gospel, but whether this means that the gospel itself is a mystery, or whether

it means that associated with the gospel of grace there was attached a mystery,

must be considered in its place.

The presence of `all my affairs and how I do' in this list of occurrences

of gnorizo may at first seem of little consequence, but a moment's consideration

will suggest that if `mystery' and Paul's `affairs' come together by things that

can be `made known', then a mystery as used in the Scriptures, while it may defy

the wisdom of man to uncover, is intelligible and communicable as soon as it has

been revealed.  Here in Ephesians 3:3 we have the Mystery par excellence.

Because the British postage stamp was the first to be issued, it does not

bear the name of this country -- all other stamps, issued subsequently do.

Because the British founded the first Alpine Club, that is its title; all other

Alpine clubs add the name of the country responsible.

London is a great town, and for good or ill it contains thousands of

monuments both in public buildings and in the open air, yet a visitor boarding a

taxi at any of the London termini and asking simply for `The Monument' would be

taken without demur to the monument at the foot of London Bridge.  All other

monuments need some distinguishing and differentiating title.  The Monument is

that erected by Christopher Wren to commemorate the great fire of London.

All other mysteries found in the New Testament are given a title `The

mystery of the kingdom of heaven', `the mystery of Israel's blindness' for

example -- this mystery of Ephesians 3:3 stands out above them all in

importance, and must be treated accordingly.  Just as the New Covenant lies at

the heart of the epistle to the Hebrews, and the great doctrine of Justification

is the life blood of the epistle to the Romans, so the Mystery is the great

essential centre in Ephesians from which every doctrinal, dispensational and

practical message radiates.  All spiritual blessings are the peculiar blessings

of the Mystery.  In heavenly places is the peculiar sphere of the Mystery.

Before the overthrow of the world is a time period that belongs only to Christ

Himself and to the Mystery.  The Church which is His Body, the Fulness of Him

that filleth all in all, is the title of the church of the Mystery.  The present

dispensation is the dispensation of the Mystery, and Paul as the prisoner of

Jesus Christ for us Gentiles is the one initial steward of this Mystery.  If

these things are so, then no apology is needed for a careful study of this term,

for if we are right here, we may reasonably hope to be right in our

interpretation of the whole epistle; but if we are wrong here, then all our

efforts will be in vain.

We have seen that, according to a revelation, Paul received the Mystery,

and we have become aware of the intrinsic importance of this term.  To

appreciate the meaning of the word `mystery', and the place it occupies in

dispensational truth, is to possess the key to unlock the treasures of both

Ephesians and Colossians.  Accordingly we now give this word a Scriptural

The Greek word musterion occurs twenty-seven times in the New Testament

and is translated `mystery' throughout.  The word is distributed as follows:

Three references.

No occurrence in John's Gospel.