William Trotter s The Distinct Calling and Glory of the Church 1886

Transcription

1 1 Sunday, April 22, 2012 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 65 When Was the Mystery n Lnger a Mystery? Advancements in Pauline Truth , Part 1 William Trtter s The Distinct Calling and Glry f the Church 1886 In 1886, William Trtter and T. Smith delivered Eight Lectures n Prphecy. The publicatin f the ntes frm these meetings cntains the fllwing Preface, These lectures were delivered, and are nw printed, fr the benefit f Christians almst altgether unacquainted with the subjects f which they treat, hence their strictly elementary character. The fllwing pages are, t a great extent, a transcript f the reprter s ntes. Since these lectures were printed frm a reprter s ntes, they are nt as clear and easy t fllw as Trtter s earlier writings that we surveyed in Lessn 60. The fifth lecture is titled, The Distinct Calling and Glry f the Church as Bride and C-heir f Christ. A discussin f this lecture has been included because f the clear dispensatinal explanatin f the bdy f Christ based upn Ephesians 2. Cautius students shuld nte that n a whle; Lecture # 5 is nt as sund as Christ and the Church fund in Plain Papers n Prphetic and Other Subjects. This hwever, may nt be Trtter s fault since this cllectin f Lectures were printed frm the handwritten ntes f a reprter. Once again, Trtter shws a clear grasp f dispensatinal truth when he distinguishes between the tempral and physical blessings prmised t Israel and the heavenly and spiritual blessings given t the bdy f Christ. We have seen Israel's calling is t tempral blessings in earthly places, even in the land prmised t their fathers. But what are ur blessings, as set frth in this epistle? (qutes Eph. 1:3) In heavenly places. Nt a heavenly frame f mind, as many understand this passage. That wuld surely be included in spiritual blessings. But we are taught what the regin is in which we are thus blessed with all spiritual blessings; it is in heavenly places. Let me ask yu, my brethren, where is the Lrd Jesus Christ? Where is the risen and glrified Sn f Man? Is he nt in heaven literally and actually in heaven? And is it nt in this very chapter that we are tld f "the exceeding greatness f Gd's pwer t us-ward wh believe, accrding t the wrking f his mighty pwer, which he wrught in Christ, when he raised him frm the dead, and set him at his wn right hand in the heavenly places? (Eph. 1:19-20)" This is exactly the same expressin as in verse 3, "Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places." Our place is where he is, at the right hand f Gd. Our prtin, treasure, inheritance ur life, ur peace, ur jy in a wrd, ur blessings are all there: "Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." We are the bdy f him wh actually sits there; and vitally united with him by the Hly Ghst, faith reckns even as Gd accunts his place t be ur place in him. (Trtter, Lecture 5) The fllwing sectin demnstrates that Trtter understd the difference between Israel s calling and the church s calling. Mrever, Trtter understd that in the ages t cme as well as nw the church participates in the eternal purpse f Gd by teaching the manifld wisdm f Gd in the heavenly places. Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 In the beginning f Eph. 2 we have a glance at what ur natural cnditin is, "dead in trespasses and sins." Then in ver. 4, "But Gd, wh is rich in mercy, fr his great lve wherewith he lved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us tgether with Christ;" given us ne life with him whm he raised frm the dead; "(by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up tgether, and made us sit tgether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And fr what end is this? That all the natins f the earth may see hw happy a thing it is t be under the gvernment f the Prince f Peace? N, that is the bject f Israel's calling. But why are we thus raised up tgether, and made t sit tgether in heavenly places in Christ? It is "that in the ages t cme he might shw the exceeding riches f his grace in his kindness tward us thrugh Christ Jesus." And then in Eph. 3: 9, 10, we find that there is even a present display t thse in heaven. "Gd, wh created all things by Jesus Christ, t the intent that nw unt the principalities and pwers in heavenly places might be knwn BY THE CHURCH the manifld wisdm f Gd, accrding t the eternal purpse which he purpsed in Christ Jesus ur Lrd." It is Gd's eternal purpse that even nw unt the principalities and pwers in heavenly places and in the ages t cme t all shall be exhibited, by means f the church, his manifld wisdm, and the exceeding riches f his grace. May ur hearts enter mre fully thrugh grace int this stupendus design. (Trtter, Lecture 5) In his expsitin f Ephesians 2, Trtter ges t great lengths t prve that instead f the distinctin between Jews and Gentiles being maintained in the church, it has been ttally bliterated. The Apstle prceeds in Eph. 2 t shw that instead f the distinctin between Jew and Gentile being maintained in the church, it is entirely bliterated. It is nt that the Gentiles are brught int blessing, as they will be in the millennium, in a place subrdinate t that f the Jews; but that bth Jews and Gentiles are brught ut f their natural state and psitin altgether, int vital unin with Christ in glry. "Wherefre, remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, wh are called Uncircumcisin by that which is called the Circumcisin in the flesh made by hands: that at that time ye were withut Christ" Christ was f Israel accrding t the flesh, but the Gentiles sustained n such relatinship t him "being aliens frm the cmmnwealth f Israel, and strangers frm the cvenants f prmise, having n hpe, and withut Gd in the wrld." Such was ur cnditin as Gentiles. Gd was the Gd f Israel, and they had the hpe f their Messiah's cming, t fulfil all the prmises made t their fathers. "But nw, in Christ Jesus, ye wh smetimes were far ff, are made nigh by the bld f Christ." Hw nigh? S nigh as t be servants f Israel? their plughmen and vinedressers, as the Gentiles will be in millennial times? Is that ur place? Are we the favured plughmen and vinedressers f the mre favured natin f Gd's chice, Israel n the earth? Hear what the Apstle says. "Fr he (Christ) is ur peace, wh hath made bth (Jews and Gentiles wh believe) ne, and hath brken dwn the middle wall f partitin between us; having ablished in his flesh the enmity, even the law f cmmandments cntained in rdinances; fr t make in himself f twain ne new man, s making peace; and that he might recncile bth unt Gd in ne bdy by the crss, having slain the enmity thereby." Can anything be plainer than what we are here taught? We are nt brught int that place f subjectin t Israel which will belng t the spared natins f the earth in millennial times. We are nt brught int the psitin Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 which Israel itself will then ccupy. N, but we are brught int ne immeasurably higher and mre blessed than either. The Jew, with all his privileges, is by nature dead in sins. The ut-cast far-ff Gentile is but in the same cnditin befre Gd. What has Gd in his grace dne fr us bth? Rich in mercy, he has quickened us, whether Jews r Gentiles tgether with Christ. He has brught the Jew ut f his natural psitin as a Jew, and the Gentile ut f his natural psitin as a Gentile, and brught bth int the entirely new and wndrus psitin f being the bdy f the heavenly glrified man; f him wh being in the frm f Gd, and thinking it nt rbbery t be equal with Gd, humbled himself t the death f the crss. He has nw as his reward fr this, a name which is abve every name the name f JESUS at which name indeed the church herself bws the adring knee; but he is als "head ver all things," and we are his bdy. He died, as we have seen, t make in himself f twain ne new man. There is a new, mystic man; f which Christ in glry is the head, and f which all wh believe during the perid f its frmatin, are members. And this is the sense in which we are said t be "the fulness f him that filleth all in all." All my members are the fulness, r cmplement, which cnstitute my bdy. If a jint f my little finger were wanting, I shuld nt be a cmplete man. Thus is the church, the fulness, the cmplement, f this new heavenly man. Christ in glry is the head, and in all things he has the preeminence. But the feeblest saint is essential t the cmpleteness f the bdy. The head (and we knw wh that is) cannt say t the feet, I have n need f yu. (See 1 Cr. 12: 2 1.) Hence in Eph. 4, the gifts are said t be bestwed "fr the perfecting f the saints, fr the wrk f the ministry, fr the edifying f the bdy f Christ, till we all cme in the unity f the faith, and f the knwledge f the Sn f Gd, unt a perfect man, unt the measure f the stature f the fulness f Christ." It is nt "till we all cme t be perfect men." N, but till we all cme unt "a perfect man:" that is, until the bdy, the bride f Christ be cmpleted. It was fr this that Jesus died. "Husbands, lve yur wives, even as Christ als lved the church, and gave himself fr it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing f water by the wrd; that he might present it t himself a glrius church, nt having spt, r wrinkle, r any such thing; but that it shuld be hly and withut blemish." (Eph. 5: ) Wndrus truth! "He that lveth his wife lveth himself. Fr n man ever yet hated his wn flesh; but nurisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lrd the Church; fr we are members f his bdy, f his flesh, and f his bnes." "This is a great mystery," says the Apstle, "but I speak cncerning Christ and the church." (Trtter, Lecture 5) C.H. Mackintsh s The Life and Times f Elijah Exact Date Unknwn Charles Henry Mackintsh, whse initials C.H.M. are knwn wrld wide, was brn in Glenmalure Barracks, Cunty Wicklw, Ireland, in Octber (Pickering, 110) The writings f C.H. Mackintsh had a prfund thelgical impact upn the thinking f D.L. Mdy. Cncerning the writings f Mackintsh, Mdy stated, Sme time since I had my attentin called t C.H.M. s Ntes, and was s much pleased and at the same time prfited by the way they pened up Scripture truths, that I secured at nce all the writings f the same authr, and if they culd nt be replaced, wuld rather part with my entire library, excepting my Bible, than with these writings. They have been t me a very key t the Scriptures. (quted in Sandeen, 173) Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4 CHM died Nvember 2, 1896, and was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery, in what is knwn as the Plymuth Brethren plt, where the graves f Exclusive and Open Brethren lie side by side awaiting the resurrectin mrn. (Smith, 13) In 1896 CHM s Miscellaneus Writings were published in six vlumes. Since these wrks were cmpiled and printed in 1896, the year f CHM s death, it is safe t cnclude that they were written sme time befre they were actually published. As with many f the Brethren writers, CHM did nt date his written wrks. The essay in questin, The Life and Times f Elijah appeared in vlume five f the riginal six vlume set. In 1976, CHM s Miscellaneus Writings were republished in ne vlume, The Mackintsh Treasury. The cnclusin t The Life and Times f Elijah cntains an extended discussin f the unique message and ministry cmmitted t the Apstle Paul. An analysis f this dcument reveals that CHM had definitely abandned the Acts 2 dispensatinal psitin. In fact, as we shall sn see, sme Acts 28 Dispensatinalists claim that CHM was perhaps the first writer t articulate the Acts 28 psitin. Our discussin will deal with areas where CHM was clear as well as thse prtins f this essay that are mre cntrversial. CHM pens the final sectin f The Life and Times f Elijah with the fllwing frceful statement. Every system f dctrine r discipline which wuld cnnect the Church with the wrld, either in her present cnditin r her future prspects, must be wrng, and must exert an unhallwed influence. The Church is nt f the wrld. Her life, her psitin, her hpes, are all heavenly in the very highest sense f that wrd. The calling and existence f the Church are, humanly speaking, cnsequent upn the present rejectin f Israel and the wrld. CHM clearly teaches that the church s heavenly character and pwer was nt brught ut in the Bible until the ministry f the Apstle Paul. The dctrine f the Church's heavenly character was develped in all its pwer and beauty by the Hly Ghst in the apstle Paul. Up t his time, and even during the early stages f his ministry, the divine purpse was t deal with Israel. There had been all alng a chain f witnesses, the bject f whse missin was exclusively the huse f Israel. Mackintsh demnstrates a clear understanding between prphecy and mystery. The church cmpsed f Jew and Gentiles seated tgether in Christ lay far beynd the range f the prphetic testimny, accrding t CHM. The prphets, as has been already bserved in the pening f this paper, bre witness t Israel, nt nly cncerning their cmplete failure, but als the future establishment f the kingdm agreeably t the cvenant made with Abraham, Isaac Jacb, and David. They spke nt f the Church as the bdy f Christ. Hw culd they, when the thing was a prfund mystery, nt revealed t the sns f men? Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 The thught f a Church cmpsed f Jew and Gentile, seated tgether in the heavenlies, lay far beynd the range f prphetic testimny. Isaiah, n dubt, speaks in very elevated strains f Jerusalem's glry in the latter day; he speaks f Gentiles cming t her light, and kings t the brightness f her rising; but he never rises higher than the kingdm, and as a cnsequence never brings ut anything beynd the cvenant made with Abraham, which secures everlasting blessedness t his seed, and thrugh them t the Gentiles. We may range thrugh the inspired pages f the law and the prphets, frm ne end t the ther, and find nthing cncerning the great mystery f the Church. Beginning with the ministry f Jhn the Baptist, the lng prphesied kingdm prmised t Israel was annunced as being at hand, accrding the CHM. Mrever, Mackintsh is explicitly clear that nt even ne syllable f Jhn the Baptist s ministry speaks f the bdy f Christ. Then, again, in the ministry f Jhn the Baptist we bserve the same thing. We have the sum and substance f his testimny in these wrds: Repent, fr the kingdm is at hand. He came as the great precursr f the Messiah, and sught t prduce mral rder amngst all ranks. He tld the peple what they were t d in that transitin state int which his ministry was designed t cnduct them, and pinted t Him that was t cme. Have we anything f the Church in all this? Nt a syllable. The kingdm is still the very highest thught. Jhn led his disciples t the waters f Jrdan the place f cnfessin in view f the kingdm; but it was nt yet that character f repentance prduced in them wh are made members f the bdy f Christ. Jesus Christ and the 12 Apstles are depicted as extending Jhn s prphetic ministry t Israel. Accrding t Mackintsh, Peter ffers Israel the kingdm in Acts 3: The Lrd Jesus Himself then tk up the chain f testimny. The prphets had been stned; Jhn had been beheaded; and nw the Faithful Witness entered the scene, and nt nly declared that the kingdm was at hand, but presented Himself t the daughter f Zin as her King. He t was rejected, and, like every previus witness, sealed His testimny with His bld. Israel wuld nt have Gd's King, and Gd wuld nt give Israel the kingdm. Next came the twelve apstles, and tk up the chain f testimny. Immediately after the resurrectin they inquired f the Lrd, Wilt Thu at this time restre again the kingdm t Israel? Their minds were filled with the thught f the kingdm. We trusted, said the tw disciples ging t Emmaus, that it had been He which shuld have redeemed Israel. And s it was. The questin was, when? The Lrd des nt rebuke the disciples fr entertaining the thught f the kingdm; He simply tells them, It is nt fr yu t knw the times r the seasns, which the Father hath put in His wn pwer. But ye shall receive pwer, after that the Hly Ghst is cme upn yu: and ye shall be witnesses unt Me bth in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unt the uttermst part f the earth (Acts 1: 7-8). Agreeably t this, the Apstle Peter, in his address t Israel, ffers them the kingdm. Repent ye therefre, and be cnverted, that yur sins may be bltted ut, and the times f refreshing shall cme frm the presence (ap prspn) f Pastr Bryan Rss

6 6 the Lrd; and He shall send Jesus Christ which befre was preached unt yu; whm the heaven must receive until the times f restitutin f all things, which Gd hath spken by the muth f all His hly prphets since the wrld began. Immediately after quting Acts 3:19-21, CHM says that the verses in questin deal with the kingdm prmised t Israel and nt the church the bdy f Christ. In fact, Mackintsh emphatically states that thse wh see the church in the pening chapters f Acts have by n means reached the divine thught n the subject. In shrt, CHM was nt an Acts 2 Dispensatinalist. Have we here the develpment f the Church? N. The time had nt yet arrived fr this. The revelatin f the Church was yet t be, as it were, frced ut as smething quite extrardinary smething quite ut f the regular curse f things. The Church as seen in the pening f the Acts exhibits but a sample f lvely grace and rder, exquisite indeed in its way, but nt anything beynd what man culd take cgnisance f and value. In a wrd, it was still the kingdm, and nt the great mystery f the Church. Thse wh think that the pening chapters f Acts present the Church in its essential aspect have by n means reached the divine thught n the subject. After cming dwn hard n the Acts 2 psitin, CHM teaches sme things that seem t be mre cnsistent with the Acts 28 psitin than the Mid-Acts psitin. Mackintsh states the fllwing regarding Peter s ministry t Crnelius in Acts 10 and the Jerusalem cuncil in Acts 15. CHM seems t think that Paul understd the mystery f the church in Acts 15 but that he did nt yet publically prclaim it because f his affectin fr his kinsmen accrding t the flesh (Israel). Please nte that t save space I have nly included the references t the passages quted by CHM. Peter's visin in Acts 10 is decidedly a step in advance f his preaching in Acts 3. Still, hwever, the grand truth f the heavenly mystery was nt yet unflded. In the cuncil held at Jerusalem fr the purpse f cnsidering the questin that had arisen in reference t the Gentiles, we find the apstles all agreeing with James in the fllwing cnclusin: (Acts 15:14-17). Here we are taught that the Gentiles, as such, are t have a place with the Jews in the kingdm. But did the cuncil at Jerusalem apprehend the truth f the Church, f Jews and Gentiles s truly frmed in ne bdy that they are n mre Jew nr Gentile? I believe nt. A few members might have heard it frm Paul (see Gal. 2: 2), but as a whle they d nt seem t have understd it as yet... Because Israel had nt as yet been finally set aside. The Lrd was still lingering ver His belved city, unwilling t enter int judgment; fr, as anther has said, Whenever the Lrd leaves a place f mercy, r enters a place f judgment, He mves with a slw and measured pace. This is mst true; and hence, althugh the apstle f the Gentiles had been raised up and cnstituted the depsitary f a truth which was designed t carry all wh shuld receive it far away beynd the bunds f Jewish things, yet did he make the huse f Israel his primary bject; and in s ding he wrked in cmpany Pastr Bryan Rss

7 7 with the twelve, althugh nt a debtr t them in any ne way. It was necessary, says he t the Jews, that the wrd f Gd shuld first have been spken t yu; but seeing ye put it frm yu, and judge yurselves unwrthy f everlasting life, l, we turn t the Gentiles (Acts 13: 46). In the midst f the lengthy sectin we just quted, Mackintsh is very clear that Peter and Paul were perating under different cmmissins. It was left t Paul alne t unfld the mystery f the church. We infer, therefre, that the preaching f the gspel t the Gentiles by the muth f Peter was nt the develpment f the great mystery f the Church, but simply the pening f the kingdm, agreeable t the wrds f the prphets, and als t Peter's cmmissin in Matt. 16: (Matt. 16:18-19) Mark, it is the kingdm, and nt the Church. Peter received the keys f the kingdm, and he used thse keys, first t pen the kingdm t the Jew, and then t the Gentile. But Peter never received a cmmissin t unfld the mystery f the Church. Even in his Epistles we find nthing f it. He views believers n earth; as strangers, n dubt, but yet n earth; having their hpe in Heaven and being n their way thither, but never as the bdy f Christ seated there in Him. It was reserved fr the great apstle f the Gentiles t bring ut, in the energy and pwer f the Hly Ghst, the mystery f which we speak. He was raised up, hwever, as he himself tells us, befre the time. Last f all, He was seen f me als, as f ne brn ut f due time. Things were nt sufficiently matured fr the develpment f the new revelatin f which he was made the peculiar minister, and hence he styles himself ne brn befre the time; fr such is the real frce f the riginal wrd. CHM sees Paul s ministry during the Acts perid as cnsisting f bth new, previusly unrevealed infrmatin as well as divine affectins fr Israel. Therefre, Paul was slw and deliberate in the prclamatin f his unique cmmissin. Regarding why it was necessary that the wrd f Gd shuld first have been spken t yu; but seeing ye put it frm yu, and judge yurselves unwrthy f everlasting life, l, we turn t the Gentiles (Acts 13: 46). CHM wrte, Why was it necessary? Because f Gd's lng-suffering and grace. Paul was nt nly the depsitary f the divine cunsels, but als f divine affectins. As the frmer, he shuld act upn his peculiar cmmissin; as the latter, he wuld linger ver his brethren, his kinsmen accrding t the flesh : as the frmer, he was called upn t lead the Church int the knwledge f a mystery which in ther ages was nt made knwn t the sns f men ; as the latter, he wuld, like his Master, with a slw and measured step, turn his back upn the devted city and the infatuated natin. In a wrd, as the gspel with which he was entrusted culd nly be prclaimed upn the grund f the ttal abandnment f earth, the earthly city, and the earthly natin, and as Paul's heart yearned ver that natin and city, therefre it was that he was s slw t make knwn publicly the gspel which he preached. He delayed fr furteen years, as he himself infrms us. Then furteen years after I went up again t Jerusalem with Barnabas, and tk Titus with me als. Pastr Bryan Rss

8 8 And I went up by revelatin, and cmmunicated unt them that gspel which I preach amng the Gentiles, but privately t them which were f reputatin, lest by any means I shuld run, r had run, in vain (Gal. 2: 1-2). This is a very imprtant passage n the questin nw befre us. Paul had been raised up quite ut f the regular curse f things; his ministry was ttally divested f the earthly, human and Jewish element; s much s indeed as t give rise t numerus questins as t its divine rigin. T him was cmmitted what he emphatically styles his gspel. But, as has been remarked, it was a questin whether things were ripe as regards the divine cunsels respecting Israel, fr the public develpment f this gspel. The apstle felt this t be a mmentus questin: hence his cautin in cmmunicating it severally t a few. He culd nt, even in the midst f the Church at Jerusalem, speak penly n this grand questin, because he feared that the full time had nt cme, and that, shuld he develp it prematurely, few had sufficient spiritual intelligence r largeness f mind t understand r enter int it. His fears, as we knw, were well grunded. There were few at Jerusalem wh were at all prepared fr Paul's gspel. Based upn the preceding qutatin, Paul delayed the widespread prclamatin f his gspel because Jerusalem was nt ready t hear it. It is als clear that Mackintsh viewed Paul s ministry as ttally separate and distinct frm any earthly, human and Jewish element. CHM appears t be saying that as f Acts 15 Paul knew that his cmmissin and revelatin where unique and distinct; hwever, he chse nt t prclaim his gspel at that time. After a lengthy sectin where he surveys the events f the final chapters f Acts, CHM says the fllwing regarding Paul s departure frm Jerusalem fr Rme. Nw Paul's departure may be lked upn as the immediate precursr f all this. The peculiar truth f which he was the depsitary culd nly be brught ut in all its fullness and pwer in cnnectin with the abandnment f earth as the manifested scene f divine peratin. Hence Paul's jurney frm Jerusalem t Rme must be viewed with deepest interest by the intelligent and reflecting Christian. Careful readers will nte the fllwing sentence, the peculiar truth f which he was the depsitary culd nly be brught ut in all its fullness and pwer in cnnectin with the abandnment f earth as the manifested scene f divine peratin. Accrding t CHM, Paul knew the mystery, i.e., the peculiar truth f which he was the depsitary befre Acts 28. Mrever, since it culd nly nw, upn leaving Jerusalem, be brught ut in all its fullness and pwer, it must have experienced a limited prclamatin previus t Acts 28. CHM s cmments n Acts 28:28 have led sme t cnclude that he was teaching the Acts 28 psitin, i.e., that the bdy f Christ started in Acts 28. It is best t cnsider Mackintsh in his wn wrds. Pastr Bryan Rss

9 9 There was nw n mre hpe. Every effrt that lve culd make had been made, but t n purpse; and ur apstle, with a reluctant heart, shuts them up under the pwer f that judicial blindness which was the natural result f their rejectin f the salvatin f Gd. Thus every bstacle t the clear and full develpment f Paul's gspel was remved. He fund himself in the midst f the wide Gentile wrld a prisner at Rme and rejected f Israel. He had dne his utmst t tarry amng them; his affectinate heart led him t delay as lng as pssible ere he wuld reiterate the prphet's verdict; but nw all was ver every expectatin was blasted all human institutins and assciatins present t his view nthing but ruin and disappintment; he must therefre set himself t bring ut that hly and heavenly mystery which had been hid in Gd frm ages and generatins the mystery f the Church as the bdy f Christ united t its living Head by the Hly Ghst. Thus clses the Acts f the Apstles, which, like the Gspels, is mre r less cnnected with the testimny t Israel. S lng as Israel culd be regarded as the bject f testimny, s lng the testimny cntinued; but when they were shut up t judicial blindness, they ceased t cme within the range f testimny, wherefre the testimny ceased... But there culd be numerus degrees f elevatin as regards the standing f the saint. Fr example, a saint in the pening f Acts had higher privileges than a saint under the law. Mses, the prphets, Jhn, ur Lrd in His persnal ministry, and the twelve, all brught ut varied aspects f the believer's psitin befre Gd. But Paul's gspel went far beynd them all. It was nt the kingdm ffered t Israel n the grund f repentance, as by Jhn the Baptist and ur Lrd; nr was it the kingdm pened t Jew and Gentile by Peter in Acts 3 and Acts 10; but it was the heavenly calling f the Church f Gd cmpsed f Jew and Gentile, in ne bdy, united t a glrified Christ by the presence f the Hly Ghst. The Epistle t the Ephesians fully develps the mystery f the will f Gd cncerning this. There we find ample instructin as t ur heavenly standing, heavenly hpes, and heavenly cnflict. The apstle des nt cntemplate the Church as a pilgrim n earth, (which, we need nt say, is mst true,) but as sitting in Heaven: nt as tiling here, but resting there. He hath raised us up tgether, and made us sit tgether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is nt that He will d this, but He hath dne it. When Christ was raised frm the dead, all the members f His bdy were raised als; when He ascended int Heaven they ascended als; when He sat dwn, they sat dwn als; that is, in the cunsel f Gd, and t be actualised in prcess f time by the Hly Ghst sent dwn frm Heaven. Such was the thught and purpse f the divine mind cncerning them. Believers did nt knw this at the first; it was nt unflded by the ministry f the twelve, as seen in the Acts f the Apstles, because the testimny t Israel was still ging n; and s lng as earth was the manifested scene f divine peratin, and s lng as there was any grund f hpe in cnnectin with Israel, the heavenly mystery was held back; but when earth had been abandned and Israel set aside, the apstle f the Gentiles, frm his prisn at Rme, writes t the Church, and pens ut all the glrius privileges cnnected with its place in the Heavens with Pastr Bryan Rss

10 10 Christ. When Paul arrived at Rme as a prisner he had, as it were, arrived at the end f all human things. He n lnger thught f the Church as exhibiting anything like a perfect testimny n earth. He knew hw things wuld turn ut as regards the Church's earthly path; he knew that it wuld fare with it even as it had fared with the vessel in which he had sailed frm Jerusalem t Rme; but his spirit was buyed up by the happy assurance that nthing culd tuch the unity f the bdy f Christ, because it was a unity infallibly maintained by Gd Himself. Acts 28 Dispensatinalist, Stuart Allen qutes the preceding sectin frm Mackintsh in his 1969 bk The Early Centuries and the Truth. Allen makes the fllwing assertins regarding CHM s understanding f the bk f Acts. Ultimately, Allen views Mackintsh as an Acts 28 Dispensatinalist. The writer (CHM) sees clearly the dispensatinal character f the Acts, with the peple f Israel cming first right up t the last chapter. He realizes that the truth f the great secret (Mystery) revealed thrugh Paul the prisner f the Gentiles was nt knwn r cmmended at Acts 2. Neither is the ministry f Peter r the Twelve cnnected with it. Rather the first unflding f this Divine secret is after Israel s rejectin at Acts 28, and made knwn in the first epistles written after that event, namely thse t the Ephesians and Clssians. It is all the mre remarkable when ne remembers that this was written and taught a hundred years ag. Hw cmes it then that this teaching is dubbed as ultra-dispensatinal by many f the present day fllwers f the mvement t which C.H. Mackintsh was attached, and lked upn as a cncctin f Dr. E.W. Bullinger and Charles H. Welch? (Allen, 40) It is easy t see why Allen wuld view Mackintsh as an Acts 28 Dispensatinalist. Sme f what CHM says is in line with standard Acts 28 viewpints. All f this raises the interesting questin f what makes smene an Acts 28 Dispensatinalist? Michael Penny, authr f Appraching the Bible, an Acts 28 Dispensatinalist. pints ut the tensin between CHM s cmments n Acts 28 and his applicatin f all f Paul s epistles t the bdy f Christ. It wuld be wrng t give the impressin that all, r indeed any, f the abve writers agreed with the detailed apprach advcated in this bk. They were all dispensatinalists, but mre than that, they all saw smething f significatin ccurring at the end f Acts. Hwever, sme f them did nt relate their views n Acts with their cmments n the epistles r letters written during Acts. Fr example, they might state that Israel was set aside in Acts 28:25-27 and that the annuncement that Gd s salvatin was sent t the Gentiles in Acts 28:28 signified the clse f ne dispensatin and the start f anther. They might state that the letters f James, Peter, Jhn, and Jude, as well as the letter t the Hebrews, were fr Israel. Hwever, sme cntinued t hld that all f Paul s letters cncerned this dispensatin. They failed t see that his earlier nes, the nes he wrte during Acts, Galatians 1 & 2 Thessalnians, 1 & 2 Crinthians, and Rmans were all fr that time. They invlved the central peple f Acts, Israel. The churches f that time were mixtures f Jews and Gentiles, with thse f Hebrew descent still, rightly, ccupying the first place and bserving the Law f Mses. Pastr Bryan Rss

11 11 We can see tensin between their cmments n the Acts f the Apstles and their cmments n the letters written during Acts with a number f writers. It is there in C.H. Mackintsh s The Life and Times f Elijah the Tishbite... (Penney, 206) Welch has ften been credited with the discvery f the dispensatinal change in Acts 28:28. Hwever, many wh lived and wrte befre him had seen the significance f the last prnuncement in Acts 28:25-28 f Isaiah 6, including Andersn, Bullinger, Mackintsh and many thers. Sme have suggested that Welch s breakthrugh was t recgnize that if the dispensatinal change came at the end f Acts, it was incnsistent t treat the earlier letters f Paul as ne with his later letters. T leave Paul s earlier letters in the Acts dispensatin and t cnsider his later nes as pertaining t the pst-acts dispensatin is cnsistent and far mre sensible. Hwever, Welch may nt have been the first t cme t this cnclusin. Bth Mackintsh and Hlden had written f the difference between Paul s earlier and later ministries, althugh frm their writings it des nt seem as if they had cme t as clear-cut a view as Welch. (Penney, 212) Whether r nt C.H. Mackintsh shuld rightly be viewed as an Acts 28 dispensatinalist is difficult t say. His thughts in The Life and Times f Elijah are muddled at best. CHM seems t view Paul as having knwn the unique cntents f his gspel and the mystery during the Acts perid; hwever the time had nt cme fr it t be fully prclaimed. But did the cuncil at Jerusalem apprehend the truth f the Church, f Jews and Gentiles s truly frmed in ne bdy that they are n mre Jew nr Gentile? I believe nt. A few members might have heard it frm Paul (see Gal. 2: 12), but as a whle they d nt seem t have understd it as yet. In rder fr them t have heard it frm Paul at the Jerusalem cuncil, Paul wuld have had t have knwn the mystery befre Acts 15. Nw Paul's departure may be lked upn as the immediate precursr f all this. The peculiar truth f which he was the depsitary culd nly be brught ut in all its fullness and pwer in cnnectin with the abandnment f earth as the manifested scene f divine peratin. Hence Paul's jurney frm Jerusalem t Rme must be viewed with deepest interest by the intelligent and reflecting Christian. If Paul s final departure frm Jerusalem brught ut the prclamatin f the depsitary f dctrine cmmitted t Paul in all its fullness and pwer, than clearly Paul had already been making it knwn t sme degree prir t his final departure frm Jerusalem. These cmments cupled with the fact that Mackintsh des nt distinguish between the Acts and pst-acts epistles but accepts all the Pauline as epistles as equally applying t the church leads me t cnclude that CHM cannt rightly be viewed as an Acts 28 Dispensatinalist. As we have already seen, CHM was nt an Acts 2 Dispensatinalist either. S then what was he? I cannt in gd faith call Mackintsh a Mid-Acts Dispensatinalist because he shws many Acts 28 tendencies. I think that we can safely cnclude that CHM was a Pauline Dispensatinalist. That is, Mackintsh understd that Paul was given a different cmmissin than the ne given t Peter and the Twelve. T the Apstle Paul, the apstle f the gentiles, was cmmitted the revelatin f the mystery cncerning the heavenly purpse and calling f the church the bdy f Christ. He viewed Pastr Bryan Rss

12 12 the early chapters f Acts as the kingdm being ffered t the natin f Israel. On these pints Mackintsh is explicitly clear despite his lack f cnsistent clarity ver where the dispensatinal bundary shuld be drawn. Mackintsh understd that the current dispensatin wuld last until the rapture f the church. He was nt ashamed, fr he knew that the Church, thugh brken in pieces here, was nevertheless held in the everlasting grasp f the Sn f Gd, and that He was able t keep it until the happy mment f its rapture t meet Him in the air... And then, as t the Church's hpe, we lk fr the Saviur, and nt fr the accmplishment f any earthly event. Thank Gd, believers are nt taught t wait fr the revelatin f Antichrist, but fr the appearing f the blessed Sn f Gd, wh lved them and gave Himself fr them. Christians shuld understand that they have nthing t lk fr save their rapture int the air t meet the Lrd. The wrld may ridicule the idea, and false teachers may build up systems hstile t it, fr the purpse f shaking the faith f the simple-minded; but thrugh grace we will cntinue t cmfrt ne anther with the assurance that the days are at hand, and the effect f every visin. In additin, CHM seems t have understd sme things abut psitinal truth and the believer s standing in Christ. But it may be asked: Hw can believers be said t be seated in heavenly places when they are yet in the wrld, struggling with its difficulties, its srrws and temptatins? The same questin may be asked in reference t the imprtant dctrine f Rm. 6: Hw can believers be represented as dead t sin when they find sin wrking in them cntinually? The answer t bth is ne and the same. Gd sees the believer as dead with Christ, and He als sees the Church as raised with and seated in Christ; but it is the prvince f faith t lead the sul int the reality f bth. Reckn yurselves t be what Gd tells yu yu are. The believer's pwer t subdue indwelling crruptin cnsists in his reckning himself t be dead t it; and his pwer f separatin frm the wrld cnsists in his reckning himself t be raised with Christ and seated in Him. The Church, accrding t Gd's estimatin, has as little t d with sin and the wrld as Christ has; but Gd's thughts and ur apprehensins are very different things. The church f Christendm has fallen tragically shrt f a true Scriptural understanding f the nature f the church the bdy f Christ, accrding t Mackintsh. In shrt, there will always nly be a small minrity f believers wh cmprehend the heavenly character and calling f the church as preached by the Apstle Paul. We must never frget that every tendency f the human mind nt nly falls shrt f but stands actually ppsed t all this divine truth abut the Church. We have seen hw lng it was ere man culd take hld f it hw it was frced ut, as it were, and pressed upn him; and we have nly t glance at the histry f the Church fr the last eighteen centuries t see hw feebly it was held and hw speedily it was let g. The heart naturally clings t earth, and the thught f an earthly crpratin is attractive t it. Pastr Bryan Rss

13 13 Hence we may expect that the truth f the Church's heavenly character will nly be apprehended and carried ut by a very small and feeble minrity. It is nt t be suppsed that the Prtestant refrmers exercised their thughts n this mmentus subject. They were made instrumental in bringing ut the precius dctrine f justificatin by faith frm amid the rubbish f Rmish superstitin, and als in letting in upn the human cnscience the light f inspiratin in ppsitin t the false and ensnaring dgmas f human traditin. This was ding nt a little: yet it must be admitted the psitin and hpes f the Church engaged nt their attentin. It wuld have been a bld step frm the church f Rme t the Church f Gd; and yet it will be fund in the end that there is n distinct neutral grund between the tw; fr every church, r, t speak mre accurately, every religius crpratin, reared up and carried n by the wisdm and resurces f man, be its principle ever s pure and ever s hstile t Cathlicism, will be fund, when judged by the Spirit, and in the light f Heaven, t partake mre r less f the element f the Rmish system. The heart clings t earth, and will with difficulty be led t believe that the nly time wherein Gd ceases t be manifestly ccupied abut earth that the nly unnticed interval in the histry f time is just the perid wherein He, by the Hly Ghst, is gathering ut the Church t frm the bdy f Christ; and mrever, that when Gd was dealing publicly with earth, the Church, prperly s called, was nt cntemplated; and that when He shall resume His public dealings with the earth and with Israel, the Church will be ut f the scene... Sects are nt the Church, nr religius parties the bdy f Christ. Hence, t be attached t the sects is t find urselves in sme f thse numerus tributary streams which are rapidly flwing nward int the terrible vrtex f which we read in Rev. 17 and 18. Let us nt be deceived principles will wrk, and systems will find their prper level. Prejudice will perate, and hinder the carrying ut f thse heavenly principles f which we speak. In a candid sectin at the clse f The Life and Times f Elijah, CHM makes a pwerful statement abut all thse wh will reslve t stand fr Pauline authrity. Thse wh will maintain Paul's gspel will find themselves, like him, deserted and despised amid the splendid pmp and glitter f the wrld. The clashing f ecclesiastical systems, the jarring f sects, and the din f religius cntrversy, will surely drwn the feeble vices f thse wh wuld speak f the heavenly calling and rapture f the Church. But let the spiritual man wh finds himself in the midst f all this sad and heartsickening cnfusin remember the fllwing simple principle: Every system f ecclesiastical discipline, and every system f prphetic interpretatin, which wuld cnnect the Church, in any ne way, with the wrld, r things f the wrld, must be cntrary t the spirit and principles f the great mystery develped by the Hly Ghst in the apstle f the Gentiles. Pastr Bryan Rss

14 14 Cnclusin While I d nt view Mackintsh as a full-fledged Acts 28 Dispensatinalist, his views certainly are a precursr t the views f Bullinger later in his ministry and Charles Welch. When ne cnsiders the wrks we have surveyed thus far it becmes apparent that Acts 2 (Darby and Trtter), Mid-Acts (Hlden), and early Acts 28 (Mackintsh) dispensatinal views were all in print befre the year This understanding gives richness t the histrical develpment f dispensatinal thelgy apart frm the institutinal ckie cutter apprach that has fr t lng dminated these discussins. Much mre was knwn and in print and at an earlier date than many students f dispensatinal thelgy have heretfre realized. In ur next lessn we will cnsider anther wrk, E.W. Bullinger s 1895 publicatin The Mystery. Wrks Cited Allen, Stuart. The Early Centuries and the Truth. Lndn England: The Berean Publishing Trust, Penney, Michael. Appraching the Bible. Nrwich, Nrflk, UK: The Open Bible Trust, Pickering, H.Y. Chief Men Amng the Brethren. Neptune, NJ: Lizeaux Brthers, Mackintsh, C.H. The Life and Times f Elijah, in The Mackintsh Treasury. Eschenburg, Germany: GBV-Dillenburg, Sandeen, Ernest R. The Rts f Fundamentalism: British & American Millenarianism, Chicag, IL: The University f Chicag Press, 1970 Smith, Wilbur M. A Wrd Cncerning the Authr, riginally fund in Genesis t Deuternmy: Ntes n the Pentateuch and republished in The Mackintsh Treasury.. Eschenburg, Germany: GBV-Dillenburg, Trtter, William. The Distinct Calling and Glry f the Church Lecture 5 f Eight Lectures n Prphecy Pastr Bryan Rss