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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
the high priest comes to prosecute him. The tria l before Felix reveals another stage of Jew ish perversity. When Jesus was brought before P ilate, thè leaders took m atters ' into th e ir own hands and com pelled the governor to do th eir will. Iu this case they come to th eir hated heathen master w ith abject flattery. Their hired orator Tertullus begins w ith a fulsome eulogy which was obviously untrue. Israel through th eir advocate will faw n on a heathen to get judgm ent against a man who has preached the Gospel to the heathen. Tertullus brings a three-fold charge against Paul, viz., sedition, heresy and sacrilege. The Jew s heartily endorse these false charges. Felix had been ap pointed procurator by the Emperor Clau dius in 52 A. D. He had m arried a Jewess, Drusilla, the daughter of Agrippa I, hav ing tak en her from her husband. Taeitus says th a t he had been a slave and th a t he kept the temper of a slave a fte r he had become free and been raised to power. H is only remedy for the disorders of Judea was violence. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9. Acts 24:10-21. P a u l’s Defense. Paul answers the charges brought against him in a dignified way and refutes each one w ith positive disproof and sweep ing denial. He insists upon th e essential likeness between his fa ith and Judaism . In doing so he claims th e shelter of Boman law, which tolerated Judaism bu t would not countenance a new religion. H istory shows th a t in all reforms, the old is in tolerant of the new. I t is m uch easier to drive out the reformers th a n it is to re form. P a u l’s argum ent is directed against the Pharisees who are accusing him before Felix although they had defended him in the council a few days before. Acts 23:9. Paul, by declaring th a t he believes all things which are w ritten in th e law a n d , in th e prophets, intim ates th a t they are guilty of the very sin w ith which_ they are charging him. They ■ accused him of infidelity. They were the guilty ones,, not he. ^ THURSDAY, NOV. 10. Acts 24:22-27. Felix Trembling. Is it any wonder th a t when Paul rea soned of righteousness continence and judgm ent to come, Felix trembled? W hat did he know of righteousness, whose rule rested on thè work of his spies and as sassins? What did he know about con tinence w ith D rusilla sitting by his side whom he had seduced from her husband
nothing can tak e place w ithout H is notice and permission. Paul was ready and w illing to die for Christ a t any time but he does not needlessly throw his life away. We may use all law ful means to preserve our own life as well as the liv es of others. ■The Roman officer did not know th a t he was doing God!a w ill when he saved Paul. Men are unconsciously fulfilling the Divine promises and purposes every day. SUNDAY, NOV. 6. I I Cor. 12:1-10. P a u l’s Jerusalem Experience. I t is strange how b itte r human hatred w ill become and to w hat depths of treach ery and wickedness men w ill sink under the influence of passion. A fter the stormy tim e described in Acts 22, the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul and bade him be of good cheer, promising him th a t as he had th a t day borne such fa ith fu l testimony in Jeru salem, he should also bear w itness at Borne. A strang e thing indeed to be of good cheer about! He had been hounded, mobbed and m altreated in Jerusalem . He should be imprisoned and pu t to death at Borne. The highest rew ard a soldier can have fo r fighting a good b a ttle is to have the privilege of fighting another. Paul exhorts Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I I Tim. 2:3. He must tak e his own medicine now. “ Cheer up, Paul, the worst is y et to come.” ' MONDAY, NOV. 7. Acts 23:25-35. P au l a t Caesarea. Luke inserts the le tte r of Lysias into his n arrativ e because it shows the care of the Boman for P aul when the Jew s were bent upon -his destruction, bu t especially to set fo rth the fa c t th a t it w as the Boman government th a t saved P au l ra th er than the man who adm inistered it. Lysias does not tell the tru th in his communication. He states th a t he rescued P au l w ith an armed force because he understood th a t he was a Boman. The fa c t was th a t he ar rested P au l think ing th a t he -was an E gyptian bandit, and was about to scourge him when P au l claimed the rights of a Boman citizen. These rights compelled Lysias to protect him. I t was not the man th a t saved Paul bu t th e government which God had appointed and was now using to fu rth er H is own purposes. Paul is back in Caesarea and in prison b u t he - is safe from Jew ish hatred and no doubt he feels a sense of relief and rest. TUESDAY, NOV. 8. A cta 24:1-9. Paul Accused. Five days afte r P aul leaves Jerusalem ,
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