The only question now remains: Do the Acts of the Apostles and their
Epistles supply us with all the teachings that the Spirit of Truth,
according to our Savior's promise, was to reveal to the Apostles, and
which were necessary for their guidance? If not, continuous revelation
will be just as necessary after the New Testament dispensation as it
was after the Mosaic economy.
The book called the Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, and may
be considered as a continuation of his Gospel. In this book we can
trace the growth of Christian churches during the greater part of the
first century after Christ. It covers the period from the time of the
crucifixion to the second year of the first imprisonment of Paul in
Rome, A. D. 63, and there it breaks off even without recording the
issue of the trial. The book may be divided in two parts. The first
twelve chapters describe the growth of the Church of Christ {376} among
the Jews in Palestine, chiefly through the labors of Peter. The last
sixteen chapters treat of the spread of the Gospel among other nations,
chiefly through the labors of Paul. Of the works of the rest of the
Apostles we have no account.
Tradition has it, that Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia; Philip
in Phrygia; Thomas in India, and so on. But of their work for the
promulgating the gospel in the different parts of the world we have
no record. What they taught, what difficulties they encountered, how
they preached, suffered and endured may be conjectured. But it has not
reached us in any historic record.
Nor is the Acts of the Apostles a complete record of the works of
the two servants of God, whose ardent labors are noticed. It is as
fragmentary as are the gospels. Many important transactions, referred
to elsewhere, are omitted. There is no account whatever of the branch
in Jerusalem after the imprisonment and deliverance of Peter. Nothing
is told of the introduction of the Gospel in Rome, the capital of the
world at that time. Nor does it say anything of Paul's many voyages,
which he incidentally mentions (II Cor. xi, 25).
Considering all this, it seems as if the Spirit of Truth had been
anxious to guard against the impression that this book was intended to
conclude God's revelations to mankind.
Let us consider the facts. Christ had promised to send the Spirit of
Truth to His chosen Twelve. What this Spirit was to reveal was, of
course, as essential and necessary to salvation as anything that our
Savior had revealed Himself. But of all this that the Spirit, according
to the promise, has revealed to the Twelve, only a small part has been
recorded. How can this small part be sufficient to us, since it was not
sufficient to the first Christians?
But, besides this, the book of the Acts shows plainly the necessity of
continuous revelation; for wherever the gospel is being accepted, the
gift of receiving revelation is being imparted through faith. Peter, in
his first sermon, declares that the time has now come when the Spirit
shall be poured out upon all flesh. Prophecy, visions, dreams were to
attend the believers (Acts ii, 17, 18); and, accordingly, whenever
the gospel is preached and believed, these manifestations follow. The
heavens are opened to Stephen, and he is permitted to see the Son of
God on the right hand of the Father (Acts vi, 55, 56); an angel of the
Lord appears and directs Philip (Acts viii, 26); Christ appears to
Saul (Acts ix, 3-6); through the vision of an angel Cornelius is led
to send for Peter, and {377} he receives supernatural gifts (Acts x,
148); an angel delivers Peter from prison (Acts xii, 7, 8); the Holy
Ghost reveals to the brethren in Antioch that they should send Paul
and Barnabas on a mission (Acts xiii, 1-4); through the Spirit the
apostles and elders are able to settle the dispute about the doctrine
of circumcision (Acts xv, 1-31); twelve men in Ephesus receive the Holy
Ghost through the administration of Paul, and prophesy and speak in
tongues (Acts xix, 1-7). Wherever the gospel message is delivered and
believed, in Palestine, in Greece, in Asia Minor, the results are the
same. The Holy Ghost is given, and His presence is manifested through
these gifts.
The Acts of the Apostles has taught us this important lesson--that the
gift of receiving revelations was not confined to the Twelve nor was
the gift to cease with them. The gift itself was inseparable from the
gospel. Where there is no gospel there are no revelations, but where
the true gospel of Jesus Christ is, there is revelation also. The
promise of receiving the Holy Ghost, the promised Spirit of truth that
was to lead into all truth and to reveal things to come, is a universal
promise: "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts
ii, 39).