Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

to Israel the dire consequences of their having a king like the na tions around them. But at least the blame for that failure did not rest on the prophet (see 1Samuel 8:4–18).

Unification

The council in Jerusalem accomplished far more than settling the dispute over circumcision and the keeping of the ceremonial law. It opened the eyes of the leaders in Jerusalem to the princi ple that God is the true Leader of His people; “... that every work er in His cause is to obtain an individual experience in following the divine Leader, not looking to man for direct guidance; that His workers are to be molded and fashioned, not after man’s ideas, but after the similitude of the divine.” The Acts of the Apostles , 401.3. God truly accomplished a marvelous work at that council. The church leaders who had been so determined to run the work in God’s behalf, saw that they were following procedures which would have injured rather than assisted the work. The decision was taken to inform all the Christian churches of the revelation of God’s will in the matter. They sent some members of the coun cil together with the apostle Paul to the various local churches, accompanied by a letter which summed up the solution to this problem as their divine Leader had revealed it to them. “Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsa bas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’—to whom we gave no such commandment—it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater bur