only of a remnant then, but of "all Israel' in that day. Isa. 61: 6 tells us that Israel shall be

named "Priests of the Lord", and Paul, in describing his ministry in Rom. 15: 16, speaks

of it in connection with the Gentiles, "that the offering up of the Gentiles might be

acceptable." A change, however, comes over the apostle's ministry, which was the

prelude of the new order of things consequent upon the setting aside of Israel and

kingdom things for the time. The first step toward this change is recorded in

Acts 19: 8, 9. This is the last synagogue witness, and is followed by the apostle

"separating the disciples" and gathering them together, as a distinct company from the

synagogue, in the school of one Tyrannus.

"To the Jew first" had been the order (see Rom. 1: 16), but that order was to give

place.  "To the Jew first" is not the order for the time present, neither is it an

interpretation of the verse to make it an argument for Jewish missionary work. Jews

to-day are saved as sinners, just as the Gentiles, with no respect to any special Messianic

or national privileges. Acts 20: shows us that bonds and afflictions awaited the apostle at

Jerusalem, the Ephesian saints should see his face no more. Some say the apostle was

self-willed and obstinate, and went up to Jerusalem against the will of the Lord--we

reserved any comment until we are able to give an article on the subject of Apostolic

Mistakes! in some future issue.  In Acts 20: 17-27 the apostle looks back upon a past

ministry and forward to a future one. The past he summarizes as "testifying both to the

Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus

Christ", practically the same ministry as that of John the Baptist and Peter. His future

ministry he introduce with a "but now", just as he shows the abeyance of the kingdom in

Heb. 2: 8.  This new ministry is connected with "bonds and afflictions," and it is

noteworthy that the three great epistles of the mystery written after Acts 28: 26-28

refer, each of them, to the fact that the apostle was a prisoner, a prisoner of the Lord, a

prisoner for the Gentiles, a prisoner for the gospel. He further describes this future

witness in verse 24, "To testify the gospel of the grace of God".

The apostle now sets out for Jerusalem, and eventually we find him in peril of his life.

Now begins a fresh experience. He is about to enter experimentally into the particular

phase of truth delivered to him comprised in the words, "with Christ." Like his Lord, he

is taken before rulers and priests, false witnesses are summoned, his enemies cry out,

"Away with him!" He embarks for Rome--a prisoner. The terrible shipwreck teaches

him yet more of the "fellowship of His sufferings." The hiding of sun and stars makes us

think of the darkness of Calvary, the condition of salvation to all on the ship being also

typical (all with Paul, and altogether as one company); the breaking up of the hinder part

of the ship speaks of the bruising of the heel of Christ; the viper, powerless and

conquered, like the vanquished serpent--the devil; the healing which took place upon the

island, all these speak volumes, and when Paul at length reaches Rome death and

resurrection fellowship with Christ has been wonderfully typified; between him and

Jerusalem lies that experience, henceforth till the Lord Jesus come and the kingdom be

set up Jerusalem passes from view, and with it Israel and all its influence.