unlocking the door to the Gentiles. And, of course, there was nothing secret about that.

God had never intended from the start that the kingdom would be limited to the people of

Israel. His plan was that it should be worldwide, but that Israel should be the channel, to

take the knowledge of salvation to the ends of the earth. But Gentile blessing was

happening in advance of the Divine plan because, at this point, Israel was not ready to be

used as a channel for world blessing. The reason for this is made clear in Rom. 11:

where the Apostle instructs the Roman church and tells them that the Gentile was

admitted to provoke the people of Israel to emulation, to provoke them to jealousy, that is,

if possible, to wake them up from the terribly hardened and blinded condition that they

were sinking into deeper and deeper.

Then we came on to the recorded ministry of the Apostle Paul. His public ministry

started in chapter 13: at Antioch. We find he gives a very long speech there, again

dealing with the people of Israel, and he also mentions the resurrection. He tells his

hearers, among other things, that the Lord was raised in connection with "the sure

mercies of David" and this took us back to Psa. 89:, where God had made a

covenant with David concerning the throne. He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac

and Jacob concerning the seed and the land; and the sure mercies of David deal with the

seed and the throne; not only the people and the home, but the leader they were to have.

So this is parallel with Peter, Christ raised to sit on David's throne. The sure mercies

were fulfilled of course, finally, in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, for at the first the angel

prophesied that He would reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever.

Next we found that the Apostle Paul, on his missionary journeys, always went to the

synagogue first.  It was to the Jew first always with him.  This is impossible to

understand unless we see that, in God's plan then being worked out, the people of Israel

are still to be reckoned with. There is still the possibility of them being used for world

blessing if they would only turn to God and repent. Otherwise why go to them first? But

Paul said to them in Acts 15: 46 it was necessary that they should have the message

first. Peter says the same thing to the Jew in chapter 3: "unto you first". This is what is

stressed, as we know, in the opening chapter of Romans; to the Jew first for the gospel,

to the Jew first for judgment, too. As long as the Jew is in covenant relationship with

God, which put them above all other nations in light and responsibility, the Jew must be

first: that was the position that God willed they should have in the outworking of the

earthly kingdom, and O.T. Scriptures made that very clear (Deut. 28: 13). Although

in so many places that Paul visited the message is rejected by the Jew, we find he still

goes to the synagogue. And he does this right to the last chapter when, under the

guidance of the Lord, he finds himself at Rome, and there again he calls the chief of the

people of Israel. He tells them he is still bound for Israel's hope. But before that, we

saw in chapter 26: that he stood in front of King Agrippa and also reminded him, even

at this juncture, that the twelve tribes were still waiting for their hope. And when, at

Rome, there was still disagreement among them, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to

give the final word, the final quotation of that terrible prophecy recorded in Isa. 6:--

laying the nation aside in unbelief and spiritual darkness. And this spiritual darkness is

so terrible that it can only be removed by the Second Advent of the Lord. It is when they

look on Him Whom they have pierced, the Scripture says that they are going to mourn