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(2) The Heavenly City. - `The city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... and church of the firstborn, which
(whose names) are written in heaven' (Heb. 12:22,23).
(3) Far above all. - `He ... ascended up far above all heavens' (Eph. 4:10).
`And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Eph. 2:6).
These three spheres of blessing correspond to three distinct callings :
(1) The Earthly Kingdom. - `Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth' (Matt. 6:10).
(2) The Bride. - `The bride, the Lamb's wife ... the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God'
(Rev. 21:9,10).
(3) The Joint-Body. - `His body ... the church: whereof I (Paul) am made a minister, according to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you ... the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations'
(Col. 1:24-26; Eph. 3:3-6).
These three spheres of blessing, each with its special calling, have associated with them three groups of people in
the New Testament. The first sphere of blessing is exclusive to ISRAEL according to the flesh; the second to faithful
believers from among both `JEW AND GREEK', while in the third sphere the calling is addressed to `YOU GENTILES'.
(1) Israel according to the flesh. -- `My kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the
promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, Who is over all, God
blessed for ever. Amen' (Rom. 9:3-5).
(2) Abraham's seed (includes believing Gentiles). -- `Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by
the flesh? ... they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham ... are blessed with faithful Abraham
... For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek ...
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise' (Gal. 3:3,7,9,27-29).
If, at the end of verse 28, we `shut the book', we may `prove' that the blessed unity indicated by the words
`neither Jew nor Greek' refers to the `Church which is His Body'. If, however, we keep the book open, we see that
such is not the sequel, but that this new company are `Abraham's seed', and the hope before them `the promise' made
to Abraham. The reader may readily assent to this, but we would urge him to remember that 1 Thessalonians and
Galatians were both written before Acts 28, and therefore before the revelation of the Mystery. The hope then of
1 Thessalonians 4 belongs to the same calling as that of Galatians and cannot constitute the hope of the Mystery.
(3) The One New Man. - `Where there is neither Greek nor Jew ... but Christ is all, and in all' (Col. 3:11).
`To make (create) in Himself of twain (the twain) one new man, so making peace' (Eph. 2:15).
`That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs' (Eph. 3:6).
The limits of this pamphlet will not permit of extensive proofs of the suggestions made in the foregoing
paragraphs, or of a detailed exposition of the passages concerned; but we believe that the matter is sufficiently clear
for us to go forward with our enquiry. Seeing then that there are three spheres of blessing, with their three
associated callings, we should expect to find three phases of the Coming of the Lord. These three phases are
presented in the following Scriptures :
(1) Kingdom on earth. - HOPE. Matthew 24 and 25.
(2) Abraham's seed. - HOPE OF ISRAEL . 1 Thessalonians 4.
(3) Far above all. - HOPE. Colossians 3:4.
Let us look at each phase of the Second Advent as presented by these three passages.
THE HOPE OF THE FIRST SPHERE
The Sign of the coming of the Son of Man.
The earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was limited to the people of Israel, and had special regard to the
promise made to David concerning Israel's King. It also had in view the promise made to Abraham concerning the