The revelation of divine truth, therefore, as the foundation of our faith, reached its highest level in the Son. We need not look for another gospel--_hear him_. He has also said, "I will build my church"; hence we need not look for another church--HEAR HIM! Paul declares that the gospel with its revelation of the "mystery" of the union of the saved in one body, the church, was in his day "_made manifest_," and, "according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations _for the obedience of faith_" (Rom. 16:25, 26). See Eph. 2; 3:1-10. While therefore Christ was the author of the truth in its highest form of revelation, also the founder of his church, both reached their fulness of perfection under the inspired apostles and was by them "made known to all nations _for the obedience of faith_." The unity of all believers for which Christ solemnly prayed was to be accomplished through the direct agency of the apostles, the result of believing on Christ "_through_ THEIR _Word_" (John 17:20). In describing how both Jews and Gentiles were reconciled in one body by the cross, Paul says that God "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: _that in the ages to come_ he might show the exceeding riches of his grace" (Eph. 2: 6, 7). The unified church of the apostolic day is therefore the divine model for all succeeding ages. [Sidenote: Paul's relation thereto] Since the first apostles were employed as special agents in establishing the perfected New Testament church, Paul's connection therewith is of particular importance. Paul was not one of the original twelve, yet he exerted a tremendous influence in that period and was undoubtedly one of the chief agents used in establishing the church and fixing its external form and character. Many believe that Paul belonged among the twelve as the real successor of Judas. According to this view, the election of Matthias to the apostleship was without divine sanction, being proposed by the impetuous Peter, who, before the descent of the Holy Ghost, often proposed inadvised things. Strength is given this view by the oft-repeated assertion of Paul that he was an apostle, "not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1: 1). We are not forced to that conclusion concerning Matthias, however. In writing the Acts of the Apostles, Luke the companion of Paul, records the appointment of Matthias without intimating that it was a mistake. In Scripture usage a certain parallelism is maintained between the twelve apostles of the Lamb and the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. When we recall that there were literally thirteen tribes in Israel, Ephriam and Manasseh standing for Joseph, we need not be surprized that there should be literally thirteen foundational apostles in the Christian church, Matthias and Paul standing, as it were, in the place of Judas.