When the dust of conflict clears, and the heat of controversy cools,

one blessed fact emerges.  Dispensational Truth at its vital centre, is

concerned with the position that Christ occupies in the scheme of things.

Are we dealing with the calling of Israel, and their destiny to be 'a kingdom

of Priests'?  Dispensational truth relates them to Him, the King -Priest,

after the order of Melchisedec.  Do we today insist that the Church is 'The

Body'?  This demands that Christ Himself must be set forth as 'The Head'.  Do

we point to the unique sphere of blessing that belongs to the dispensation of

the Mystery?

Then we point away to the Seated Christ, at the right hand of God, 'in

heavenly places'.  Unless I can be assured that Christ will be There, how can

I entertain the hope that I can ever be blessed in that highest of all

spheres of blessing?  Is there a redeemed company called 'The Bride'?  Then

Christ must be 'The Bridegroom' or all will fail of realization.  He both

descended, and He ascended far above all heavens, that He might fill all

things, and in all our endeavours to open up the truth of God

'dispensationally' we must never be so taken up with dependent truths like

'One Body', 'Mystery', 'heavenly places' and the like as to forget for one

moment that these depend upon the place that Christ occupies in relation to

any one of them, and of all put together.  In dispensational truth, Christ is

Whenever we think of typical men such as Adam, or the typical

sacrifices of Israel, the Person and Work of Christ comes immediately to

mind.  He is 'the last Adam' and 'the second Man' (1 Cor. 15:45,47).  'Christ

our Passover is sacrificed for us' (1 Cor. 5:7).  The law had a 'shadow of

good things to come' but they never touched the conscience (Heb. 10:1,2), and

when 'He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou

wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me' (Heb. 10:5).  In verse 7,

where it speaks of 'the volume of the book' the word translated 'volume' is

the Greek word kephalis 'a little head', allied to the word translated 'sum'

in Hebrews 8:1 which is kephalaion.  The 'little head' was the summary or

contents of a book, and in Hebrews 10:7 the literal translation would read

'In the heading of a scroll', and this is quoted from Psalm 40:7 where the

LXX uses the word kephalis to translate the Hebrew megillah sepher.

Megillah is rendered 'roll' 21 times in the Old Testament and refers to

the scrolls of skin upon which the ancient Scriptures were written.  Such a

'book' needed a summary affixed to the outside, for it would be cumbersome to

be obliged to unroll a scroll merely to get to know its contents.  In like

manner we learn that the 'summary' of the whole Old Testament is found in the

words 'Lo, I Come', and it will, we trust, be seen that in this somewhat

lengthy introduction, we have not lost sight of the fact that this volume is

devoted to Prophetic Truth.

The Coming of Christ at His first and second Advents, the sending of

His Son by the Father, His willing obedience unto death, and the glorious

resurrection and ascension that followed, contain within their mighty scope

the whole purpose of God, and exhaust every type and shadow to be found in

the Scriptures.  As a corollary that needs continual insistence, is the

conclusion arrived at by Paul in Colossians 2:14 -17:

'Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which

was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His