IV. THE EFFORT TO RESTORE AGAIN THE OLDER IDEA. Truths and practices which have long absorbed the interest of men do not die without a struggle. Some cham- pionR linger on, _a~d show fight at every opportunity. A we:i.lth of iuterests gather round every rehg10us system, and generations must p:tss before these can be wholly changed. So we cannot wonder that the sterner Judabm showed fight a;.:ainst the a~tl';J8, ?r that p&e,crani~m again and again ma~e des11:ratc efforts to resist advancing Clmst-Ianity. The Jewish teachers seem on this \lccas1on to have acted in an under- handed and unworthy way. "The course they adopted, in the first instance, was not that of open ant.agonism to St. Paul, but rather of clandestine intrigue. 'l'hey came as 'spies' into an enemy's camp, creeping in unawares, and ii:radually insiuuating or openly inculcating their opinion that the observance of the Jewish Law was necessary w salvatwn." Two things need to be considered. 1. Why their tenching had to be llO vigorously resisted. (1) Because it tended to confuse the minds of the disciples; (2) becaul!E: it was fundamentally opposed to the Christian teaching. 2. On what grounds the resistance could be made. '1.'hese were (1) the exclusiveness of the Chris- tiim condition of salvation-by faith; (2) the supreme claims of tile teaching of Christ, who laid no such burden on his di,ciples; (3) the fact that the Holy Ghost sealed helievers from among the uncircumcised. '1.'his is enough, tlleu and now, "·whoso- ever believeth on the ::ion of God bath everlasting life."-R. T. Vers. 2, 4.-The Jerosalem Church. Christianity started out from Jerusalem, The disciples fulfilled their Lord's command, and" began. at JcrusalP-m." 'l'he gospel was first preached at Jerusalem. The Holy Ghost endowed the Christian teachers, and scaled the Christian believers, first at Jerusalem. '1.'he Church first took form at Jeru- salem. Its officers were first appointed at Jerusalem. Aud the records intimate that, when the other disciples were scattered a.broad, the older and prominent apostles remained behind in the holy city, and exercised a kind of supervision over the work of the various Christian teachers. The constitution of the Jerusalem Church cannot be certainly known; but it is clear that St. Peter had no exclusive authority, and that if disputes and controversies were submitted to au apostolic council, their decision took the form of r~commendation and not of command. As the subject will Le treated from 1,e,·ore.l points of view, according to the bias of the preacher, we give only the general outline of the topics that may be usefully considered. L JERUSALEM, '.1.'HE CnnIBTIAN !!TARTING-POINT. The first teachers were Jews; and Christianity is not only the proper outcome and perfection of Judaism, but it bears the Jewish stamp. It links on to the fundamental ideas of God, sin, redemption, which were revealed to the Jews. Ifit were wholly new, it could not be true. Il. JERUSALEM, THE APOSTOLIC CENTRE. A kind of mother Church. Observe how its council of apostles and elders was sought when difficulties of doctrine or practice arose; and how the Gentile Churches sent their charitable gil'ts to the poor saints at the mother Chnrch. ill. JERUSALEM, THE MODEL CHURCH. How far any Church could present a model may be disputed. Any model would be efficient by reason of its illustrating working principles, not by virtue of its mere fonn. IV. JERUSALEM, THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY. How far apostles claimed authority on the ground of their knowledge of Christ, inspiration, miraculous gifts, and power to give or bring the Holy Ghost, needs to be carelully con.siderw.-R. 'l'.
Vers. 9-11.-Salvation by grace for all. This passage is part of the speech delivered by St. Peter at the conference. His words ought to be weighty words, seeing that God had been pleased to reveal directly to him the relations in which the Gentiles should stand to his gospeL St. Peter would have been an intensely Jewish man but for his experiences at Joppa and Cresa.rea. He had evidently learned well the lesson of the broadness of the Christian platform; and yet even he ,11bsequently faltered, and br~ht himself under the rebuke of St. Paul. After reminding his hearer~ of the part which he himself had taken in admitting the Gentiles into the Chrbtian Church, St. Peter nrgee this point: "The communication of the Holy Ghost was the truo tPsL of God's acceptance; and God had shown that he was no rospecter of persons by shed- ding abroad the same miraculous gifts on Jew and Gentile, and purifying by faith the OU. XV, 1-U.] 'l'il~ AC.:TS OF 'l'ilE APOSTLES. 23