In view of some erroneous
thoughts which were put at a conference last year it is deemed wise to go over
them that all may be clear on "those things which are most surely believed
among us."

 

One expressed the thought that
he could and did receive revelations at the time. It is clear that only
apostles and prophets of Scripture received such revelations. Now that the
inspired Word is complete, there is no room or need for further revelation. The
Apostle Paul tells us it was given to him to fulfil (or complete—J.N.D. trans.
and others) the Word of God. See Colossians 1:25. Not that he was the last
writer,  for the Apostle John wrote later than Paul; but the capstone of
Christian truth, namely, concerning the assembly, was revealed to and through
the Apostle Paul. We do well to heed the warning in Proverbs 30:6:"Add
thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

 

We do not have apostles today
except in their writings, nor prophets except in the sense of I Corinthians
14:3:"He that¼ speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
The apostles and prophets were connected with the foundation as indicated in
Ephesians 2:20. One requisite for an apostle was to have seen the Lord (I Cor.
9:1). Where is the man living today who has seen the Lord?

 

As to the choosing of a
successor for Judas, it is distinctly stated in Acts 1:21, 22. "Wherefore
of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that
same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness
with us of his resurrection." From this statement we see that Paul could
not be the twelfth apostle, as he did not qualify. It would appear that the two
mentioned in verse 23 were the only ones who did qualify. As the casting
of lots was the common method used among the Jews, Matthias was not chosen by
gambling but by a divine overruling. "The lot is cast into the lap; but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. 16:33). See many other
Old Testament Scriptures about casting lots such as Leviticus 16:8, 9 and
Numbers 26:55.

 

To say that not all Christians
are saints, but only those "who by the grace of God have sanctified
themselves," displays an ignorance of the difference between positional
and practical sanctification. In the assembly of God at Corinth, there were two
glaring evils—moral and doctrinal. See I Cor. 5:1; 2 Cor. 12:21; and I Cor.
15:12. Yet it is this company that was addressed by the apostle in I Cor. 1:2
as "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints." And he includes
"all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,"
indicating the epistle is for all saints everywhere.  Hebrews 10, verses 9 and
10, tell us that Christ came to do the will of God, "by the which will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once."
True, our practical walk should be in keeping with the position we have as set
apart by the death of Christ. "For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification" (I Thess. 4:3).

 

When the Apostle Paul said he
had "a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better"
(Phil. 1:23), did he want to go to a place not ready for the saints? Was not
this place already "prepared"?  On the cross, Christ finished the
work that was the ground or basis of His redeemed having an eternal place in
the Father’s house. He is not preparing that place now. There is an
unfinished work of Christ and will be as long as His own are in this scene:
that of High Priest (in connection with our infirmities—Heb. 4:15, 16) and
Advocate (if we sin—-I John 2:1). "He ever liveth to make intercession for
them" (Heb. 7:25).

 

Do we
not need to turn afresh to our Bibles?  We need to take heed and continue in
the things that we have learned and have been assured of, KNOWING OF WHOM WE
HAVE LEARNED THEM. See 2 Tim. 3:14. Boaz told Ruth "Go not to glean in
another field" (Ruth 2:8); and Naomi, who speaks from bitter experience,
told her, "It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens,
that they meet thee not in any other field" (Ruth 2:22). Can we not learn
a wholesome lesson from these two admonitions?