dragadiddle:

Scripture is not enough to convert someone, though it is the means by which God reveals Himself. The Pharisees knew more Scripture than most Christians today, yet did not have true faith. It is because the Holy Spirit did not reveal to them the true glory of God. It is only the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel by the Word that gives faith in Christ. Faith belongs to God, not us. We do not muster it up, God gives it. 

It’s not that the Spirit of Holiness picked and chose who it would reveal the truth to; that smacks of Calvinism. Say rather that the elders in Jerusalem rejected the call of the Spirit of Holiness.