(2).  Abraham's seed (includes believing Gentiles). -- `Having begun in

the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? ... they which are of

faith, the same are the children of Abraham ... For as many of you as

have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew

nor Greek ... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ's,

then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise' (Gal.

3:3,7,27 -29).

If, at the end of verse 28, we `shut the book', we may `prove' that the

blessed unity indicated by the words `neither Jew nor Greek' refers to the

`Church which is His Body'.  If, however, we keep the book open, we see that

such is not the sequel, but that this new company are `Abraham's seed', and the

hope before them `the promise' made to Abraham.  The reader may readily assent

to this, but we would urge him to remember that 1 Thessalonians and Galatians

were both written before Acts 28, and therefore before the revelation of the

Mystery.  The hope then of 1 Thessalonians 4 belongs to the same calling as

that of Galatians and cannot constitute the hope of the Mystery.

(3).  The One New Man.-- `Where there is neither Greek nor Jew ... but

Christ is all, and in all' (Col. 3:11).

`That He might create in Himself of the twain one new man, so

making peace' (Eph. 2:15 R.V.).

`That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs' (Eph. 3:6).

The limits of this article will not permit of extensive proofs of the

suggestions made in the foregoing paragraphs, or of a detailed exposition of

the passages concerned; but we believe that the matter is sufficiently clear

for us to go forward with our inquiry.  Seeing then that there are three

spheres of blessing, with their three associated callings, we should expect to

find three phases of the Coming of the Lord.  These three phases are presented

in the following Scriptures:

Kingdom on earth.-- hope.  Matt. 24 -25.

Abraham's seed (heavenly calling).-- hope.

1 Thess. 4.

Far above all.-- hope. Col. 3:4.

Let us look at each phase of the second advent as presented by these

three passages.

The hope of the first sphere

The earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was limited to the people

of Israel, and had special regard to the promise made to David concerning

Israel's King.  It also had in view the promise made to Abraham concerning the

blessing of all the families of the earth, but did not, at that time, extend to

them, being concentrated rather upon Israel from whom, as the appointed

channel, the blessing should flow to all nations.  We shall now bring

Scriptural proof of these statements, and then proceed to show that Matthew 24

and 25 speak of the hope of Israel, and that this phase of the second advent

has nothing to do with the hope of the `church'.

Proof that the earthly ministry was limited in the first instance

to Israel.