The Mysteries of The Bible Pt. 2

THE MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE

III. THE MYSTERY OF THE "UNION OF THE JEWS AND GENTILES IN ONE BODY CALLED THE CHURCH."

     In his letter to the saints at Ephesus (Eph. 3:1-11), Paul says, that God by revelation made know to him the "Mystery," which in other Ages had not been made known unto the sons of men, "That the Gentiles should be 'Fellow Heirs,' and of the 'Same Body,' and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel." It is almost impossible to overestimate the bitter "Race hatred" which existed in Christ's day between them. The Jews looked upon the Gentiles as "dogs," and the Gentiles despised the Jews. It was worse than the caste spirit of India. It was therefore to them a revelation that God was going in this Dispensation to take some Jews and some Gentiles and form of them a "New Body" called the Church. In Christ all races and class distinctions disappear, and it is only in the Church that such a "Holy Brotherhood" can be found as the world is seeking.

IV. THE MYSTERY OF THE "SEVEN STARS" AND THE "SEVEN CANDLESTICKS."

     To the Apostle John was revealed the Mystery of the "Seven Stars," and the "Seven Candlesticks." Rev. 1:12-20. He was told that the "Seven Stars" stood for the angels or messengers of the seven Churches that were in Asia Minor, and the Seven Candlestricks stood for the Seven churches themselves. The Mystery of these Candlesticks lay in the fact that the Seven churches mentioned were representative Churches for the past 1900 years, and the mystery could not be understood until the present time, or until the correspondence between the character of those Churches and Church history should be revealed.

V. THE MYSTERY OF THE "KINGDOM OF HEAVEN."

     When the Jews rejected Christ, and thus prevented the setting up of the Kingdom, the Kingdom took on another form, the "Mystery Form." To show the character of this "Mystery Form" of the Kingdom, Jesus resorted to parables. These parables are 12 in number and are found in Matthew's gospel only.

VI. THE MYSTERY OF THE "TRANSLATION OF THE LIVING SAINTS."

     In I Cor. 15:15-55, Paul says -

     "Behold, I show you a 'Mystery'; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump."

     This is the greatest of all mysteries, because it reveals something that reason never dreamed of. According to reason the common lot of man is to die, but to be taken off this earth and translated to heaven without dying was never thought of until revealed to Paul.

VII. THE MYSTERY OF "INIQUITY."

     In II Thess. 2:1-12, Paul, speaking of the "Man of Sin" or Antichrist, calls his teachings and claims the

                                                 "MYSTERY OF INIQUITY."

which was already at work in Paul's day. The "Mystery of Godliness" is God manifest in the flesh, and the "Mystery of Iniquity" is Satan manifest in the flesh.

Lesson on Mysteries continues in part 3