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Counsels for the Church
principles of Christianity. The apostles and elders therefore agreed to
instruct the Gentiles by letter to abstain from meats offered to idols,
from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood. They were
to be urged to keep the commandments and to lead holy lives. They
were also to be assured that the men who had declared circumcision to
be binding were not authorized to do so by the apostles
The council which decided this case was composed of apostles
and teachers who had been prominent in raising up the Jewish and
Gentile Christian churches, with chosen delegates from various places.
Elders from Jerusalem and deputies from Antioch were present, and
the most influential churches were represented. The council moved in
accordance with the dictates of enlightened judgment, and with the
dignity of a church established by the divine will. As a result of their
deliberations they all saw that God Himself had answered the question
at issue by bestowing upon the Gentiles the Holy Ghost; and they
realized that it was their part to follow the guidance of the Spirit.
The entire body of Christians was not called to vote upon the
question. The “apostles and elders,” men of influence and judgment,
framed and issued the decree, which was thereupon generally accepted
by the Christian churches. Not all, however, were pleased with the
decision; there was a faction of ambitious and self-confident brethren
who disagreed with it. These men assumed to engage in the work
on their own responsibility. They indulged in much murmuring and
faultfinding, proposing new plans and seeking to pull down the work
of the men whom God had ordained to teach the gospel message. From
the first the church has had such obstacles to meet and ever will have
till the close of time
Danger of Regarding Individual Judgment as Supreme
Those who are inclined to regard their individual judgment as
supreme are in grave peril. It is Satan’s studied effort to separate such
ones from those who are channels of light, through whom God has
wrought to build up and extend His work in the earth. To neglect or
despise those whom God has appointed to bear the responsibilities
of leadership in connection with the advancement of the truth, is to
442
The Acts of the Apostles, 190-195
443
The Acts of the Apostles, 196, 197