DISPENSATIONALISM
PLUS
Miles J. Stanford
There is no question but that it
is essential for the believer to know and rightly divide his Bible--a
life-long study. But it is all-essential for the believer to know which
parts of the Scriptures are meant exclusively for him--for his spiritual
growth and maturity.
Remember now, we are talking here
about spiritual growth. Knowing the entire Bible, the whole
counsel of God, will cause a believer to be knowledgeable and steadfast, but
it will not necessarily cause him to be spiritually mature and fruitful.
While all areas of the Word can be helpful to him, the entire Old Testament
will not produce spiritual growth in him, the Lord Jesus’ ministry on earth
to the Jews will not do it for him--nor was it meant to (not even a red-letter
edition of the NT). Matthew cannot do it for him, nor can Mark, Luke,
John, Peter, or James! John may have brought the believer to birth, but
only Paul can bring him to maturity.
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"All
the apostles (except Paul) accompanied the Lord Jesus and followed Him
to the cloud (Acts 1:11) . Paul sees Him on the other side of
the cloud, and it is this which characterizes his entire
ministry." --J.N. Darby |
The glorified Lord Jesus Christ
ministers spiritual growth truth for members of His Body almost exclusively
through Paul. It is in that realm of the Word (Paul’s Epistles) that
believers will come to know who and where they are: in the One
who is their Christian life--and only there. Once they become
established in Him where He is, then they can take advantage of the rest of
the Word without falling prey to Covenant or Charismatic error.
William Kelly knew the place and
significance of Paul’s ministry, and he never failed to stand upon it and
for it.
The doctrine of the Church was
never confided directly to Peter--he never did write of it. He was not
the apostle to the uncircumcision, but of the circumcision (Galatians 2);
full of power for the work among the Jews, he left that among the Gentiles
entirely in the hands of Paul. Peter does not write of the Body of
Christ, and the instrument whom the ascended Lord Jesus commissioned to
establish the Church among the Gentiles was Paul.
God Himself founded the Church
on the day of Pentecost by the gift of the Holy Spirit, but, as human
builder, Paul was exclusively selected to establish the Church, and unfold
what it was. The other apostles never speak of the Body of Christ, nor
of the presence of the Holy Spirit on the earth.
The early ministry of the Lord
Jesus was to Israel (Rom. 15:8). That of John the Baptist was purely
so. It was the Gospel of the Kingdom that was proclaimed then (Mk.
1:15); not the Gospel of the grace of God that we proclaim now (Acts 20:34;
1 Cor. 15:1–4).
The Twelve and the Seventy were
given a restricted ministry to the Jews, which will be resumed by and by
(Matt. 10, and 24:14), but is not for us now. Peter preached the
Kingdom, the Lordship and Messiahship of Christ (Acts 2 and 3) but not
Christ as Head of the Body, the Church, and this is the truth that was
revealed exclusively to Paul, and through his Epistles is made known to
us--especially Ephesians and Colossians. (Bible
Treasury,. Vol. XI, p. 237)
Because the thing is in the Bible does not
warrant the conclusion that it is God’s will and intention for the
Christian. We must seek rightly to divide the Word of truth. What
was formerly right for the Jews is for us nothing but the elements of the
world (Col. 2:20–23). These forms pointed to a reality that is now
come; the Body is of Christ. The blessed portion of a Christian is, that
he has died even to the best things of the world, and is alive to the highest
things in the presence of the Father; for the Lord Jesus Christ glorified is
his Life. (Bible Treasury, Vol. VII, p.
143)