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to a standstill. Here, then, was manifested the wisdom of God. When all seemed lost He revealed His secret, that
during the period of Israel"s rejection, He had determined to call, from among the Gentiles, a company who should
be members of the Body of Christ, who though aliens from the commonwealth of Israel should be blessed far above
Israel"s inheritance, and beyond all that the promise of Abraham could give.
This "secret" God revealed to Paul the prisoner, and through him everyone else has learned its wondrous
message. This leaves all other callings and dispensations where Scripture leaves them, and does not confuse
kingdom with church, bride with body, earth with heaven.
Whilst there is much more to write, we must come straightaway to Ephesians 3, in order that we shall have, in
the very language of Scripture, Paul"s own statement about this new dispensation:
"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ FOR YOU GENTILES, If ye have heard of the DISPENSATION of
the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by REVELATION He made known unto me THE
MYSTERY ... Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the UNSEARCHABLE riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship (Revised Version
dispensation) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:1-3,8,9).
As a confirmation of this claim and a further explanation of its meaning, let us quote from Colossians:
"For His BODY"S sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a MINISTER, according to the DISPENSATION of
God which is given to me FOR YOU, to fulfil the word of God; even THE MYSTERY which hath been HID from ages
and from generations, but now is made MANIFEST to His saints: to whom God would make known ..." (Col. 1:24-
27).
Whoever the reader may be, and whatever views he may hold as to dispensational truth, here are two inspired
statements in the Word of God that cannot be ignored. They challenge attention, faith and adherence. If followed,
they lead to an assurance and to a fellowship which transcends anything else found in Scripture. Is it any wonder
that, having caught a glimpse of the glory that is there at the right hand of God, we should set so high a value on
these four prison epistles?
The fact that in these four epistles we find the revelation of the mystery does not, and cannot, mean that other
Scriptures are ignored, or that fundamentals are denied. This aspect of the subject is dealt with in No. 8 of this
series.
We wish we could write more fully of these precious things, but our object will have been achieved if prejudice
has been removed, and the claims of these epistles upon the believer"s closest attention have been vindicated.
No. 10
Dispensational truth and practical Christianity
Among the many charges brought against "Dispensational truth" is the one that it is so unpractical; that these
folk who have their heads in the stars, who talk about "principalities and powers" and "mysteries" have no message
of practical value, their teaching making men hypocritical, mystical and exclusive. Now if these charges could be
substantiated they would be serious indeed. But we are glad to say that they exist only in the imagination of those
who, when criticising the teaching of the mystery, are somewhat like the would-be teachers of the apostle"s day:
"Understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm" (1 Tim. 1:7).
It is our object in this pamphlet to show how intensely practical these epistles of the mystery are, and we feel
sure that those who desire the truth will gladly open the Book so that it may speak for itself.