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Lord's brethren, without consciously ministering unto Him, and he is rightly puzzled.
There is one answer to this and every similar perplexity. There is a
KEY OF KNOWLEDGE
which a misguided prejudice has hidden from both tract distributors and seeking sinner,
and that key is the much abused and much misrepresented
DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH.
Anyone who has been rightly taught, discriminates one part of Holy Scripture from
another. Such honour the Word by believing implicitly ALL that it says. A discriminate
believer, that is to say one who appreciates dispensational truth, would believe, without
reservation, the limitations imposed on Matthew's Gospel by the words:
"Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
"I AM NOT SENT but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (10: 5, 6; 15: 24).
He would know of another gospel which speaks of and to "the other sheep", which
were not of "this fold", namely, the Gospel according to John, and there, the seeking
sinner would find in such passages as John 3: 15, 16, 36; 5: 24; 6: 40, 47 and 10: 28
that everlasting life is the unmerited gift of God, received upon believing His Son.
Matthew is as equally inspired as is John, but it is not sufficient to believe II Tim. 3: 16
concerning "all scripture", we must also as assuredly believe II Tim. 2: 15 and "rightly
divide the word of truth" if we would be "unashamed" workmen, and ashamed will all be
who indiscriminately use Matthew where John is dispensationally indicated, or in any
other way fail to use this divinely given Key of Knowledge.
Before we elaborate this important principle of interpretation, let us be sure of our
material, the words employed and their usage and meaning. The word "dispensation"
occurs in the A.V. four times, and translates the Greek word oikonomia. This has come
over into English in the form economy.
Oikonomia is a compound made up of oikos "house" and nemo "to administer", its
usage extending much further than the limits of domestic economy, but never completely
losing sight of its homely origin. No examination of the word oikonomia can be
considered complete or trustworthy that ignores the fact that it was in use in the
Septuagint Version for over two hundred years before the N.T. was written. The usage in
the LXX must of necessity influence the usage in the N.T. and moreover, by consulting
the LXX we can turn back to the Hebrew O.T. and observe what Hebrew words were
translated by oikonomia and oikonomos in that ancient version. In Isa. 22: 19 and 21
the LXX uses oikonomia to translate two Hebrew words:
"I will drive thee from thy station" (Heb matsab).
"I will commit thy government (Heb. memshalah) into his hand."