"The FULNESS of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:23).

From this ascended glory "far above all heavens" which enables Him to "fill all things", Christ gave apostles and

others for "the building up of the Body of Christ", the goal of which is nothing less than "the measure of the stature

of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:10-13). The first item in the sevenfold unity of the Spirit is "There is one Body"

(Eph. 4:4). This church of the one Body was called into being under a dispensation of God, which was given to the

apostle for the Gentiles, a dispensation which "completes" the Word of God and which relates to the Mystery which

hath been hid from ages and from generations, but which hath now been made manifest through the ministry of the

apostle Paul (Col. 1:24-26).

The three companies of believers denominated "The Wife", "The Bride" and "The Body" are related to three

spheres of blessing:

First Sphere.

THE EARTH.

Subject of the Old Testament and part of the New Testament.

Israel dominant.

Second Sphere.

NEW JERUSALEM.

Subject only of part of the New Testament. Both Jew and Gentile here as

the seed of Abraham.

Third Sphere.

THE MYSTERY.

Subject of the "prison epistles" only, Gentiles especially emphasized.

Israel as the restored Wife will inherit the earth and does not figure in the Apocalypse. The Bride made up mainly

of Israel who walked by faith, and of Gentiles associated with them during the Acts (see 2 Cor. 11:2), will inherit the

heavenly city. The church of the one Body made known only through the ministry of Paul as the prisoner of Jesus

Christ, inherits the position far above all where Christ sits at the right hand of God. That there are intermediate

callings, such as those who are invited as "guests" of the marriage of the King's Son, and those who are the virgin

companions of the Bride we readily admit, but these do not alter the clear-cut divisions that the Scriptures make as

indicated above. It is not possible, within the limits of this booklet, to attempt an exposition of every occurrence of

"The Body" in Ephesians and Colossians, but what is possible we are under an obligation to try, and there are two

passages which call for consideration, and which, if rightly understood, will provide a key to the interpretation of all

the rest. The two passages are:

(1) The one Body in relation to the middle wall and the New Man (Eph. 2:13-18).

(2) The same Body in relation to the new calling and constitution of the church under the new dispensation of the

Mystery (Eph. 3:1-9).

Let us first of all exhibit the structure of Ephesians 2: 1-22 omitting necessarily a wealth of detail, but concen-

trating upon the essentials of the chapter:

A

world, flesh.

b 4.

BUT GOD

Mercy. Love.

MADE ALIVE

flesh, world.

Nigh. One.

BUT NOW

CITIZENS

BUILDED