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Here again we see Paul with a gospel distinct from that of Peter, and an apostleship
distinct also. Some may object to the expression, "A gospel distinct from that of Peter."
In Gal. 2: 2 we read that Paul "laid before them the gospel which he heralded among the
Gentiels," and this gospel is not merely termed the gospel to the uncircumcision, but the
gospel of the unicircumcision. However we will not pause here, these are but hints of the
impending change. This difference is not so radical as the next step we indicate. In Eph.
3: Paul writes as "the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of the Gentiles." This
imprisonment is connected with the "dispensation of the grace of God which hath been
given unto me with a view to you."
"Unto me, the less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the untraceable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all as to what
is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden away from the ages by God,
who did all things create; in order that now, unto the principalities and the authorities in
the heavenlies, might be made known, through the church, the exceeding complex
wisdom of God, according to the plan of the ages which He made in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (Eph. 3: 8-11).
Here words are multiplied to impress us with the secret, hidden, and unsearchable
character of the present dispensation.
Here are riches connected with Christ that are. . .
unsearchable (verse 8).
Here is a dispensation which is one of a . . . . . .
secret (9).
This dispensation of the secret was effectually . . .
hidden (9).
The wisdom therein displayed is . . . . . . . . . .
very complex (10).
The whole was only discovered by . . . . . . . . .
revelation (5).
And Paul was commissioned to . . . . . . . . . . .
enlighten all (9).
Words cannot be more emphatic, and yet men will still carry on the work of
confusion, endeavouring to "search out" the subject of the mystery in scriptures written
before it was revealed, a zeal for God maybe, but not according to knowledge. Let us
rather accept the Scriptures, and see that it is in the Prison Epistles of the apostle to the
Gentiles that we shall receive "enlightening" as to "what is the dispensation of the
secret."
We now turn to Col. 1:, and there again we read of the same exclusive and peculiar
ministry:--
"Of which I (`I' is emphatic here) have become minister, according to the dispensation
of God which hath been given unto me to youward, to complete (or fill up) the Word of
God, the mystery which hath been hidden away from the ages and from the generations."
Here the apostle makes the same claims, adding one or two distinctive clauses. This
dispensation "fills up (or completes) the Word of God." Peter felt the need for some
such dispensation to fully explain the long interval that was taking place between the
ascension of the Lord and His second coming (see II Peter 3:). Peter himself, however,
could not explain it to his readers other than to say that he was assured that it was not
"slackness" on the part of the Lord. He refers his readers to the epistles of Paul, for, says
he, in all his writings he speaks of these things, and some of them are hard to be