member, and each one has a contribution to make in this new creation and its growth. So

God wants this new truth to be made known; the Apostle Paul fervently desired that all

the chosen ones should see it, and then every single member of this company in practice

should contribute his share in its spiritual growth.

But what do we find in practice? Does every believer rejoice in the knowledge of the

exceeding spiritual riches of this "high calling of God in Christ Jesus"? The answer is

decidedly No! Ask the average Christian if they see and understand this great Secret and

are aiming that other believers should receive it and know it for themselves (Eph. 3: 9).

In all probability they will look at you with puzzlement or even amazement.

What can we conclude from this? Surely either one of two things: (1) the Holy Spirit

has not done His revealing work well, for many, in fact the majority of Christians do not

see "the dispensation of the Mystery" (Eph. 3: 9), and some even oppose it as serious

error, or (2) God has more than one plan for His redeemed today.  We believe from

Scripture that this is true, and if so the great problem vanishes.

No one can work out in practice what has never been revealed to them, and God Who

is righteous will never expect them to do it. We ask the reader to turn back to Vol.LII

and read pages 105 and 106 of the article "The Good Deposit". We cannot quote it in full

here except to point out again that automatic membership of the church of the Mystery

(Secret), the Body of Christ, makes Paul's object "to make all see what the dispensation

of the Mystery is" (Eph. 3: 8, 9, R.V.) quite unnecessary, for its members would be in it

whatever their attitude was. And this would be true of any subsequent witness to the

Mystery, including that of the present time.

How strange it is that some stress the Holy Spirit's work as Sealer in Eph. 1: 13, 14,

but ignore the Spirit's work as Revealer in the same chapter (verses 17 and 18) in

connection with the new calling and its hope! He had already opened the eyes of the

understanding of the Ephesian believer to some extent concerning this calling (note the

past tense of the verb, "the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened"). So a

measure of understanding of this great Secret had already been given by the Holy Spirit,

but more was needed, as the prayer that follows shows.

We quote from the article mentioned above, "moreover without these `opened eyes'

how can one guard the good deposit of truth (I Tim. 6: 20; II Tim. 1: 13, 14)? How can

anyone guard what is not seen and understood? Timothy was warned that faithful

guarding would result in suffering and enduring hardness (II Tim. 1: 8; 2: 3). How is it

possible to suffer and endure hardness for truth that is not known or appreciated?". But

at the same time let us remember that all the Spirit's enlightenment does bring

responsibility to the Lord which cannot be evaded. This responsibility, if our eyes have

been opened, is to make God's truth known as far as possible and then leave all the

results to Him. He will not make mistakes. He knows just what He has planned for His

redeemed family in the universe of the new heaven and earth;  and all finally in

resurrection life will be satisfied with the Lord's appointments (Psa. 17: 15) and all will

be to His glory.