Again, if the reader will turn to the quoted Psa. 68: he will see that while the

ascension of Christ is there revealed, not the remotest indication is given as to what were

the "gifts" that He gave to men. For that information we are indebted to the Apostle, and

he received it by revelation and observation, not by reading Psa. 68:

We therefore continue our quest for one solitary quotation of the O.T. Scriptures by

the Apostle in making known the truth of the mystery. In Eph. 5: 30 we read, "For we

are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones". The Revisers omit the words

"of His flesh and of His bones" and so do the Companion Bible and the Numeric New

Testament. The passage therefore is too debatable to be admitted. The next verse is a

direct quotation from Gen. 2: 24, but the words following, "But I speak concerning

Christ and the church" (Eph. 5: 32) bring back the subject from the general relationship

of man and wife to the particular relationship of Christ and His church, which, though

illustrated by the quotation is not thereby revealed.

In chapter 6: we meet the first direct quotation from O.T. Scriptures upon which a

doctrine or a precept is made to depend.

This is addressed, not to members of the Body, but to "children" who are exhorted to

obey their parents in the Lord "for this is right"--not because they were fellow-members

of the Body.

The apparent quotation of Zech. 8: 16 in Eph. 4: 25, "Speak every man truth with

his neighbour", is explained by the fact that Paul's whole phraseology was tinctured with

O.T. language, but even if this be included as a direct quotation nothing can be made of

Zech. 8: that constitutes any doctrine connected with the subject-matter, except by

general analogy.

Philippians contains not a single quotation from the Old Testament. There is an

allusion to Isa. 45: 23 in Phil. 2: 11, and it refers to the Person of the Lord, not to

the mystery.  Colossians uses no reference, and  II Timothy  but one, namely

Numb. 16: 5 and 26, in chapter 2: 19.  As we have seen, I Timothy uses the law

concerning the muzzling of the ox, to which we have already alluded (I Tim. 5: 18); but

there is no other quotation. This leaves only Titus and Philemon neither of which makes

reference to the O.T.

Here then we have seven epistles, and they contain not more than eight quotations

from the O.T., possibly but seven, and of this number, not one can be said to teach or

reveal any doctrine peculiar to the testimony of Paul the prisoner of the Lord.

We come back therefore to Acts 28: 23 and 31 and perceive that the emphasis

upon the Law and the Prophets in verse 23 and the pointed omission of any reference to

the Scriptures in verse 31 entirely harmonizes with the two dispensations that find their

"landmark" in Acts 28: 25-28.