ATJ
BY ALONZO T. JONES
OF all the Scriptures that have been misused to bolster up what has already been done without Scripture, this in Acts 15 relating to the meeting held at Jerusalem must be the one that has been so misused the most. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.1
Those denominations who hold general councils—as the Catholic churches—make that meeting to be “the first general council.” Those who hold general assemblies—as the Presbyterians—make the meeting to be “the first general assembly.” Those who hold general conferences—as the Methodists and others—make it to be “the first general conference.” And by this sleight all these denominations make that meeting to sanction their general “councils,” “assemblies,” “conferences,” etc., and all that they do therein. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.2
It is time that this scripture was studied to know what is in it. What, then, are the simple facts as they stand in the plain statements of the Scriptures? MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.3
1. Certain men came down to Antioch from Judea, and taught the Christians at Antioch, “Except ye be circumcised, ye can not be saved.” V, 7. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.4
2. “Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them.” V, 2. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.5
3. The brethren at Antioch “determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem about this question.” V, 2. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.6
4. “Paul and Barnabas” and certain other of them “of the church at Antioch,” were all who went “to Jerusalem about the question.” V, 2. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.7
5. These “passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy unto all the brethren” in those parts; but no one went with them from the churches in Phoenicia or Samaria. V, 3. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.8
6. When they arrived at Jerusalem, “They were received of the church and of the apostles and elders.” V, 4. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.9
7. To “the church and the apostles and elders,” at that meeting on their arrival, Paul and Barnabas “declared all that God had done with them.” V, 4. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.10
8. Here also “there arose up certain ... saying that it was needful to circumcise the Christians from among the Gentiles. V, 5. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.11
9. Then “the apostles and elders with the whole church” “came together to consider of this matter.” Vs. 6, 22. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.12
10. In this second meeting there was first, “much disputing.” Then Peter spoke. Vs. 7-11. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.13
11. Next, “all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” V, 12. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.14
12. At last spoke James. Vs. 13-21. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.15
13. “Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.” V, 22. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.16
14. “And they wrote letters by them after this manner: The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.” V, 23. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.17
By the simple facts of the plain words of the record there appears the sober truth that— MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.18
(a) The only thing in any possible way that was in any sense general about either of the meetings in Acts 15, is that it was a general meeting of the church at Jerusalem; and nobody else present except “Paul and Barnabas and certain other” from Antioch. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.19
(b) There were two of those meetings. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.20
The first one, when those from Antioch on their arrival were “received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they [from Antioch] declared all things that God had done with them.” V, 4. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.21
The second one, afterward when “the apostles and elders with the whole church” came together to consider the matter that had brought these from Antioch, and that had been urged anew at the first meeting. Vs. 6, 22, 23. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.22
(c) The two meetings were composed alike:— MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.23
The first meeting was composed of “the apostles and elders with the whole church,” and those from Antioch. Vs. 6, 22, 23-25. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.24
(d) Neither of these meetings was any more of a general council, or a general assembly, or a general conference, than the other. The only difference in the meetings is in the fact that more persons spoke in the second meeting than in the first. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.25
(e) In the character of the two meetings, and in the persons who were present, neither meeting was any more of a general council, or a general assembly, or a general conference, than the other. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.26
(f) And since both meetings were composed only of the church and the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, with “Paul and Barnabas and certain other” from Antioch—if that must count for a general council, or a general assembly, or a general conference, then it is certain that any meeting of the whole membership of any local church or congregation, with possibly a half dozen brethren present from another local church or congregation, to consider a particular matter, is equally a general council, or a general assembly, or a general conference. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.27
But no such thing as that is ever contemplated in the conception of those who make the record in Acts 15 to be the precedent and sanction for general councils, general assemblies, or general conferences. What these mean by it is, that it was a council, or an assembly, or a conference, of persons from many churches met as delegates or “representatives” of those churches; and so, by such representatives of churches, a general council, or general assembly, or general conference, of the Christian cause as a whole. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.28
But by the simple facts of the plain record in Acts 15, it is certain that neither of the two meetings there mentioned was in any sense any such thing as that. And this is confirmed by other facts of the Scripture record: MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.29
I. Attention has already been called to the fact that though the brethren from Antioch passed through Phoenicia and Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, and “caused great joy unto all the brethren” in those regions,—where there were churches—yet no persons, much less any delegates or representatives of the churches there, went with those brethren to Jerusalem. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.30
.II. Much more: In addition to the churches in Phoenicia and Samaria, there were at that time churches in Antioch in Pisidia, and “all that region;” at Iconium, Lystra and Derbe and other places in Lycaonia; and at Perga and other places in Pamphylia. (Acts 13.) Yet no person, much less any delegate or “representative” of any church or “field,” from any of those churches or places was present at either of the meetings at Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 15. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 251.31
By the Scripture record, therefore, it is certain that neither of the meetings at Jerusalem, mentioned in Acts 15, was a meeting of “representatives” or even of persons, of the churches, regions, or fields of the Christian cause in general at that time. Neither of these meetings, therefore, was in any sense a meeting of delegates or representatives, as in the conception of those who make it a general council, or general assembly, or a general conference. It is therefore certain that there is not in Acts 15 nor anywhere else in the Scriptures any record of, nor was there ever held in apostolic or New Testament times, any such thing as it meant in the term, “general council,” “general assembly,” or “general conference.” MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.1
Yet further: The Scripture record makes perfectly plain just why those meetings occurred at Jerusalem, and why it was only the apostles and elders and the church at Jerusalem, with the brethren from Antioch, that composed the meeting. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.2
1. Those who started the disturbance at Antioch had come to Antioch “from Judea,” and evidently from the church at Jerusalem itself. For, in the letter sent out from this meeting by “the apostles and elders and brethren,” those others are referred to as “certain which went out from us.” MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.3
2. These having gone out from the church at Jerusalem, sought to ring in the apostles and elders, if not the whole of that church, as responsible for the doctrine that they were urging. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.4
3. They even claimed that the apostles and elders and brethren at Jerusalem had sent them with “commandment” to teach that Christians must be circumcised in order to be saved. For— MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.5
(a) At the conclusion of the discussion in the meeting “it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas,” to repudiate those who had raised the issue there, and to assure the brethren at Antioch that those who had troubled them with words had no commandment from either apostles or elders or the church at Jerusalem to teach any such thing, and that, instead of those having taught truth, they were really subverting souls. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.6
(b) In addition to their sending these chosen men of their own company to tell this by word of mouth at Antioch, “the apostles and elders and brethren” at Jerusalem wrote and sent a letter, to the same purpose, declaring that “certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment,” and “it seemed good unto us ... to send chosen men unto you ... who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.” MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.7
The plain and easy truth of the whole matter, then, is that— MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.8
.I. Those who went first to Antioch and raised there this issue of a false gospel, were from the church at Jerusalem. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.9
.II. When Paul and Barnabas withstood the with the true gospel, and they could not maintain their ground by any merit of their teaching, they fell back upon their being from the church at Jerusalem and sought to carry their point by “authority,” through the claim not only that what they were teaching was what the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem taught, but that these had sent them to teach that thing. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.10
.III. This at once threw back the whole question to the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem, and made the main question to be, not—Is what these men are teaching, true? but, Is it true that the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem are teaching thus? and did they send out these men to teach it? MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.11
.IV. These questions necessarily could be answered only by the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.12
.V. Therefore, the only thing to be done at this point by the brethren at Antioch was, just what they did, to decide “that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.13
.VI. And when they had done so, and the apostles and elders of the whole church at Jerusalem had considered the whole matter, they unanimously repudiated those men and their teaching as having come in any way from them, and did now send chosen men of their own company to Antioch to tell there that those men and their teaching were repudiated, and to tell what the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem really did teach; and also sent a letter telling the same thing that the chosen men were to tell by word of mouth. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.14
By those who had first gone to Antioch the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem had been misrepresented, had been put in a false position, and had not only been falsely pledged but had been falsely pledged to a false doctrine. The journey of the brethren from Antioch to Jerusalem was to inquire for the truth in the matter; and the two meetings of the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem with the brethren from Antioch were held to consider the matter and to make known from the apostles and elders and church at Jerusalem themselves the plain truth of the matter in which they had thus become involved. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.15
It is true that the issue involved was the very foundation of the gospel; but this in no wise affects the fact that neither of the meetings held as the consequence of the issue, or in considering the question, was in any sense a general council, or a general assembly, or a general conference; but that both of the meetings were meetings only of the church and apostles and elders at Jerusalem, with the few brethren from Antioch. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.16
Another thing, and a thing that should make the meeting of most suspicious “authority” as a “general council,” or a “general assembly,” or a “general conference,” even to those who hold such thing, is the fact that what it did was not held as authoritative by the two leading men in the meeting—Peter and James—“all the elders,” and at least a very large number of the church at Jerusalem. For afterward both Peter and James with many others abandoned the ground taken in the meeting, and went over to the ground of those who had first advocated the circumcision of Christians. And so strong was the tide that even Barnabas was carried away with it. Galatians 2:11-16; Acts 21:18-25. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.17
Nevertheless, Christ, who is the Head of the Church and of all Christians, by the sovereignty and guidance of his own Holy Spirit, kept his church in the straight path of “the truth of the gospel,” and even led back into that straight path those mistaken brethren. And so will he do forever—whensoever he is allowed to have his place as Head of the Church, and his Spirit his place as the Guide of his Church and of all the membership of the Church. MEDM August 7, 1907, page 252.18