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De Jure and De Facto
The parable already considered shows that a second opportunity was given to the rejectors of their Messiah. In line with this, the Gospels record the prayer of the Saviour from the cross,
"Father forgive them" which it would be blasphemy to say went unanswered. The longsuffering of God continued throughout the whole period covered by the Acts of the Apostles, but the
attitude of the Jewish leaders at Rome showed that national repentance was still a long way off, and so the judgment that had been de jure in Matthew 13 became de facto in Acts 28. Once again,
we see that Acts 28 is a passage of climax. The sequel to the pronouncement of Matthew 13:14,15 is that a new expression becomes necessary. No longer does the Lord speak of the
"kingdom of heaven" but He speaks of those unrevealed aspects of that kingdom which He calls "The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and these mysteries include Satanic
opposition. Immediately following the final application of Isaiah 6:9,10 to Israel, the Apostle Paul makes known the hitherto unrevealed dispensation of "The MYSTERY" (Eph. 3:1-13).
To show the lengths that men of God will go when once they are in full cry after what "they call heresy" consider the following extract:
"In his haste to answer me, Mr. C. H. Welch has overlooked that Acts 26:17 is a part of a recital by the Apostle Paul of an event which took place, not at Caesarea (25:13), but on the road to
Damascus (26:12), which event is first recorded in Acts 9, even before the Apostle Peter unlocked the Kingdom to the Gentiles! This means going back further than any disciple of Dr. Bullinger
has yet done."
Let the reader read the whole of Acts 9, and note every word there uttered to Paul by the Lord on the way to Damascus: "I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick
against the pricks." "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee thou must do." (Acts 9 5,6)
These comprise ALL that the Lord is recorded as saying to Paul in Acts 9. Yet, dear reader, you are to consider that these words were "uttered even before the
Apostle Peter unlocked the kingdom to the Gentiles!" Can you not see in this an evident perversion of judgment? What is there in this record of Acts 9 that suggests the crisis of
Acts 28, or of the mystery that supervenes, or of a future revelation and commission to the Apostle Paul? In verses 15,16 we have the words of the Lord to Ananias, which words found their
fulfillment in Acts 13-26, but not a hint is given in Acts 9 of a subsequent visit by the Lord or about a subsequent commission, for the simple reason that the second commission hinges upon
Israel's failure, and is the ministry of the mystery. The very silence in Acts 9, and the breaking of that silence when Paul had become a prisoner in Acts26 is an eloquent testimony that we
are facing a dispensational crisis. The same reason why the Lord did not answer the question "wilt Thou at this time restore," is the reason why all reference to this second
commission is omitted in Acts 9. Only after Paul needed to be delivered from the "Gentiles" as well as from the people of Israel do the words apply "Unto whom now 1 send
thee". Where in Acts 9 did Paul need to be delivered from the Gentiles?
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