The argument founded on the instructions addressed to Titus is equally unsatisfactory.  Paul says to him—­“For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain [240:1] elders in every city as I had appointed thee;” [240:2] and from these words the inference has been drawn that to Titus alone was committed the ecclesiastical oversight of all the churches of the island.  But the words of the apostle warrant no such sweeping conclusion.  Apollos, [240:3] and probably other ministers equal in authority to the evangelist, were now in Crete, and were, no doubt, ready to co-operate with him in the business of church organization.  Titus, besides, had no right to act without the concurrence of the people; for, in all cases, even when the apostles were officiating, the church members were consulted in ecclesiastical appointments. [240:4] It is probable that the evangelist had much administrative ability, and this seems to have been the great reason why he was left behind Paul in Crete.  The apostle expected that, with his peculiar energy and tact, he would stimulate the zeal of the people, as well as of the other preachers; and thus complete, as speedily as possible, the needful ecclesiastical arrangements.

When Paul once said to the high priest of Israel—­“Sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law” [240:5]—­he had no intention of declaring that the dignitary he addressed was the only member of the Jewish council who had the right of adjudication. [240:6] The court consisted of at least seventy individuals, every one of whom had a vote as effective as that of the personage with whom he thus remonstrated.  It is said that the high priest at this period was not even the president of the Sanhedrim. [241:1] Paul was perfectly aware of the constitution of the tribunal to which Ananias belonged; and he merely meant to remind his oppressor that the circumstances in which he was placed added greatly to the iniquity of his present procedure.  Though only one of the members of a large judicatory he was not the less accountable.  Thus too, when Jesus said to Paul himself—­“I send thee” to the Gentiles, “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” [241:2]—­it was certainly not understood that the apostle was to be the only labourer in the wide field of heathendom.  The address simply intimated that he was individually commissioned to undertake the service.  And though there were other ministers at Ephesus and Crete, Paul reminds Timothy and Titus that he had left them there to perform specific duties, and thus urges upon them the consideration of their personal responsibility.  Though surrounded by so many apostles and evangelists, he tells us that there rested on himself daily “the care of all the churches;” [241:3] for he believed that the whole commonwealth of the saints had a claim