I N D E X
`It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.  There is a
natural body, and there is a spiritual body' (1 Cor. 15:44).
The `carnal' things of Romans 15:27 were good.  We can learn from other
passages that the apostle was very earnest in his endeavour to fulfil the
injunction received at Jerusalem, that in the exercise of his ministry among the
Gentiles he should remember the poor saints at Jerusalem, and quite a large
portion of the epistles to the Corinthians is occupied with the `collection'.
These `carnal' things would include food, drink, clothing and other necessities
of life.  The `natural' is placed over against the spiritual, for the spiritual
is supernatural and is enjoyed on resurrection ground.
In complete contrast with the spiritual blessings of the Mystery, are the
`carnal' or `natural' blessings of the law.
`Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the
field ... blessed shall be thy basket and thy store ... the Lord shall
command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses ... the Lord shall make
thee plenteous in goods ...' (Deut. 28:1-13).
`Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it
shall be well with thee.  Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the
sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy
table' (Psa. 128:1-3).
How completely opposite all this is from the experience of the believer
under the dispensation of grace.  Like Paul, he may know what it is to suffer
need, to be in want, to know what it is to be continually in trouble.  He will
have no guarantee of a settled dwelling place, he has no promise of special
protection during periods of danger; his `basket and store' may show
impoverishment, while the ungodly may appear to prosper.  It would be foolish to
assess a man's spiritual worth today by the size of his bank balance.  Ephesians
1:3 does not speak of daily bread, of dwelling place, of home comforts or of
business success; it visualizes a new plane, the spiritual, which is on
resurrection ground.  The earnest of our inheritance is not a bunch of grapes,
as it was when the spies returned with the grapes of Eshcol, neither are our
enemies men of flesh and blood, but spiritual foes.
The individual believer, like the rest of mankind, must needs find the
means of living and provide things honest in the sight of all men, but these
come to him as the blessings of the wilderness.  They are no more `spiritual
blessings' than the `manna' of the wilderness was the fruit of the land of
promise.  A member of the One Body may be rich or poor, sick or well, troubled
or tranquil, but such conditions have no reference to `every blessing that is
spiritual' for two reasons, i.e., their nature and their sphere.
In Heavenly Places.
En tois epouraniois
The believer in the dispensation of the mystery is blessed with every
blessing that is spiritual.  No limits are set to the extent of these blessings,
only to their character.  We now leave one subject of wonder, but to exchange it
for another of equal marvel.  These spiritual blessings are linked with a sphere
`in heavenly places'.
We have said elsewhere that this phrase is unique, that it occurs in the
epistle to the Ephesians and nowhere else.  The unwary can easily be moved when
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