18
the reader who has never attempted it, has a joy awaiting him that no second hand acquaintance with Holy Writ
can provide.
The Dispensational Place of John's Gospel.
For the full exposition of the Gospel of John, the reader will be able to consult our book Life Through His Name,
(now obtainable from the Berean Publishing Trust), but in order to make this booklet as complete as possible yet
without undue repetition, we will discuss the dispensational place which this Gospel occupies.
In the first place let us get well into mind the fact that the primitive church had three gospels, and three only.
So far as we have any knowledge neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter nor Paul saw or knew of the Gospel according
to John. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, at the end of the second century, and Irenaeus, the scholar of Polycarp, who
was himself a disciple of John, record the fact that John remained in Ephesus till the times of the Emperor Trajan,
and that he died there in extreme old age, as is testified by Eusebius also. The mistake concerning John that is
exposed in John 21:23, may have obtained some credit by the fact that John outlived all the other apostles. It is
evident that the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke contained all the teaching that was essential during the period
governed by the Hope of Israel and that the statements concerning the "world", "whosoever" and the "other sheep"
found in John's Gospel would have been premature or "undispensational" at the time. The relative place of the
different sections of the New Testament, with particular reference to John's Gospel might be set out thus:
(1) Gospels.' New Covenant in operation. Matt., Mark,
Luke.
King and Kingdom rejected.
(2) Acts.' New Covenant in operation.
King and Kingdom re-offered. Israel rejected.
Hope suspended.
(3) The Mystery." New Covenant NOT in operation.
Paul's prison epistles.
"All the saints in Asia be turned away from me".
(4) John's Gospel." New Covenant NOT in operation.
The world. The other sheep.
The gospel of eternal life.
(5) The Revelation."Resumption of the New Covenant.
The Day of the Lord.
In Matthew's gospel is recorded the parable of the marriage of the King's Son, which is divided into three
distinct phases, corresponding with the periods covered by the three Gospels, the Acts and the gospel according to
John.
First Invitation (Matt. 22:3), "They would not come", the three gospels.
Second Invitation (Matt. 22:4-7), "They made light of it", the Acts period; the servants were entreated
spitefully and slain by the remnant, who in turn were destroyed and their city burned by the King in his wrath.
Third Invitation (Matt. 22:8-10), "Gathered all ... both bad and good", John's gospel.
The punishment of those who did not accept the second invitation took place between Acts 28 and A.D. 70
during which period the dispensation of the mystery was revealed, believed and then largely forsaken. After Paul's
death John wrote his gospel, giving a message and a calling to the "world" and revealing that the Lord had "other
sheep" who were not of Israel's fold, which must be gathered, so that at last there may be "one flock and one
shepherd".