The Washington herald., 1921-11-12

them regularly. Renet1 and en-.
large your acquaintance nth the
Bible.
ny WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
Paul, not deferred by prophesy
that there he would be bound and
delivered into the hands of the
Gentiles, had gone down to Jeru-
salem.
There he had been set upon by
the people; rescued by the chief
captain of the Roman soldiery.
Claudius Lysias: made his cele-
brated defense to the multitude
that had thirsted for his blood.
and been ioosed of his bonds
when he had made known his
Roman citizenship to his captors.
On the morrow he had been set
down before the chief priests and
all their council and pleaded his
cause. A great dissension had
arisen between the Sadducees and
Pharisees when he had spoken Of
his hope of the resurrection. and
the chief captain. fearing les,
Paul should, have been pulled in
pieces of them" had brought him
into the castle.
Sends Paul to Felix.
And the night following the
Lord stood by him. and said. Be
of good cheer, Paul: for as thou
hast testified of me in Jerusalem.
so must thou bear witness also at
Rome"
knd when II was day, certain
of his enemies banded together.
saying that they would neither
eat no- drink till they had killed
Paul" But the chief captain, be-
ing Informed Of the plot. had sent
Paul, with an ample guard, to
Caesarea, to Felix. the governor,
and given commandment to
Paul's accusers to say before
Felix what they had against
him."
This, after Ave days, they had
done in the person OF "a certain
orator named Tertullus," who
had accused Paul of being "a
pestilent fellow a
mover of sedftion a
ringleader of the sect of the
Nazarenes."
Paul's answer for his life and
doctrine and the events following
therefrom-the text of today's
Bible Talk-bring out the fact
that bribery was known in that
day. We are very plainly told
that Felix hoped that money
would have been given him OF
Paul, that this was the reason
why Paul was kept in jail so
long and was so frequently
called before the governor.
Finds Famous Excuse.
This fact somewhat lessons
the force of the words Of Felix
which have been very widely
quoted. We are told that he
"trembled." or as the Revised
Version has IL, was terrified"
as Paul reasoned of righteous
ness, temperance, and Judgment
to come" And well he might
be in a panic because of Paurs
words. and make his famous
excuse:
Go thy way for this time:
when l have a convenient sea-
son, will call for thee"
The commentators quote Ia
citus as saying that Felix sup
posed he might perpetrate with
impunity all kinds Of villiany:
they also call attention to the
fact that the governor had
induced Drusilla to leave her
husband and marry him. and
that he had murdered Jona-
than, the high priest, and COM
mitted many other known sins.
That Paul's language so forci-
bly, recalled his crimes is proof
Of the apostles power as a
speaker.
Modern Followers of Felix.
The excuse that Felix gave for
postponing his decision is none
the less worthy of notice because
1t was insincere. 1t Is probable
that he had no thought of chang
Ing his course; 1t seems that he
had in view the possibility of
forcing Paul to collect a bribe
from his poverty-stricken COM
.panions; the Convenient season"
covers every form of excuse.
With some II Is merely a cover
for their sins, a false pretense.
Not all who postpone the ques-
ton OF accepting Christ are as
frank as a ma nwhom once
visited at the request of his wife.
She was very much interested in
his conversion and was willing
that I should tell him that / had
called at her request. 1 had not
Toceeded far when he stopped me,
saying:
Continued on Page Eiahf.