The great lesson that forces itself upon our attention, however, is the

fact that, apart from Paul's ministry, and especially his prison ministry,

there is scarcely any reference in the Scriptures, either Old or New, to the

heaven of Genesis 1:1.  The hope of the Mystery alone pierces the intervening

firmament and places the believer `far above all' even where Christ sits at the

right hand of God.  We must now go on to the consideration of the special term

`heavenly places', but to this we will devote a separate study.

Heavenly Places.  This subdivision of the great term `heaven' is justified by

reason of its dispensational importance, and the words play a great part in

setting forth the distinctive character of the Mystery.  These `heavenly

places' were known at least in part in other ages, the expression `the heaven,

and the heaven of heavens' already noted suggests that such a superior sphere

was known, but no prophet, evangelist or apostle, ever dreamed that a redeemed

company would find their sphere of blessing there, least of all a company made

up of alien Gentiles.  First let us examine the word itself.

Epouranios.  This word is composed of epi `upon' and ouranios `heavenly',

the adjective form of ouranos `heaven'.  Epouranios occurs in the New Testament

twenty times.  It is translated as follows: celestial, heavenly, in heaven,

heavenly places, heavenly things, high places and they that are heavenly.  It

is attached to several nouns as `heavenly Father', `celestial bodies',

`heavenly kingdom', `heavenly calling', `heavenly gift' and `heavenly

Jerusalem'.  Whether each and every one thus defined is not only `heavenly' but

at the same time

`in heaven' the context must decide.  For example, the Hebrews had tasted the

heavenly gift and the power of the age to come (Heb. 6:4), but no one seriously

believes that these Hebrews were in heaven at the time they are said to have

tasted this gift.  The heavenly Jerusalem will descend from God out of heaven

and come down either to the earth itself or near to it; it will be heavenly in

character, but not be in heaven itself.

The word epouranios occurs in Matthew, John, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians,

Philippians, 2 Timothy and Hebrews, and this wide distribution has given the

unthinking reader a reason to reject the peculiar claim of the church of the

Mystery to these heavenly places as their sphere of blessing.  A concordance is

a most useful and valuable tool, but even valuable tools can do great damage if

handled carelessly.  Something more is needed than a quick glance at a list of

occurrences in a concordance before judgment can be pronounced upon the meaning

of any particular reference.

Upon examining the Epistle to the Ephesians, we discover that the word

epouranios is there used in a form which occurs nowhere else,* and that this

form occurs in five passages in the epistle.  These occurrences we will

indicate before passing on to their peculiar grammatical form.

A

Eph. 1:3.

Spiritual blessings.

B

Eph. 1:20.  Far above principalities and powers.

C

Eph. 2:6.

Raised and seated together.

B

Eph. 3:10.  A witness to principalities and powers.

A

Eph. 6:12.  Spiritual wickednesses.