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Sketches from the Life of Paul
wound his brethren, and dwelling especially upon topics where he
knew they could harmonize.
The effort was not without good results. The Spirit of God im-
pressed the minds of the brethren and affected their hearts. The tidings
of the progress of the gospel, the evidence that the power of God was
working with the apostle’s efforts, softened their feelings toward Paul,
and convinced them that their prejudice against him was unfounded;
and they glorified God for the wonders of his grace. At the close of
Paul’s address, the brethren joined in a season of solemn praise, and
the Amen, expressive of their hearty sanction of his work, was swelled
by many voices.
[211]
But beneath this apparent harmony, prejudice and dissatisfaction
were still smouldering. Some in the church were still striving to mold
Christianity after the old customs and ceremonies that were to pass
away at the death of Christ. They felt that the work of preaching the
gospel must be conducted according to their opinions. If Paul would
labor in accordance with these ideas, they would acknowledge and
sustain his work; otherwise they would discard it.
The elders of the church had been at fault in allowing themselves to
be influenced by the enemies of the apostle. But when they heard from
his own lips an account of the work he had been doing, it assumed
a different aspect. They could not condemn his manner of labor;
they were convinced that it bore the signet of Heaven. The liberal
contributions from the new churches he had raised up, testified to the
power of the truth. They saw that they had been held in bondage by
the Jewish customs and traditions, and that the work of the gospel had
been greatly hindered by their efforts to maintain the middle wall of
partition between Jew and Gentile.
Now was the golden opportunity for these leading men to frankly
confess that God had wrought through Paul, and that they were wrong
in permitting the reports of his enemies to create jealousy and preju-
dice against him. But instead of doing justice to the one whom they
had injured, they still appeared to hold him responsible for the existing
prejudice, as though he had given them cause for such feelings. They
did not nobly stand in his defense, and endeavor to show the disaffected
party their error; but they threw the burden wholly upon Paul, coun-
seling him to pursue a course for the removal of all misapprehension.
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They responded to his testimony in these words: “Thou seest, brother,