After the Lord Jesus was resurrected He was with the Apostles for forty days while He spoke of the things pertaining to the Kingdom:

"To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

During those forty days He gave them a dispensational responisibility:

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mk.16:15-16).

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Mt.28:18-20).

The following is the teaching of some of the greatest dispensational teachers of all time in regard to the dispensational responsibility given by the Lord Jesus at Matthew 28:19-20:

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), known as the father of modern dispensationalism, understood that the commission given at Matthew 28 "has never been fulfilled. The course of events under the hand of God-another term, so to speak, the disciples remain at Jerusalem; and a new mission to the Gentiles is sent forth in the person of Paul and that connected with the establishment of the church on earth. The accomplishment of this mission has been thus interrupted, but there is the promise to be with those who went forth in it to the end of the age. Nor do I doubt it will be so. This testimony will go forth to the nations before the Lord comes. 'The brethren' will carry it to warn the Gentiles. The commission was given then, but we find no accomplishment of it. It connects the testimony with the Jewish remnant owned by a risen Lord of all, with the earth and His earthly directions, and for the present it has in fact given place to a heavenly commission, and the church of God" [emphasis added] (Darby, The Writings of J.N.Darby: Matthew's Gospel; Part II, # 217).

According to Darby the commission given at Matthew 28:18-19 has been interrupted and has given place to a new commission, a new mission to the Gentiles in the person of Paul. Darby sees "a new arrangement entirely made-an apostle of the Gentiles raised up, entirely distinct: 'one born out of due time'; 'not of man, nor by man'; who was neither apostle with them, nor from them, but asserts, as he proved, his own independent qualifications" [emphasis added] (Darby, The Apostasy of the Successive Dispensations).

Arno C. Gaebelein (1861-1942) was a close friend of C.I Scofield and a member of the committee that produced the Scofield Reference Bible. In regard to the commission given by the Lord Jesus at Matthew 28:18-19 he wrote: "This is the Kingdom Commission. . . A time is coming when this great commission here will be carried out by a remnant of Jewish disciples" [emphasis added] (Gaebelein, Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2, p. 323).

One of the earliest influential dispensational teachers in America was William T. Pettingill (1866-1950). He was on the editorial staff of the Scofield Reference Bible and he, along with C.I.Scofield, co-founded the Philadelphia School of the Bible on October 1, 1914.

Pettingill wrote that "I have long been convinced, and have taught that the Great Commission of Matt 28:19,20 is primarily applicable to the Kingdom rather than to the Church ... The Matthew commission will come into force for the Jewish Remnant after the Church is caught away" [emphasis added] (Pettingill, Bible Questions Answered, p.112).

James M. Gray (1852-1935) was the third president of Moody Bible Institute and he served in that capacity from 1904 until 1934. He did not believe that the commission given by the Lord Jesus at Matthew 28:18-19 is for today: "This is the Kingdom Commission, as another expresses it, not the Christian Commission . . . Its accomplishment has been interrupted, but will be taken up before the Lord comes to deliver Israel at the last" [emphasis added] (Gray, Christian Worker's Commentary, p. 313).