DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH
ACTS
37
AND
(2) The appointment of Matthias, as recorded in Acts 1, was a mistake. The apostles should have waited for the
conversion and commission of Paul. He was the real twelfth apostle.
(3) The Church began at Pentecost. There, Jew and Gentile were baptized into one body.
Let us consider these statements. Afterward we can turn our attention to the positive teaching of the Word on
such important matters as, the ministry of Paul, the place of the Gentile during the Acts, the twofold character of
Paul's commission, the dispensational importance of Acts 28, the dispensation of the Mystery, the three spheres of
blessing, and the principle of right division.
The statement that the words of Christ are all-sufficient.- This is the statement of a blessed truth, but often the
intention of those who use these words must be expanded before we see their true import. They are really a
limitation of the `words of Christ' to the four Gospels; they imply that the further revelation given in the epistles of
Paul are to be considered as on a lower plane, if indeed they be not Paul's own personal opinions. Were we logical
however, the argument that would rule out the writings of Paul, would also rule out the writings of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. We are as dependent upon the human ministry of the four Evangelists for a knowledge of the
`words of Christ' which He spoke on earth, as we are on the human instrumentality of Peter, James, John and Paul,
who recorded what the same Christ spoke from heaven. Inspiration is not limited to any book or cluster of books of
the Scriptures; it extends equally and fully to the whole. It can be said equally of the Gospels and the Epistles, as it
was said of Old Testament prophecy, that `no Scripture is of any private interpretation'.
There is however, one saying recorded in the Gospel which, if believed and acted upon, would compel us to
prosecute our search beyond the pages of these narratives; we refer to John 16:12-14:
`I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is
come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall
He speak: and He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall
shew it unto you'.
It is evident that if we are to attain unto `All truth' we shall have to reach and understand that subsequent
revelation here spoken of. Where will this added truth be found if it be not in the epistles, which record the gracious
activities of the risen Lord?
We trust, therefore, that it has been made evident that the cry, `Back to Jesus', may not be an acceptable slogan
for the believer to adopt today. In confirmation of this, let us turn for a moment to the epistle to the Hebrews. There
the apostle tells the believers that when for the time they ought to be teachers they stood in need of someone
teaching them all over again `the first principles of the oracles of God' (Heb. 5:12). He goes on to liken them to
babes, in contrast with those who are of `full age', or `perfect' (see margin); and then gives the exhortation,
`Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection' (Heb. 6:1). This exhortation
looks back to Hebrews 5:12, but should be read as in the margin, `Therefore leaving the word of the beginning of
Christ'. In the estimate of the apostle, anyone who remained satisfied with `the word of the beginning' was a babe,
and `perfection', or full adulthood, was associated with believing the words that pertain, not to the beginning, but to
the glory of Christ, and these are to be found in the Epistles and the Revelation.
The Appointment of Matthias.- It is the considered opinion of a number of commentators that the appointment of
Matthias was a mistake, and that it was the result of the Jewish predilections of the apostles. This itself is a serious
proposition, but when it is seen that it also touches the peculiar commission of the apostle Paul, it calls for the most
careful attention. Let us examine the facts:
`In those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an
hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by
the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus' (Acts 1:15,16).
First we note the strange intrusion of the fact that there were 120 gathered in that upper room. This agrees with
the reference to the twelve in Acts 1:26, and the twelve nations represented at the feast (Acts 2:9-11). Moreover, the
appointment of Matthias forms an integral part of the Acts, as the following structure will demonstrate.