in Christ (sphere).

e

7,8-. Paul alone (Singular).

d

Unsearchable riches of Christ.

The subject matter of the Mystery of Christ is capable of comparison

`Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now

revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets' (Eph. 3:5).  The subject matter of

the Mystery is not capable of similar comparison `The mystery which hath been

hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints'

(Col. 1:25-27).  If the two statements of the apostle speak of the same thing,

then we must admit a contradiction into the Scriptures.  The Authorized Version

has veiled the truth by translating the Greek word genea `ages' in Ephesians

3:5, and `generations' in Colossians 1:26.  The moment these translations are

made to agree, the distinction between the two mysteries becomes apparent.  The

mystery of Christ Was made known in other Generations; the Mystery was Not, for

it was Hid from ages and from Generations.  It is this Mystery which Paul claims

to have been revealed exclusively to him:

`Whereof I am (was) made a minister, according to the dispensation of God

which is given to me for you ... even the mystery' (Col. 1:25,26).

The fact that the apostle uses the title `the sons of men' to indicate

those to whom a partial unveiling of the mystery of Christ was made known, seems

intentional in order that the higher type of ministry `His holy apostles and

prophets' should be thereby seen to advantage.  The Authorized Version makes the

words `by the Spirit' follow the reference to the apostles and prophets as

though to teach us how the revelation was made known to them.  The universal

witness of the Scriptures is so definite that `Holy men of God spake as they

were moved by the Holy Ghost', that one may pardon a moment's indecision and ask

why it seemed necessary for believers like the Ephesians to put this note in

here at all?  Immediately we refer to the original and read en pneumati, our

minds travel back to the same two words with which chapter 2 closes, there

translated `through the Spirit'.  When examining these words earlier in this

study, we noted the four occurrences of the phrase en pneumati in Revelation

1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10, and also saw an intended contrast between the sphere `in

spirit' of Ephesians 2:22, with the realm indicated in the same chapter as `in

the flesh' and `in the world'.  So, when we come to the end of Ephesians 3:5, we

must allow the words en pneumati to stand as a heading of the newly-revealed

constitution of the church `Joint-heirs', etc., which is balanced at the close

by the words en Christo Iesou (revised Greek text).  This correspondence we have

noted in the structure.

An illustration of the use of a word to introduce a new section of a book

is provided by Daniel 2:4:

`Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack'.

If this simply meant that the Chaldeans spoke their native tongue there seems

little reason for the information, for generally Hebrews speak Hebrew, Chaldeans

speak Syriac, Greeks speak Greek.  When, however, we discover that the remainder

of the chapter, together with every chapter up to the end of chapter 7, is

written not in Hebrew but in Syriac, we realize that it was not to tell us that

the Chaldeans spoke their native tongue, but that a new section of the prophecy

here commenced which Daniel wrote in Syriac.  So in Ephesians 3:5 `in Spirit'

governs the statement that follows.  That statement we must now consider: