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 favor 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 learn -

I. THAT MEN OF DIVERGENT THOUGHT SHOULD STRIVE TO MEET ONE ANOTHER'S VIEWS IN CHRISTIAN COUNCIL. Probably it would be hard to find two good men of any age or country 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 magnifying their own distinctive points, there would have ensued bitter conflict and fatal rupture. But they strove to meet one another, and the end was peace and the furtherance of redeeming truth.

II. THAT AN EQUITABLE COMPROMISE MAY BE THE MOST HONORABLE SETTLEMENT. (Vers. 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 that certain statutes should be observed by them. Occasions will very frequently occur when each side owes it to the other to make concession. The spirit that strives only for victory is not the spirit of Christ. We should, as his disciples, count it an honor and a joy to concede, when we conscientiously can do so, to Christian brethren who differ from us.

III. THAT WE MAY LEAVE UNIMPORTANT MATTERS TO THE SETTLEMENT OF TIME. The particular precepts which James and those who thought with him desired to have enforced have long since disappeared. Their observance at the time was expedient, for Moses had in every city them that preached him, etc. (ver. 21). But when the special reasons for conformity were removed, then they fell through. Where the peace of a Church or a large Christian community is at stake, we do well to accept small matters which are unessential; time is on our side.

IV. THAT CHRISTIANITY HAS PURIFIED AND PROPORTIONED PUBLIC MORALS. It surprises and shocks us to read of abstinence from meat which had been offered to idols, and from things strangled, being placed side by side with abstinence from the sin of fornication, as if, in morals, these things stood on the same level. We feel that the latter is a thing so utterly and inherently bad that the former is not at all comparable with it in heinousness of offence. The fact is that we think thus because our holy religion has purified our thoughts, and taught us to see ceremonial and moral offences in true perspective. But wherever Christianity has been corrupted, where the traditions of men have overlaid its simplicity with their ceremonialism, we find this defective view prevailing. It was necessary, at that time and in the then condition of the world, formally and expressly to disallow a custom which we now shudder at and shrink from as a shameful sin.

V. THAT DECISIONS, WHEN ONCE ATTAINED, SHOULD BE COURTEOUSLY AND CAREFULLY CARRIED OUT. (Vers. 22-33.) The Church at Jerusalem, though on the main point it had yielded to the Church at Antioch, did not give way sulkily or grudgingly. It did not dismiss the deputation with a cold and formal resolution. It sent able and influential men, with letters, to accompany Paul and Barnabas, and these greeted the Syrian Church and laid the matter fully before them. So that, in the end, the two communities understood one another and rejoiced in one another the more. What is done in Christ's name and cause should be done with utmost courtesy and with perfect thoroughness.

VI. THAT WE MAY REST HAPPY IN THE ALL-SEEING WISDOM AND ALL-EMBRACING LOVE OF GOD. (Vers. 14-15.) James intimated that what was then happening was only the fulfillment of the Divine intention. God knew from the beginning what he should accomplish, and he purposed the recovery and redemption of the whole Gentile world,

1. When we are baffled by the perplexities of the way, let us remember that all things are in the hands of the omniscient One.

2. When we are distressed by the disappointments and difficulties of our work, let us be consoled by thinking that God means to restore mankind; his wisdom and his love will prevail, though we see not our way and though our fears abound. - C.

This was a crisis in the history of the Church. The greatest disasters might have befallen it at this critical time. The man who saved the Church was Paul. There was in him a fine spirit of conciliation as to methods and usages; but when it came to the liberty of Christ, and the independence of the Church, he stiffened into inflexibility, and he "gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour." The little picture before us enables us to look into the detail of early Church life. Note here —

I. THE PLACE OF HUMAN THOUGHT AND INDEPENDENCE IN THE CONSIDERATION OF CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS. No man was hooted down on either side. In modern Christian controversy we have all seen lamentable spectacles. It makes one ashamed of the Christian cause when orthodox men employ a heterodox tone for the purpose of putting down an opponent. Take care how you maintain a good cause. I have seen an infidel display a nobler spirit than has been shown by his nominally Christian antagonist. Here the discussion was full, impartial and thorough; due deference was paid to the apostles and elders; all things were done decently and in order.

II. THE BEGINNING OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. A wrong step here, and Christian liberty would have been lost. Paul was raised up at the very moment of time. He who made havoc of the Church now kept it together. Under the illumination of Paul the horizon of James widened. Sometimes the Church needs inspiration more than information. When the grate is full of fuel, what is wanting is a light. James began to see that Christian liberty was founded on prophecy. How did James become so great a man all of a sudden? Because he had touched the Pauline spirit. Great men make great men. We do not need a new Bible; we need new readers. It was actually found that in the Old Testament this very question had been settled. In every synagogue Moses was read, and nobody understood him.

III. THE SIGHT WAY OF TREATING NEW CONVERTS. They were to begin by not doing things. The trouble with our new converts is that they are converted on Monday, and on Tuesday promoted to places of eminence. The apostles said, "Brethren, you will do well to begin by not doing certain things." That is where we ought to begin.

IV. THE HAPPIER ASPECTS OF CONTROVERSY. But for this controversy, who knows when Paul and James might have been brought together? And after the controversy was over, the bishop writes: "Our beloved Barnabas and Paul." James looked at the question partly from the characters of the men, and he called them "men that have hazarded their lives for our Lord Jesus Christ." So judge in every controversy, This proof of devotion must go for something in the exciting controversy. It is not enough to be clever; we must be true. What have we done for the Lord Jesus?

(J. Parker, D. D.)

A few lessons come to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

I. We see in this conference the true way of settling difficulties, both between churches and between individuals — IT IS BY CONFERRING TOGETHER. That does not mean by writing letters, or making assertions at arm's length, but by getting near to one another so that the persons distrusted may be seen and understood. If that letter had been sent from the Church at Antioch to the Church at Jerusalem, and Paulcome to us from a study of that first Ecclesiastical Council.

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