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met by the introduction of the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in which the long
deferred end is related to the words of the second parable "an enemy hath done this".
The mystery of the gospel as spoken of in Rom. 16: 25, something that had been
"hushed" since the world began, looks to Rom. 16: 20 where Gen. 3: 15 is brought
into light, and the enmity between the two seeds is seen to be the background. As we go
through the several mysteries of the N.T. that impinge upon our calling, we shall find that
this feature is constant. The Mystery is the answer of the Wise God to the machinations
of His wily foe. He reveals His will, but does not always make known what might be the
"mystery" of His will (Eph. 1: 4, 5, 9). It was the revealed "will" of God that if Adam
disobeyed the Lord's command, "in the day . . . . ." he would surely die. It was the
mystery of His will, and all unknown to Adam, to provide a Redeemer "before the
foundation of the world" (I Pet. 1: 19) and so take the wise in his own craftiness and
outwit the Devil in all his ways.
THE BAPTISM INTO MOSES
(The baptism from which water was excluded)
We who publish this booklet have been, by that faith which is the substance of things
hoped for, into a land of promise, a land not bounded by earthly frontiers, not flowing
with milk and honey, not the seat of an earthly Jerusalem, containing no "Dead Sea", but
of which the earthly land of promise can be used as a type. We have been redeemed by
the precious blood even as Israel were by the Passover (Eph. 1: 7), and have had our
Red Sea experience at least in one vital sense. Israel, on leaving Egypt were "baptized
INTO Moses" (I Cor. 10: 1) we have been baptized INTO Christ. This is the first of all
baptisms and the most neglected. Christian societies have concentrated so much attention
on the baptisms that were introduced into the tabernacle worship, which the epistle to the
Hebrews speaks of as "divers baptisms and carnal ordinances, imposed on them"
(Heb. 9: 10), that the one essential baptism has been overlooked and neglected.
In most places where the Red Sea crossing is mentioned in the Scriptures, our
attention is drawn to the singular fact that Israel went "on dry land in the midst of the
sea".
"The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the DRY GROUND . . . . .
the children of Israel walked upon DRY LAND." (Exod. 14: 22, 29).
"The children of Israel went on DRY LAND in the midst of the sea." (Exod. 15: 19).
"The Lord DRIED UP the waters of the Red Sea." (Josh. 2: 10).
"The Lord your God DRIED UP the waters of the Jordan from before you . . . . . as
. . . . . the Red Sea." (Josh. 4: 23)
"He turned the sea into DRY LAND: they went through the flood on foot." (Psa. 66: 6).
"He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was DRIED UP: so He led them through the
depths, as through the wilderness." (Psa. 106: 9).
"That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness." (Isa. 63: 12, 13).
"By faith they passes through the Red Sea as by DRY LAND." (Heb. 11: 29).
If we believe that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" then this repeated
insistence upon "dry land" is essential truth. If we believe that the O.T. types
foreshadowed N.T. realities, we cannot, we dare not use water baptism to fulfil the type