only were made meet, but who will, additionally, receive the reward of the

The hope of the church as expressed in the epistle to the Romans was

millennial (Rom. 15:12,13); consequently the joint -heirs with Christ who are

in any sense overcomers will find much that illuminates their position in

Revelation 2 and 3.  There, addressing Himself to the seven churches of Asia,

the Lord makes certain promises `to him that overcometh': `the tree of life'

(Rev.  2:7); `the crown of life' and immunity from `the second death' (Rev.

2:10,11); `the hidden manna', `white stone' and `new name' (Rev. 2:17); `power

over the nations ... even as I received of My Father' (Rev. 2:26 -28); `white

raiment', `book of life' and `name confessed' (Rev. 3:5); `a pillar', `a new

name', the name of the `new Jerusalem' (Rev. 3:12); and finally, a grant to sit

with Christ in His throne, even as He overcame, and sat with His Father in His

throne (Rev. 3:21).  To sit down with Christ in His throne as overcomer, to

reign with Him, because one has endured, to be a joint -heir of Christ, if so

be we suffer with Him, are all expositions of the same truth, though it

operates in different spheres, whether the dispensation of the Mystery, during

the Acts period, or as far back as Abraham (Heb. 11:9,10).

Having stated the relation that exists between present suffering and

future glory, the apostle proceeds to encourage the believer by comparing the

present with the future, and by showing how inexpressibly grand is the prospect

of glory, both to the individual and to all creation:

`For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to

be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us' (Rom. 8:18).

While Hebrews 11:9 and 1 Peter 3:7 contribute nothing specifically to our

knowledge of Dispensational Truth, there is a most precious truth latent in

these passages, which it would be a sin to miss.  God does not call Himself

merely the God of Abraham, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- and

while there may be a notable difference between the spiritual standard of

Abraham as compared with Jacob, they were joint -heirs, the one no more, and no

less, than the other.  Again, in 1 Peter 3:6,7 Sarah is said to have obeyed

Abraham, calling him `Lord', and is likened to a `weaker vessel', nevertheless

in spite of these and other differences Sarah was `joint -heir' with Abraham.

Now take this a stage further.  If a believer can become a joint -heir with

Christ, will not the same truth hold good?  In comparison with his Lord he is

infinitely further than Jacob was from Abraham, he is infinitely weaker than

Sarah and has more need to acknowledge Christ as `Lord' than any wife of any

husband, yet in spite of every acknowledged infirmity, will not the same truth

hold good, joint -heir with Christ, and so treated by the Father, as He treats

His Beloved?  It seems too good to be true, and there are necessary limits to

the comparison, but what abounding grace is here made manifest!

Let us now consider a passage that belongs to the dispensation of the

Mystery: Ephesians 3:6, `that the Gentiles should be fellow -heirs'.

The words with which verse 5 end, `by the Spirit', indicate as they

stand, that the author and inspirer of the apostles and prophets is `the

Spirit'.  This is a truth which is fundamental -- but the question before us is

not the nature of inspiration, but the constitution of the church of the

Mystery.  In Ephesians 2:22 the words translated `through the Spirit' are in

the original en pneumati, `in spirit', a sphere in direct contrast with that

indicated in Ephesians 2:11 en sarki, `in flesh'.  Before proceeding with the

statement made in Ephesians 3:6, it may be necessary to bring before the reader