We have chronicled in this series different passages of Scripture which have been used

to bring conviction of the truth of the mystery, and, enlightenment to the mind as to its

unique character. We have found that no two persons are alike in their approach to

Scripture, and no two persons seem to be influenced in exactly the same way. Certain

passages that have been brought forward may have appeared to some as rather remote

from the subject; the one we are now to record, however, is a passage that is quite to the

point. The reader whose experience we draw upon here was puzzled at the passage in

Acts 13: 46, which records the apostle as saying "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles". Did this

mean that the dispensation changed at that time and place? Were the Jews set aside from

Acts 13: onward? Did the dispensation of the grace of God to the Gentiles then

The opening verse of Acts 14: prevents us from believing that the words of

Acts 13: 46 were addressed to the whole nation, for we find Paul once more following

his custom and going to the synagogue of the Jews. After meditating upon the subject

and searching the Scriptures further, our reader realized that the words of the apostle in

Acts 28: 20 indicated that the hope of Israel covered the period of the Acts from

beginning to end, and that the nation-wide rejection of Israel did not take place until the

apostle had so solemnly spoken to the leaders of the Jews in Rome. What had been

foreshadowed in Acts 13: 40-46 now took place. The essential point that our brother

realized was that "hope" and "calling" are allied. The "one hope" of the calling of the

dispensation of the mystery could not possibly be connected with the hope of Israel.

While the one remained in force, the other was not revealed. As soon as he saw this

relation of "hope" and "calling", and its bearing upon the dispensational character of the

Acts, and of the epistles written during that period, all was clear, and the joy of a clearly

understood position before the Lord was his.

We commend to  every reader  this line of approach,  both for their own

enlightenment and confirmation, and for the help of enquirers. Bring together every

passage of Scripture written during the Acts and in the epistles of the period (Galatians,

I and II Thessalonians, Hebrews, I and II Corinthians and Romans) that deals with the

hope before Israel and the church at that time, and the issue will be clear. Seek from

Scripture the answer to the question, "What is the hope of the calling" that is in view, and

this answer will lead to clearer views of dispensational truth.