(5) The first reference to the Gentile as an object of blessing. (In Matthew 10 the word was, `Go not unto the

Gentiles').

A note concerning the word `mystery' may be acceptable here. The word has been simply brought over,

untranslated, from the Greek into the English language. In the original it is written musterion, the change of `u' into

`y' following a general rule, as for example, hupokrites becomes `hypocrite'; hudor becomes `hydro'.  No

unintelligent, occult, or mysterious meaning is associated with the `mysteries' of Holy Scripture, for they simply

refer to truths that up to a certain time were `secrets' known only to God, but when revealed were clearly understood

by those who were initiated, or were believers. The Greek word is derived from mueo, `to instruct' (Phil. 4:12),

which in its turn comes from muo, `to shut,' viz., the mouth. In combination with kata, muo is found in Matthew

13:15, `their eyes they have closed', a pointed passage in connection with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

The `mysteries' of the kingdom of heaven were not a subject of revelation until it became evident that the King

and the kingdom itself were about to be rejected. Then for the first time, and to the favoured few, the Lord reveals

the hidden course this kingdom purpose must take, until the day His manifest glory shall fulfil all that had been

foretold concerning the Throne of David, and His Dominion from sea to sea.

So, when at the end of the Acts, Israel as a nation was dismissed, God revealed, through Paul the prisoner,

another secret part of His purpose, a secret going back `before the foundation of the world', and calling the far-off

Gentile into a place and nearness and blessing hitherto unsuspected and unknown. The endeavour to `make all men

see what is the dispensation of the mystery' (Eph. 3:9 R.V.) is the chief reason for the publishing of this book.

Another explanation may also be acceptable before we proceed. We have listed several `suggestive features' on

page 106, and having touched upon the meaning of the word `mystery', we add a note on the second item in the list,

viz.,'The introduction of a contingency into the problem of John the Baptist'. What do we mean by this statement?

It is a matter of prophecy that `Elijah the prophet' is to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal.

4:5,6), and when the birth of John the Baptist was announced to his father Zacharias, the angel said, `He shall go

before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah' (Luke 1:16,17). When John himself was questioned by the priests, `Art

thou Elijah?' he said, `I am not' (John 1:21).

The Lord Jesus Christ endorsed the teaching of the Old Testament prophets saying, `Elijah truly shall first come,

and restore all things' (Matt. 17:10,11), but added the somewhat cryptic statement, `But I say unto you, That Elijah

is come already ... then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist' (Matt. 17:12,13). The

apparent contradiction is solved by referring to Matthew 11:14, where the Lord introduces the contingent `IF':

`If ye will receive it, this is Elias (Elijah), which was for to come'.

Had Israel repented at that time, John - who had been sent in the spirit and power of Elijah - would have fulfilled

the prophet's words. The Lord, however, from Whom nothing is hid, knew that they would not at that time repent,

and the interval is filled with the mystery phase of the kingdom, and later with the great mystery of the church of the

present dispensation, leaving the literal fulfilment of prophecy to take place according to the testimony of Malachi.

The reader who has already entered into the blessedness of the dispensation of the mystery made known through

Paul, the Lord's prisoner, will need no lengthy exposition of the close parallel that exists between Matthew 13 and

Acts 28. At the latter:

Israel, who reject the Lord, are themselves rejected.

`The mystery' is made manifest for the first time in those epistles written by Paul from prison.

Those thus blessed are `Gentiles', particularly (Eph. 3:1-13).

And they were chosen in Christ `before the foundation of the world'.

The two passages are parallel, but they deal with vastly different parts of the great kingdom of God: the one with

the mystery phase of the kingdom of the heavens, the other with the dispensation of the mystery, which has its

sphere `far above all' where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Just as Christ turned from the multitude and began

to speak of secrets to His disciples - secrets which had been kept since the foundation of the world - so Paul, the