to the universal kingdom of Christ is the glorious prospect opened for the first time in

Scripture to the eye of faith in these words of Eph. 1: 3.

Two words conclude the verse, viz., "in Christ."  Without these all would be

valueless, spiritual blessings an impossibility, and heavenly (or earthly) blessings

unattainable. "In Christ" all things are possible, and all things are secure. We were

"chosen in Him," and "accepted in Him;" without Him we are helpless and hopeless.

"Blessed be God. . . . Who hath blessed us."

In our last article we considered the song of praise with which this epistle commences

as recorded in verse 3. Let us now look at some of the actual blessings themselves. We

remember that they are all spiritual, all in the heavenlies, and all in Christ. This places

the whole scope of blessings before us, emphasizing its great outstanding characteristics.

"In Christ" is not exclusively the character of our blessings, for God has purposed that

in Christ, not only the church which is His body, but all assemblies, Israel, the nations,

and things in heaven as well as on earth, shall be blessed. Spiritual blessings are not

exclusively the character of our blessings either, for all blessings which come from above

are of that nature in one way, even though they touch temporal and earthly things, the

peculiarity in this dispensation, however, is the special emphasis upon the spiritual

character of our blessings, and the comparatively small place given to temporal blessings.

The one element which does appear as distinct from all other dispensations is the locality

of these spiritual blessings ­ "in the heavenlies," which is further explained to be "at His

own right hand" far above all principality, &100: This special sphere, the super-celestial, is

the peculiar character of the mystery, and never entered into the hope of Israel or the

church before the revelation of the mystery was given.

There are many degrees of glory revealed in the Word. Israel's position will be above

the nations, while being a channel of blessing to the nations; the faithful remnant

(together with the pentecostal church) will have a position in the new Jerusalem which

will be a higher privilege than that possessed by Israel as a nation. The church which is

His body finds its place of blessing in the heavenlies at the right hand of God, far above

all, and is connected not only with Jerusalem and the land of promise, the renewed earth

and the nations, the heavens and the new Jerusalem, but the wide universe which will be

placed beneath the glorious administration of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as this future

sphere of blessing differs from all that had been revealed before, so we learn that it was

planned and prepared long before the purposes concerning the kingdom and its

connections were revealed.