| In our mistaken enthusiasm to apply every promise in the
Scriptures to us, and to interlink our destiny with that which a more mature study reveals
belongs to the Jews, we endeavored to discover prophetic unfoldings in the Hebrew
Scriptures of the development of the church which is His body. The simple statement of the
apostle Paul that it was a secret should convince us that it is not even hinted at in the
prophetic writing, nor alluded to in any of the earlier Scriptures. When we come to see that the present period is a parenthesis, an interim; and that the rest of the Scriptures unfold a consistent purpose for the development of the Nation of Destiny to be used for enlightenment and blessing of all others, we shall begin to understand the unique place of the apostle Paul in his relationship to the church; and to know him as the ambassador of Christ Jesus for the guidance of the church. It should be clearly understood that the apostle Paul was not one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. This was clearly brought out in a very interesting article in the "Watch Tower" in the 20's. When Peter addressed the counciI of disciples at Jerusalem, he laid down the conditions of apostleship, and Matthias was selected in accord with the very means ordained by Jehovah for selections--witness examples in the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul was specially chosen of the Lord to be an apostle to the nations. He was given revelations and a message which the twelve apostles of the Lamb not only never received or taught, but which they did not and could not understand. None of the twelve apostles ever preached to gentiles, as such. The instances of Peter's message to Cornelius and Philip (a disciple, not an apostle) to the eunuch were messages to those who had already accepted the Israelites' worship and had acknowledged Israel's God. Paul did preach the kingdom message to Israel during the transition period,
while the kingdom privileges were still being offered to Israel; and, when doing this, he
made it clear that all such blessings were to the Jews first. Even the believers among the
Jews, as a rule, did not take kindly to Paul's offering blessings to the gentiles. This
provoked them to jealousy, just as God had foretold (Dent. 32:21). The very
antagonism, which some of believing Israel manifested, fulfilled the Word This was kept an entire secret, says the apostle Paul in the first chapter of Ephesians. It never had been made manifest before. In this chapter he makes it clear that this was according to the will of God. This will is discussed under the three captions: the delight of His will, the secret of His will, and the counsel of His will. It delighted God to prepare a "complement" for His Son, to be identified with Him in the heavenly allotment to be used in reconciling the universe to God (Col. 1:20). It was the secret of His will, in that He did not divulge any of its blessings until the proper time--after Israel had thrice refused to acknowledge God's provisions: once, when they spurned the prophets' warnings and admonitions; again, when they rejected and crucified the Son of God; and last, when they committed the "unpardonable sin" by rejecting the Holy Spirit's message, as recorded in the book of Acts. Those thus refusing the privileges which were offered to them will not enjoy the blessings that are promised, which will come to regenerated Israel in the Millennial Age. When they thus completely rejected the kingdom message and offer, it was time to unfold the secret (Acts 28:28), and the Secret Economy was ushered in, and the real mystery began to unfold. Leading up to all these developments, God had unfolded such features of His purpose as were due to be understood, explained, and expressed; hence, He operated the entire universe according to the counsel of His will. To attempt to include in the blessings of the "Church, which is His body," the promises made to Israel, and the messages of the epistles written to the Circumcision, is to confuse rather than to rightly divide the Word of Truth. God has stated that He is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe (1 Tim. 4:10). So, in the execution of His purpose, He has been providing special salvation for those elected to serve the interests of the rest of the universe. Through the medium of believing Israel, as the seed of Abraham on earth, during the coming age or eon, He will bless all the families of the earth, which blessing will lead to the ultimate salvation of all humankind. For, "even as, in Adam all are dying, thus, in Christ also, all shall be made alive" (1 Cor. 15: 22). As glorious as this result will be, it alone would leave untouched many more who have departed from the will of God, and are estranged from Him, through disobedience -- those of the celestial realm. It will be given to the "church which is His body" to be of the elect class that will reconcile "all to Himself" (Col. 1:20). Thus, special salvation is for the purpose of accomplishing for the others the salvation promised and the reconciliation whereby God shall become All in all. (See I Corinthtans, fifteenth chapter.) It should be clearly understood that the celestial allotment is given through the grace of Christ, and is not based upon any work that we can do. James taught the Circumcision that "faith without works is dead," but Paul taught the nations that "in grace are you saved, through faith, and this is not out of you; it is God's oblation" (Eph. 2:8). A proper appreciation of this secret will lead to true devotion to His will and purpose, a devotion which will determine the award the saint in Christ Jesus will receive at the dais of Christ; but the place in the body of Christ is secured through the finished work of Calvary, and no limitations or discriminations made on earth will have the slightest recognition by our Lord. He has given the revelation; He fulfilled the conditions; and He is faithful Who promises. |
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