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nevertheless affirm with conviction that the hope of 1
Thessalonians 4 is the hope of the Church of the Mystery.
Now, if Paul taught `none other things than those which the
prophets and Moses did say should come', it follows that the
hope set before us in Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and
Thessalonians must be the hope of Israel, and further that, if this
hope is also the hope of the Church revealed in Paul's Prison
Epistles, then the word `mystery' loses its meaning, at least in so
far as it can be applied to the hope of the Church. We shall be
content to present to the judgment of the reader exactly what is
written concerning the hope of the Church during the Acts
administration, and we believe that he will find abundant
evidence to prove that, as in the case of the gospel and the
inclusion of the Gentile, this hope agrees with the testimony of
Moses and the prophets, and cannot therefore be the hope of a
company called under terms which were unrevealed until the
apostle became the `prisoner of the Lord'.
While 1 Thessalonians 4 is the passage to which we naturally
turn for a definite statement concerning the hope of the Church
of the period, we will follow the rule adopted in the earlier
studies and investigate first the Epistle to the Romans. In
chapter 15 the apostle not only speaks of the inclusion of the
Gentile, as we saw in our last study, but also associates the
believing Gentile with the hope of Israel.
`And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall
rise to reign over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost' (Rom. 15:12,13).