The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 9

n. IN WHAT UNINVITING LAllOU118 FIDELITY M:AY INVOLVl!I us. How different from evangelizing risks and toils, and from the fraternal intercourse which followed tbeee, how much beneath both the one 11.nd the other, how mu.eh more uninviting t.his contro- versy with false brethren, narrow-minded, mistaking 11. rite whose significance waa exhausted for an es~ential of salvRtion I How uncongenial to the spirit of the apostle this "dissension and disputation•• (ver. 2) I But it was necessary ; it was e,s much a part of their bounden duty and their loyal obedience to their Lord as the preaching of the gospel or the inditing of an Epistle. 'l'he Christian workman caunot always choose his work. He must sometimes give up thll congenial for the unploosant, the inviting for the repellent. ffi. How WELL TO ENCOURAGE THE FAITHFUL IN THE BOUR OF THEm ANXIETY. Those who constituted the deputation were " brought on their way by the Church" (ver. 3). In the profound anxiety which must have filled the sagacious and earnest mind of Paul at this critical juncture, such gracious attention on the part of the Church must have been exceedingly refreshing. No "moral support" of tried and anxious leaders, in times of supreme solicitude, is thrown away ; it is well-spent time and trouble. JV. THAT IT IS SOMETIMES OUR DUTY TO TAKE INTO CONSULTATION OUR DDETHREN IN A mGBER POSITION. The Church at Antioch was not obliged to consult that at Jeru- salem; the latter had no jurisdiction entitling it to decide the disputes of the former. But it was becoming and it was wise, and therefore it was right, to refer the matter in dispute to "the Church [of Jerusalem] and the apostles and the elders" (vers. 4, 6). Often when no written constitution obliges us to refer to authorities, it is a matter of practical wisdom, and therefore of rectitude, to go outside our own "body" and submit our case to those in high repute. We may gain far more than we lose thereby. V. THE TEACHING OF GoD's PROVIDENCE, (Vers. 7-9.) Peter would not have taken the side he took now had not his eyes been opened by the event in which he had home so large and so honourable a share (eh. L). We should grow more charitable and more lar~e-minded as we grow in years. VL THE FREEDOM: OF THE GOSPEL FROM .ALL BURDENSOME IM:POSTS. (Ver. 10.) Why tempt God by putting on the neck of the disciples an intolerable yoke? Why invite defeat? Why multiply difficulty and ensuxe disappointment by requiring of the whole Gentile world a conformity which they will not render and which God does not demand? Why make burdensome the yoke which the Master himself made easy (Matt. xi. 30)? The gospel of his p:race was meant to be a source of blessedness and deliverance; how incer.sate the folly of tying to it any institutes which would make it become an insufferable vexation! Vil THE ESS&'-CE OF THE ORDINANCE. Circumcision was but the outward sign of admission to the privilege and obligation of the Law. The Law was but the schoolmaster to bring men to Christ. Those, then, who were saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (ver. 11) had the very essence and substance of which the old Jewish rite was but the sign and symbol (PhiL iii. 3; Rom. ii. 28, 29).-C. Vers. 12---35.-.A grame crisis in the kingdom of God: more lesson,. After Peter's speech (vers. 7-10) came the narration of facts by Barnabas and Paul, in which they laid stress on the Divine tokens of favour and support which they had received in the execution of their work (ver. 12); and then James summed up the matter, evidently giving voice to the decision of the Church. We leam- I. THAT MEN OF DIVERGENT THOUGHT SHOULD STRIVE TO MEET ONE ANOTHEB1B VIEWS nr CHDISTUN COUNCIL. Probably it would be hard to find two good men of any age or couutry who have taken more divergent views of the gospel of Christ than did James and Paul. Their Epistles show us how they viewed the one truth from separate and even distant standpoints. Had they come to this Church meeting intent on mag-nifying their own distinctive points, there would have ensued bitter conflict and fatal rupture. But they strove t.o meet one another, and the end was peace and the furtherance of redeeming truth. ll 'l.llAT .ur EQUITABL0 COM:l'BOM:ISE HAY DE THE M:OBT BONOUDADLE SETTLEMENT, (V ers. 19-21.) In concession to the Gentile party, it was not required that they should submit to the distinctive rite; in concession to the Jewish party, it was required tha, certain statutes should be observed by them. Occasions will very frequently occur olr, 1V, I-41.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 11