51. They (disciples) did understand.

A 52. The SCRIBE. The treasure opened to those in the house.

`It is not our purpose to give an exposition of these parables. We content ourselves here with their place in this

testimony. One positive feature that gave added weight to this interpretation of the parables, however, must be

included. We observed that not until the Lord was evidently rejected (Matt. 11:12) did the word `mystery'

appear upon the pages of Scripture, and that it is coupled with every solemn quotation from Isaiah 6:10. An

examination of The Acts of the Apostles shows that as Israel in the land rejected their Messiah, so did Israel of

the dispersion and therefore Acts 28 stands to the wider testimony that Matthew does to the people of the land.

In Acts 28, Israel fail, and evidential miracles cease. This failure is anticipated in Matthew 11:20-24 and 13:58.

There in Acts 28 as in Matthew 13, Isaiah 6:10 is solemnly quoted, and immediately after the rejection of Israel

which then took place `mystery' again follows, this time, not the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but the

dispensation of the mystery as made known to Paul, the Lord's prisoner.

`We gather from this testimony that one of the greatest hindrances to full acceptance of the truth, is the blinding

power of tradition, that confuses kingdom with church, and does not recognize the true place of the gospel of the

kingdom in the purpose of the Ages. We commend this testimony to all who seek to know "what is the

dispensation of the mystery" (Eph. 3:9 R.V.)'.

At the request of Dr. Bullinger I supplied the structure of these eight parables for use in The Companion Bible. It

can be seen in Appendix 145.

We now return to the extract from the Foreword of Volume 1, trusting that the reader will more readily

and more sympathetically understand the extremely independent attitude which is there indicated.

In this frame of mind and in this spirit, the witness was conceived. In this selfsame spirit it has grown, and when

the Berean spirit that gave it birth wanes, the witness of The Berean Expositor will cease.

The following appeared in the News Chronicle of October 21st, 1949. Some of the statements need a little

revision; my father fought hard for free education; and religious opposition made him rebellious and sceptical. He

would not have recognised the title `Anarchist'. However, as these are the last public utterances of the Doctor we

preserve it as a testimony.

`Bermondsey paid affectionate tribute yesterday afternoon to "our Doctor", Dr. Scott Lidgett, founder of the

Bermondsey Settlement, from the wardenship of which he has just retired. And Dr. Lidgett, who is aged 95,

paid tribute to Bermondsey.

"Never suppose", he said, "that the people of Bermondsey must be treated as stupid or as capable of appreciating

only inferior gifts. Set before them your pearls of greatest price".

He told of a young man - an agnostic whose parents were almost anarchists, through his Greek studies in the

settlement, had been converted, and who had then converted his father and mother'.

The thirteenth chapter of Matthew is the dispensational landmark of the Lord's earthly ministry. The rejection

that reaches a climax in Matthew 11:29-30 is followed by the introduction of `mystery' in Matthew 13, the quotation

of Isaiah 6:9,10 and a reference back to something that had been kept secret from the foundation of the world. The

next great step in the recovery of long-lost truth was the recognition of the importance of another landmark, namely

Acts 28, which followed the pattern of Matthew 11 to 13 on a larger scale. There once again the rejection of the

Messiah by Israel reaches a climax, there for the last time Isaiah 6:9,10 is quoted, and in the epistle to the Ephesians,

written while Paul was a prisoner at Rome, there is a reference back to something that had been kept secret from

before the foundation of the world.

The first words which I wrote in the interest of Dispensational Truth that appeared in print, are to be found in

The Berean Expositor of February 1909, Volume 1 page 1.