As to the Jews delivering him unto the hands of the Gentiles,--it is by the Gentiles that he is delivered out of the hands of the Jews: of the Jews, the endeavour was--to deprive him of his life; of the Gentiles, to save it. SECTION 6. PLAN OF THE APOSTLES FOR RIDDING THEMSELVES OF PAUL. In this important contest, the Holy Ghost of Agabus was predestinated to yield to the irresistible power of Paul's Lord Jesus. He made his entry into Jerusalem, Acts 21:17, and the very next day commenced the storm, by which, after having been on the point of perishing, he was driven, at last, as far as from Jerusalem to Rome, but the particulars of which belong not to the present purpose. What _is_ to the present purpose, however, is the company, which, upon this occasion, he saw. James, it may be remembered, was one of the three Apostles--out of the whole number, the only three who, on the occasion of the partition treaty, could be prevailed upon to give him the right hand of fellowship. Into the house of this James he entered: and there what he saw was an assembly, met together for the purpose, of giving him the advice, of which more particular mention will be made in its place. It was--to clear himself of the charge,--a charge made against him by the Jewish converts,--of teaching all the Jews, which are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, and of inculcating that doctrine by his own example, Acts 21:20-24. Well! at this assembly who were present? Answer--the Elders--all of them: of the Apostles with the single exception of James, at whose house it was held, not one: not even John,--not even Peter:--the two other Apostles, by whom on their part, the treaty had been entered into:--Peter, the chief of the Apostles;--John "the disciple," John 19:26; 20:2; 21:7-20, whom Jesus loved. The nerves of James it appears, from other tokens besides this, were of a stronger texture than those of either of these his two colleagues; he alone stood the brunt. As for Peter, he had been so "withstood to his face" by Paul on the occasion of his first visit, that he had no stomach to be so withstood a second time. James, it may be remembered, was the Apostle, at whose motion, against the opinion and speech of Peter, the resolution insisting upon certain Jewish observances, on the part of heathen converts to the Church, was carried.