But the fact that the Church of the Mystery has its own time period, its own sphere, its

own constitution, and its own hope does not isolate it from the rest of the redeemed. It

still belongs to that one great association of the saved which constitutes "the whole

family" and it is named with the same family name (Eph. 3: 15).

The Bride.--Israel as a nation is spoken of as a divorced wife, who, by God's infinite

mercy, shall at length be restored; but the Bride is an elect company, made up partly of

Israel and partly of Gentile believers, call through the ages from the time of Abraham

(who looked for the "heavenly city") onwards, and including such as the Galatian

believers ("Jerusalem above" being their "mother") and the Corinthian saints ("presented

as a chaste virgin to Christ"). This calling does not necessitate the presence of Israel as a

nation, and many believers to-day apparently find in the Bride and the Heavenly

Jerusalem all their hope and desire.

The Gospel according to John.--The Gospel according to John was written after Paul

had finished his course, and the dispensation of the Mystery had been made known. We

have sought to demonstrate the relationship between Paul's epistles to the Ephesians and

Colossians, and John's Gospel in the form of a chart, and the reader who is not familiar

with this is advised to consult Volume XXVII, page 126.

John's Gospel is distinguished from the other three by many fundamental differences.

For instance, the opening prologue with its revelation concerning Christ as the "Word" is

unique. Moreover, while Matthew shows the Lord's ministry as definitely limited to the

"lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 10: 6; 15: 24), John links it with the "world".

While Matthew records the prohibition: "And into any city of the Samaritans enter ye

not" (Matt. 10: 5), John records that the Lord "must needs go through Samaria", and

devotes considerable space to His conversation with the woman of Samaria and the

conversion of the men of that city (John 4:). Moreover, the many explanations that John

felt it necessary to give--explaining that the Passover was a feast of the Jews, explaining

the existence of a feud between the Jews and the Samaritans, explaining even the

meaning of the titles "Messiah" and "Rabboni", all these provide a definite proof that

John had the Gentile in mind in writing his Gospel.

Mr. Woodley has drawn the reader's attention to the article in Volume XX, page 140,

where the "Bridal relationships" of John's Gospel are dealt with. We will not attempt

in this series to give an exposition of the marvelous unity that forms the subject of

John 17: 21-24--this must take its place in the exposition of John's Gospel which is

being pursued in another series--but we cannot read the passage without realizing that

we are very close here to the zenith of revealed truth. The glory that the Lord refers to

here as being given to His believing people is the glory that He had with the Father

"before the world was" (John 17: 5), and we also find that this is the only occasion

recorded in any of the Gospels on which the Saviour refers to the love of the Father that

was His "before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 24), a period intimately

associated with the Mystery (Eph. 1: 3, 4). The believing company of John 17: were to

"behold" the Lord's glory, and to share it, even as the Church of the Mystery looks

forward to being "manifested with Him in glory" (Col. 3: 3, 4). While, therefore, the