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Sketches from the Life of Paul
with the very Jews who had rejected the truth as preached to them by
Paul. He reasoned with them from house to house, both publicly and
privately, showing them Christ in prophecy; that he was Jesus whom
Paul had preached, and that their expectations of another Messiah to
come were in vain. Thus Paul planted the seed of truth, and Apollos
watered it; and the fact that Apollos supported the mission of Paul
gave character to the past labors of the great apostle among them.
His success in preaching the gospel led some of the church to
exalt his labors above those of Paul, while he himself was working in
harmony with Paul for the advancement of the cause. This rival spirit
threatened to greatly hinder the progress of truth. Paul had purposely
presented the gospel to the Corinthians in its veriest simplicity. Disap-
pointed with the result of his labors at Athens, where he had brought
his learning and eloquence to bear upon his hearers, he determined to
pursue an entirely different course at Corinth. He presented there the
plain, simple truth, unadorned with worldly wisdom, and studiously
dwelt upon Christ, and his mission to the world. The eloquent dis-
courses of Apollos, and his manifest learning, were contrasted by his
hearers with the purposely simple and unadorned preaching of Paul.
Many declared themselves to be under the leadership of Apol-
los, while others preferred the labors of Paul. Satan came in to take
advantage of these imaginary differences in the Corinthian church,
tempting them to hold these Christian ministers in contrast. Some
claimed Apollos as their leader, some Paul, and some Peter. Thus Paul,
in his efforts to establish Christianity, met with conflicts and trials in
the church as well as outside of it.
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Factions also were beginning to rise through the influence of Ju-
daizing teachers, who urged that the converts to Christianity should
observe the ceremonial law in the matter of circumcision. They still
maintained that the original Israel were the exalted and privileged chil-
dren of Abraham, and were entitled to all the promises made to him.
They sincerely thought that in taking this medium ground between
Jew and Christian, they would succeed in removing the odium which
attached to Christianity, and would gather in large numbers of the
Jews.
They vindicated their position, which was in opposition to that of
Paul, by showing that the course of the apostle, in receiving the Gen-
tiles into the church without circumcision, prevented more Jews from