In John 16:12 the Lord told His disciples: "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." That being the case, we need to go beyond the four Gospels, and the ministry of Christ when He was on earth if we wish to find out what it was that the Lord wanted them to know. He went on to tell them in the next verse, "But when He, The Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth." It is from the promise in that verse that the title All Truth has been taken.
It should be common knowledge to our readers that we believe it was given to the Apostle Paul to fulfill the Word of God (Colossians 1:25).
These last Pauline epistles thus reveal to us our hope as members of the One Body of Christ and our various responsibilities as to our walk. We have here a small book that puts forth these truths very simply.
All Truth, by J. Eustace Mills, is an exposition of Colossians 1:24-29 divided into 8 chapters. His approach is to contrast what the Spirit of Truth has revealed before and during the time of Christ, and what was revealed to Paul after the Lord's resurrection (John 16:13).
The book starts with an explanation of the time after the Lord's resurrection when He said that He would send "The Comforter", the Spirit of Truth, who would speak about the things that were to come and would glorify the Lord. This first contrast is between the truths in the Gospels and the words spoken by the Lord in person while on the earth, and the revelations given to the Apostle Paul.
Mr. Mills then suggests that God desires to share His secret purpose with His saints, but that not all are initiated into this calling and some refuse to respond to the message of The Mystery.
The contrast is between those mysteries revealed from the foundation of the world and those revealed before the foundation.
What is this Mystery? For there is more than one revealed in Paul's writings, Mr. Mills explains. The contrast here is between the Mystery of Christ which is hidden in the Old Testament Scriptures, the Gospels, and Paul's earlier writings with the Mystery of the Body of Christ revealed in Paul's last seven epistles. When we make these two secrets the same we have confusion, not light, as the Father desires for us.
The Body of Christ is said to be raised, seated, and manifested with Christ in Glory. We are not told that we will meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The time when the Lord returns at His Second Coming will be glorious, but this is not our hope.
The last chapter contrasts the presentation of the perfect man, one of "full age" and the babe that is spoken of in Hebrews 5:13-6:1. For one to remain a babe is a very sad thing. We need to grow up in Him (Ephesians 4:14-15) so we will not be easily deceived.
All Truth is found in the Word of God.
Mr. Mills would have us rightly divide the Word to find our hope and calling. To grow into full-grown sons fit for the Master's use.
