3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Here is "the knowledge of God," in which are contained "exceeding great and precious promises," the understanding of which is able to make a man wise, and a "partaker of the divine nature."

Now although these hidden things have been clearly made known they still continue to be styled "the mystery," not because of their unintelligibility, but because they were once secret. Hence the things preached unto the Gentiles, and by them believed, are styled by Paul "the mystery of the faith," and "the mystery of godliness," some of the items of which he enumerates, such as "God manifest in the flesh, justified by the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" (1 Tim. 3:16).

Thus an intelligible mystery characterises the once hidden wisdom of God, and becomes the subject matter of an enlightened faith.

This, however, is not the case with regard to religious systems which are not of the Truth. Unintelligible mystery is the ultima ratio for all difficulties which are insoluble by the symbols of ecclesiastical communities, whose text of universal application is, that "secret things belong to God, but the things which are revealed, to us and to our children." This is true; but then those things which were secret in the days of Moses have been revealed by God to the apostles and prophets for our information.

Elpis Israel 1.1.

6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Gentiles full of faith

"If children, then heirs" (Rom. viii. 17).

How to become children? This also is plainly answered.

"Ye (the believers who had been baptised on the reception of the Gospel) are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus: for as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. iii. 26, 27)

Jesus did not mean to say that the Gentiles who would come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham in the Kingdom, would be unenlightened or disobedient or carnally-minded Gentiles; but that among those who should inherit the Kingdom, would be Gentiles, enlightened, reconciled and adopted, through submission to the requirements of the Gospel, when multitudes of the faithless Jews according to the flesh (the natural "children of the Kingdom") would be cast out, to their great dismay.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 18

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

The faith of Christ

The faith of Christ gives us the highest knowledge, which we cannot reach by nature, leaving us to our own resources in the lowest. It tells us of the Father in heaven, as the First, and the Eternal, filling heaven and earth by the invisible energy of his irradiant Spirit, constituting an eternal and universal unit, out of which all things are, and in which all things subsist.

It thus satisfies the highest desire of the highest intellectual capacity with which man is endowed.

That it gives us something the intellect cannot grasp, is no drawback to the satisfaction - rather the contrary. An infinite that we could measure would not be infinity; knowledge and power that we could fathom would not give us the intellectual rest and satisfaction that come with the knowledge of the great and unsearchable first, and only, and all-embracing Power, who is the Father in universe-filling immensity, yet heaven-enthroned personal glory-Creator of all things - the God revealed to Israel by the name Yahweh-Elohim. What if we understand not?

The revelation and the demonstration of the fact is all we need. Deeper than the fact we cannot go, and will cease trying to, as we grow older and wiser. We do not understand the operation of our own mentality, yet we know it is a fact, and use and enjoy it, without distracting our brains in the vain attempt to realize to ourselves the inscrutable process of mental action. That we cannot understand God is no barrier to our enjoyment of Him, but is rather an ingredient in the supernal sweetness of faith, and the satisfactoriness of a boundless action of the mind upwards.

Seasons 1.103

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

"The Fellowship of the Mystery of Christ" is expressive of the truth, that

"God is no respecter of persons; but that in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is accepted by him."

It teaches that Gentiles should be fellow-heirs with Jews, and of the same body with them, and partakers of his promise concerning the Christ, through the gospel: that is, that Jews and Gentiles, by the obedience of faith, should attain to one new manhood before God; and be equally eligible as heirs to the possession of the kingdom, Proof; Acts 10:34; Eph. 3:6; 2:15.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, July 1855

***

 ...though the mystery of the gospel was thus made known in the name of Jesus, even Peter, to whom the keys of the mystery were given, did not yet understand "the FELLOWSHIP of the mystery." The keys were not given to him when Jesus spoke the words, nor were both of them given to him on the day of Pentecost.

The mystery was revealed to the Jews first, and, several years elapsed before it was known, or supposed, that the Gentiles would be admitted to a joint-heirship with Jesus on an equality with the Jews. During this.period of about seven years the body of Christ consisted solely of believing Israelites, sons of Abraham by flesh and faith.

At the end of this time, however, God determined to

"visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name."

He graciously resolved to invite men of all the nations of the Roman territory to accept honour, glory and immortality in the kingdom and empire about to be established on the ruins of all others. Hitherto He had only invited His own people Israel to this high destiny, but now He was about to extend the gospel call to the nations also.

Before this, however, could be accomplished according to the principles laid down in God's plan, it was necessary to prepare Peter for the work. Although an apostle, he was still a Jew, and had all the prejudices of the Jew against the Gentile. He considered it

"unlawful for him to keep company, or come unto, one of another nation."

The Jews had no more social dealings with the Gentiles than with the Samaritans. And if any had suggested the propriety of his going and preaching the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus to the Gentiles, he would have positively refused. If, however, he had been ever so willing, he could not have done it for various other reasons.

In those days no one could preach effectually unless he were sent; and as he had not been sent of God, his mission would have been a failure. Then, he did not know whether God would accept the Gentiles on the same conditions as the Jews, if, indeed, He would admit them to a joint-heirship at all. But the law was a sufficient wall of separation to keep Jewish preachers and Gentiles apart until God's time should arrive to do it away, and to bring them together into "one body."

Peter, then, had to be prepared for the work. The narrative of his preparation is contained in the 10th chapter of Acts. A direct attack was made upon his prejudices. He became very hungry about twelve o'clock in the day.

While waiting on the housetop for something to eat, an amazement came over him. In this state, he saw a great sheet full of all sorts of unclean creatures, fit and appropriate emblems of the moral condition of the Gentiles. At this crisis the Spirit said, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat!"

But Peter preferred hunger to defilement, and would not consent, until it was repeated for the third time that the legal distinction between clean and unclean was done away "what God hath cleansed call not thou it common" or unclean.

The impression made on Peter by this vision is best expressed in his own words. "God hath shewed me," says he

"that I should not call any man common, or unclean. Therefore came I to you (Gentiles) as soon as I was sent for."

In this way the second key of the kingdom was imparted to him. Its use was to make known the fellowship of the mystery.

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

When the truth, therefore, dwells or tabernacles in a man, the Deity dwells there. Hence, an ecclesia of such men is the Deity's Tabernacle preeminently.

Eureka 8.1.4.

He, then, that believes "the things concerning God and the name of Jesus Christ,' is the man in whose heart Christ dwells; because the truth dwells there with full assurance of faith and hope. The Bible is the truth in a book; Christ is the truth incarnate; and a [Christadelphian] is the truth in his heart lovingly obeyed.

TC Feb 1888

21 Unto him be glory in the ecclesia by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The Common Version gives a curious rendering to the last text. It says nothing about "all the generations;" but makes a lumping business of it, saying, "throughout all ages, world without end!"

But this was not Paul's idea. He confined the ascription of glory to God by "the ecclesia with Jesus Christ," to that aion of the aions during which generations come and go; namely, to the Messianic.

In the aion beyond,‮...‭ ‬there are no generations,‭ ‬there being then no decay and no reproduction‭; ‬the earth being at that time occupied by people taken upon certain principles out of all the parallelogram.

‭ ‬During the Fourth Cycle,‭ ‬the distinction existing in the Third,‭ ‬will be abolished.‭ ‬It will be no longer‭ "‬the ecclesia with Jesus,‭" ‬as apart and distinguished from the herd of mankind,‭ ‬the former immortal,‭ ‬and the latter obnoxious to rebellion and death‭; ‬but it will be

‭ "‬God all things with all men.‭"—(‬1.‭ ‬Cor.‭ ‬15:28‭; ‬Rev.‭ ‬21:3.‭)

‭ ‬The sacerdotal ecclesia is subjected with the Son at the end of the Third Aion,‭ ‬and glory is ascribed to the Father by all,‭ ‬without priestly distinction,‭ ‬who dwell upon the earth.

But, although priestly distinction is abolished at the end of the Third Aion, the royalty continues. God is King for the Messianic Aion and that beyond. This appears from 1 Tim. 1:17, where Paul says

"Now unto the King of the Aions, the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, be honour and glory in the aions;" "even Jesus Christ yesterday and to day the same, and in the aions; "

which are the to-morrow that awaits him. This saying of Paul, in Heb. 13:8, is equivalent to that in Rev. 16:5, where ὀ ὡν, ho ̃n, "who is," answers to to-day; ὁ ην, ho ain, "who was," to yesterday; and ὁ εσομενος, ho esomenos, "who shall," &c., to and in the aions, which are future, or tomorrow.

The apostle Peter regards one of the future aions in this sense; that is, as equivalent to a day, and that day as enduring for a thousand years.

In 2 Pet. 3:18, we find the ascription so frequently met with in Paul's epistles. "To Jesus Christ," saith he, "be the glory both now and in the day of the aion, " ημεραν αιώνος; " and in the eighth verse of this chapter, he says, in reference to the period he calls a day,

"Be ye not ignorant concerning this, beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

This is the day of the aion—its duration—in all of which the palm-bearers reign with Christ as kings and priests, according to Rev. 20:4–6. They are kings and priests for the Messianic thousand years, styled by Paul "the day of Christ,‮ " ‬in‮ ‬2‮ ‬Thess.‮ ‬2:2‮; ‬in‮ ‬which‮ ‬he‮ ‬told‮ ‬the‮ ‬Athenians‮ ‬God‮ ‬would‮ ‬rule‮ ‬the‮ ‬habitable‮ ‬in‮ ‬righteousness‮ ‬by‮ ‬the‮ ‬Resurrected‮ ‬Man.‮ ‬When‮ ‬this‮ ‬day‮ ‬closes,‮ ‬a‮ ‬long‮ ‬to-morrow‮ ‬succeeds,‮ ‬in‮ ‬which‮ ‬the‮ ‬sacerdotal,‮ ‬or‮ ‬Melchizedec,‮ ‬Sonship‮ ‬is‮ ‬abolished,‮ ‬and‮ ‬the‮ ‬royalty‮ ‬of ad,‭ ‬is the glory of the earth redeemed from the curse and pollution of sin.‭—(‬Rev.‭ ‬22:3.‭)

The saints continue to reign as kings in the Fourth Cycle of our diagram‭; ‬for it is written in Rev.‭ ‬22:5,‭ "‬They shall reign in the aions of the aions‭"—‬the Messianic and that beyond.

A BIBLE DICTIONARY - Bro THOMAS