for the
moment, the yelling abble followed
him to the citadel. where he secured
permission from the captain to adj
dress them. The present lesson deals
with the speech and Its consequences.
This versatile scholar-missionary
who spoke Latin and Greek and Ara
maic and Hebrew, faced a mob of
Hebrew zealots. So he addressed
them in the Hebrew tongue He knew,
what some later preachers only i'm
perfectly understand, how to speak to
a crowd in it's own vernacuiar.
The bigness of the man is reveale1
in his salutation, Brethren and
fathers" That to the crowd that
sought his life. Not. Dogs and MUIR
derers! Ingrates and liars!" No: it
might have been so once, but Paul
had been to school to Jesus; so, in
tones of measureless yearnlng and
solicitude, he cried, Brethren and
fathers" There is magnanimity for
you. In that great heart there was
no room for petty grudges or for the
spirit of revenge.
Then Paul went on to make him
self solid" with his hearers. He re-
minded them of his identity with them
in all essentials. He belonged to their
crowd. Most of them knew him from
the old days when he was the san
hedrin's willing tool. He rehearsed
Jew, and proceeded gradually from
his old reputation to his new, in an
effort to conciliate crowd moved by
that bitter passion. the orga nizatlon's
hatred of a man who has ased to be
regular"
The Speech That Was a Story.
Here we come upon striking
thing The occasion was a critical
one. The audience was learned in
the law of Moses. The speaker was
the worlds greatest philosopher, a
school-trained reasoner and debater
Yet his speech was a story. Nothing
else. Paul on the steps of the cita-
del, talking literally for dear life,
abandoned all the arts of oratory,
and told his own story.
That is to say, he became wit
ness rather than a pleader. He was
fulfilling the commission given him
by Jesus that he should become His
witness. From the story of his birth
in Tarsus, thru his wonderful CONVEX
sion, and on to the hour of his being
sent by Jesus as an apostle to the
Gentiles, he narrated his personal eX-
| perience.
What? Do you mean to say that
| the great Paul was merely giving his
| testimony, like an old saint at the
mid-week prayer meeting. or like a
| bashful Christian Endeavorer?" EX-
actly so. In the great crisis, it is wit
ness-bearing that wine. 1t Is more
| important to testify for Christ than
to preach about Him. That is why
eloquent sermons sometimes fail, and
stammering stories of what the Lord
| has done for the speaker, win. One
| need not be a Speech-maker to be a
soul-winner. The greatest evangelistic
| campaign this continent has ever seen
will sweep the land when Christians
learn what the duty and joy and pow
er of witness bearing is. Let the
redeemed of the Lord say So"
why do we not oftener hear the
story in the pulpit? Missionaries
over and over again tell the Story of
Jesus. There is power in the I'M
adorned tale of what Christ has done
for the race. even as there was power
in the story of what Christ had done
for Paul. After a fair consideration
of this lesson, nobody can disparage
the Importance of the meetings for
testimony by Christians.
A Called Man.
The speaker had reached that point
in his story where he was arguing with
| the Lord-yes, even Paul, like the rest
CT US. thought he knew better than his
Master-that he should stay in Jeru-
salem and testify, and Jesus had re-
piled, GO; 1 will send you as an apos-
tie to nations far away" That was
too much The master of mobs had
his words. But at the intimation that
salvation was for others than the
Jews, they let out a roar of disap-
prevail.
That ended the speech To the
crowd it seemed a blasphemous anti
climax, that such a Jew as Saul had
shown himself to be should be sent
to the Gentiles with a proffer of Coco
News which belonged only to the Jews
Away with such a fellow from the
earth. He ought not to be allowed to
live" Only death could atone fol
such apostasy. Such was the littlenesS
and bigotry of the crowd. They hao
as little use for foreign missions a.
many man today.
A furious uproar followed. The
multitude worked itself up into 6
frenzy. Dignified ecclesiastics, in
their rich bordered robes shouted as
excitedly as the street loafers. Clothes
were thrown into the air. The fan
atics gathered dust and tossed it aloft
in symbolism. All was. furore and ex
element and no words were distin-
guishable, yet the purpose of all wa.
plain-the lynching of the renegade
Jew.
When the Tribune Blundered.
One of the stupid proverbs of tn.
undiscriminating is Where there Il
so much smoke there must be some
fire" What a world of harm tina
saying has wrought The Roman
tribune, who ought to have been more
judicious, was of the sort who excused
his own lazy and unjust action unde
such a plea. After hurriedly drawing
Paul into the citadel, out of the react
of the menacing mob, he decided t.
find out by flogging just what tn,
prisoners crime had been. For o
course, with all these men saying SO
he must be a criminal. All, the limo
cent whom They say has slain
l -
accumulative gossip; what reputation
have been blasted: what homes hav
been made miserable: what heart
have been broken, "Vox populi' il
not also ''vox Del" il is as often "vo1
| diabilo." Democracy is one thing an,