The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1916-10-06

Tense toward God and men always-Act
A:16.
This is a court scene, and 1t nigh
be we'll with certain classes to intro
duce the lesson by describing such I
gathering The lesson occurred fiv'
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
1-9). 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. $50 (a) that Paul was a
mover Of insurrection; (b) that he was
ringleader of a sect of Nazarenes
who were causing trouble in the prov
ince: 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 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, and for Paul to profane
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-2D.
Paul cheerfully made his defense, for
he knew the Jews and their customs,
and that Felix had married Jewess,
". 24. We might consider this de-
tense 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 instruction ". 11). Going
back over these days; % his arrival |
III Jerusalem (21 :15); (2) his appear
ance before James (21 :18); g, 4, 5 and |
g. the days of his vow (Ch. 81 &c, 2O
% his arrest; (8) his appearance be-
fore the Sanhedrin; (9) the conspiracy |
and his deliverance; 90, II, IL and 13)
In Caesarea (See Oh. "a ~. Paul's |
statement showed that the whole story
OF his experience was fresh in the
memories of both friends and foes. 1t
was the Jews who did the stirring up.
Paul answers the second charge by
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 good
Pharisee for CD 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, resurrection from the
lead and immortal life. Paul's life was
void of offense" toward God in heart
ind worship, and toward men as shown
n good deeds. 1t was for this that he
exercised himself. Literally, he worked
lpon the raw material, disciplining
nd training it. Paul answers the third :
barge by simple denial that 1t had
ctually AIKEN place, and calls for wit
esses. Positively, Paul explains that u,
e had followed the God of his fathers,
hat he believed In fulfilled prophecy
terally the resurrection Of Jesus from
he dead-that he came to Jerusalem
nth aims for the poor, and, as before
ne council, he stands upon his in
sgrity.
III. The Judges Delay wv. 22-27). v
elk had more perfect knowledge
that way" We believe he had Sc
1red this knowledge from Philip, the :
and from Cornelius, the Ro- v
IAN centurion, both of whom lived in
aesarea. BY deferring his decision.
elk avoided an outrageous injustice
} Paul, and at the same time gave
'r1Ous offense to the troublesome
ews who knew Of hi9 evil conduct.
rom verse twenty-three we see that
aul was given liberty, literally such Il
diligence in freedom as would be con-
stent with his safety. Luke, the ply
clan, and Philip, the evangelist. Wis.,
ID him here, bringing food, books and
tiers. After a time Felix and his :
fe, Drusilla, sent for Paul to talk ~
tn him concerning the faith in
lrist." Drusilla was a daughter of
,rod Agrippa wv. 1929, and SIS
; Of Herod II (See Oh. 26). She was
beautiful woman. much younger than