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1 1 Sunday, March 18, 2012 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 61 When Was the Mystery N Lnger a Mystery? Advancements in Pauline Truth thrugh 1870, Part 2 Intrductin/Review In Lessn 60 we started t survey the histrical develpment f a clear mid-acts dispensatinal psitin. The chrnlgy we are in the middle f tracing, significantly challenges cmmnly held views as t the histrical resurgence f Pauline truth. Please cnsider the fllwing citatins frm The Berean Searchlight. Later Mr. Jhn N. Darby and Dr. C.I. Scfield were raised up t recver that blessed hpe and related truths... This writer well remembers the days when the Darby- Scfield Mvement had gtten under way... (Stam, The Berean Searchlight, Jan. 1988) These (the Huguents) were fllwed by devut men f Gd like J.N. Darby wh recvered the truth f the premillennial rapture. C.I. Scfield built upn this by uncvering the dispensatinal apprach t Scripture. Then Gd raised up Pastr J.C. O Hair wh tk a giant step in teaching us hw t rightly divide the Wrd f Truth. He shwed us that there is a difference between Prphecy and the Mystery. He was fllwed by Pastrs Stam, Baker, Elifsn, and thers wh were used f the Lrd t bring rder ut f chas. Pastr Stam was largely respnsible fr systematically putting the message tgether and wrking ut many f the prblem areas. (Sadler, The Berean Searchlight, May 1989) The Huguents were fllwed by devut men f Gd like J.N. Darby wh as we have said, recvered the truth f the pretribulatin Rapture. C.I. Scfield built upn this by uncvering the dispensatinal apprach t the Scriptures. Later, Gd raised up Pastr J.C. O Hair wh tk a giant step in teaching men hw t rightly divide the Wrd f Truth. He was instrumental in shwing the Church the great distinctin between Prphecy and Mystery. Tday, we stand upn the shulders f giants wh have retrieved fr us the glrius truths f the pretribulatin Rapture. (Sadler, The Berean Searchlight, Jan. 1991) Nt nly is much f the infrmatin in the statements quted abve histrically incrrect, it is indicative f an institutinal apprach t church histry, as we discussed in Lessn 60. It is the cntentin f the Grace Histry Prject that significant advancements in the resurgence f Pauline truth were made by the generatins immediately fllwing JND. In fact, these advancements were such that it can be prven that the majr tenants f the mid-acts psitin can be bserved in print by 1870 and fr sure by This massive resurgence in mid-acts Pauline dispensatinalism is best understd by bserving a prcess f generatinal refinement. Fr example, JND articulated many f the fundamental viewpints utilized by the mid-acts psitin. Building upn the shulders f Darby s wrk, subsequent generatins were able t restre majr elements f the mid-acts psitin. This lessn is the secnd step in uncvering this exciting, rewarding, edifying, and verlked histry. The simplest way t trace the histrical develpment f mid-acts Pauline dispensatinalism is t cnsider the emerging understanding f the mystery dctrine fund in Rman 16, Ephesians 3, Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 and Clssians 1. Once the mystery was understd as a unique Pauline revelatin it was nly a matter f time befre the Acts 2 psitin was n lnger sustainable fr thse striving fr dctrinal cnsistency. Thus far we have bserved clear dctrinal develpment in the fllwing printed wrks: 1828 American Study Bible Jhn Nelsn Darby s The Rapture f the Saints and the Character f the Jewish Remnant William Trtter s Christ and the Church in Plain Papers n Prphetic and Other Subjects ? In this lessn we will cnsider the remarkable wrk f Richard Hlden and prve that the mid- Acts psitin was knwn and in print by the year sme 60 t 70 years befre the time f O Hair. Richard Hlden s The Mystery, the Special Missin f the Apstle Paul, The Key t the Present Dispensatin, 1870 In 1870, a member f the Plymuth Brethren named Richard Hlden published The Mystery, the Special Missin f the Apstle Paul, the Key t the Present Dispensatin. (Allen, 47; Penney, 302) This wrk was annymusly republished in the Brethren magazine The Christian s Friend in 1876, with the fllwing abbreviated title, The Mystery: Ephesians 3. An analysis f this bk shws clear prgressin and refinement in the resurgence f Pauline truth making it pssibly the earliest knwn articulatin f the mid-acts dispensatinal psitin in print. Frm the pening paragraphs the reader is presented with a mature understanding f the unique cmmissin f the Apstle Paul. Hlden writes, There were tw bjects embraced in Paul s ministry. He has expressed them in verses 8 and 9 (Eph. 3) f this chapter, where he states in brief and plain terms the character f his cmmissin as an apstle r evangelizer. First, the grace was bestwed upn him f his being sent t preach amng the natins the unsearchable riches f Christ. The emphasis here is n the fact f the Gentiles being thse t whm he was specially cmmissined... A richer and fuller exhibitin f these unsearchable riches there certainly was in Paul s ministry; but therwise the specialty f the grace given unt him lay in his being selected t preach them amng the Gentiles. The secnd branch f the apstle s cmmissin, was that expressed in the wrds, T make all see what is the fellwship f the mystery. There is here, I apprehend, an intended cntrast between the all and the Gentiles f the preceding verse. Jew and Gentile were alike indebted t Paul s ministry fr the knwledge and intelligence f a mystery unveiled thrugh him, and which he was specially cmmissined t make all see. Accrding t Hlden, the vast majrity f Christians are ignrant f Paul s cmmissin and the Refrmers said nthing abut it, thereby leaving it fr later generatins t exhume. Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 T many it will seem a bld r even a rash assertin, that t the vast majrity f Christians, learned and unlearned, this side f the apstle's cmmissin has remained t this hur withut effect. The Refrmatin (great and blessed wrk f Gd as it was, fr which we cannt be t grateful), while it brught nce mre int light much f the unsearchable riches f Christ that had becme encrusted with the crrsins f Ppish errr, left this side f truth whlly in darkness; and it has been reserved, in Gd's inscrutable wisdm, t a later day, and t a feeble flk, t exhume frm the wrd the lng-buried treasure... It is n disparagement f the Refrmatin, t say that it brught back nly a part f the lng-lst truths f the Wrd. It was pure svereign grace that led men s far int truth as they did then g; as it is pure svereign grace that has in these latter times, thrugh ther instrumentality, directed the minds f numbers f Gd's children t ther truths in the Wrd nt then discerned. Hlden s wrk includes a lengthy discussin f the Greek wrd iknmia, which he defines as huse law, i.e., the law, rules, regulatins, r administratin, f a husehld. After surveying all the passages in which iknmia and its sister wrd iknms appear, Hlden ffers the fllwing definitin f dispensatinal truth,... it lks at the wrld as a great huse hld r stewardy, in which Gd is dispensing, r administering, accrding t rule f His wn establishing, and in whse rder He has frm time t time intrduced certain changes, the understanding f which is cnsequently needful, bth t the intelligent interpretatin f His wrd and t intelligent actin under Him. Hlden illustrates this pint by cmparing the husehld f a gdly man with that f a gdless man in which tw female servants trade places. In rder t her becming a faithful and prfitable servant in the gdly husehld, she must first acquaint herself with its rder r ecnmy, and then cnfrm herself t that... Even a change in the circumstances f the same husehld will necessitate smetimes a change in its rule, and demand therefre a crrespnding change in the cnduct f its servants. Based n these premises, Hlden cncludes that Gd is a dispensatinalist and that the nly prayer mankind has t understand Scripture is t rightly divide the wrd f truth. Nw surely it is just as simple and plain, that if Gd has, frm time t time, intrduced changes int the rder f His dealing with the wrld, and dispensing its affairs, the nature f these changes must be studied, understd, and acted n by His servants, if they wuld prve prfitable servants, and c-perate intelligently in His plans. T imprt int ne dispensatin the directins r cnduct prescribed fr anther must entail cnfusin and disrder, whether in the interpretatin f the Scriptures relating t them, r in the regulatin f actin, individual r crprate, under them. Hence the necessity f what the apstle (2 Tim. 2: 15) calls "rightly dividing the wrd f truth," the neglect f which has ever been and ever must be the surce f unutterable cnfusin; in shrt, f mst f the cnfusin we see arund. Speaking abut the dispensatin f the law Hlden wrte: That dispensatin clsed at the crss; and subsequently a thrugh and universal change was intrduced, cnstituting the dispensatin under which we nw are, called in this passage the dispensatin f the mystery, and in verse 2 declared t be a dispensatin f the grace f Gd. Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4 Just as Mses was the divinely-appinted instructr during the dispensatin f the law, Paul is the divinely appinted instructr fr the current dispensatin f grace, accrding t Hlden. Hlden ges n t plainly state that the reasn there is s much cnfusin in Christendm is because f the general ignrance f the mystery. T make all see what is the dispensatin, r, in ther wrds, t be the divinelyappinted instructr in the character and rder f the present time, as Mses was in that f the dispensatin f law, is that special feature in the cmmissin f Paul, in which it was distinct frm that f the ther apstles. If then it shall appear that, far frm seeing what is the dispensatin f the mystery, the mass f Christians have entirely missed it, and, as the natural cnsequence have almst cmpletely misunderstd Christianity, imprting int it the things prper t anther dispensatin, and s cnfunding Judaism and Christianity in an inexpressible jumble; surely it is matter fr deep humiliatin befre Gd, and fr earnest, prayerful effrt t retrieve, with Gd's help, this imprtant and neglected teaching. Hlden is als explicitly clear abut the cnnectin between the wrds revelatin and mystery in Ephesians 3. Let the reader then bserve, first f all, that Paul claims t have had the truth in questin given t him by revelatin (v. 3). Nw the wrd revelatin means unveiling r uncvering, and its used in Scripture t signify the cmmunicatin, by Gd, f truth nt previusly knwn, r, up t that time shruded under veil f secrecy. The fact therefre, that the apstle claims fr the truth he speaks f in this chapter, the character f a revelatin, ught itself t prepare us fr the discvery, in his teaching f smewhat nt t be met with in any previus prtins f the wrd f Gd. Next, be it bserved, he calls it a mystery, r secret, which secret he insists n with repetitin and emphasis, as entirely hidden till given t him t tell ut. Thus in verses 3 and 5, by revelatin f Gd made knwn t him the mystery which in ther ages was nt made knwn unt the sns f men, as it is nw revealed; and s in verse 9, the mystery which frm the beginning f the wrld had been hid in Gd. Language culd hardly be mre explicit than this. A secret which had nt in ther ages been made knwn t men, but frm the beginning f the wrld had been hid in Gd, is nw made knwn t the apstle by revelatin.... T ther ages (r generatins) it was nt made knwn; frm (the) ages and (the) generatins it has been hid hid frm the beginning f the wrld, hid in Gd, kept secret since the wrld began. I knw f n truth in the whle range f the wrd t which the testimny is mre explicit and unmistakable, and I trust the reader will be prepared, in view f it, t set it dwn as a pint f certainty, that whatever the mystery may be, it is smething quite unknwn until the day f Paul. If the reader has nw fully bwed t the Wrd n this pint, he will at nce perceive that t lk fr an unflding f this mystery in the pages f the Old Testament must be a hpeless and deceptive prceeding. Fr any man t imagine he finds there that which the Hly Ghst s expressly declares was hidden an unrevealed secret when that bk was written; must be t fllw a will- -the-wisp, that will lure him int the quagmire f misinterpretatin and cnfusin. Let the reader keep this pint in memry; it will meet us Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 again when we have advanced ur enquiry anther stage, examining next int the subject f the mystery itself. Hlden defined the mystery as the church the bdy f Christ and argues that the essence f the mystery is encapsulated in the fllwing three pints: 1. That the Gentiles shuld be fellw-heirs. 2. That they shuld be ne bdy 3. That they shuld be partakers r c-partners f Gd s prmise in the Messiah In ther wrds, the Church r assembly f Gd as distinguished alike frm the a Jewish assembly and frm the kingdm. Fr this thing, the Church f Gd, r fr any ne f these three features f that which distinguishes it mst markedly, as well frm all that has gne befre, as frm all that will fllw after, the reader will search in vain thrughut the pages f the Old Testament. This then is the mystery ; the Church f Gd... Hlden als demnstrates an astute awareness f the wrd church. Anticipating pssible bjectins, Hlden writes that the church spken f by Paul is nt the same church Stephen spke f in Acts 7:38. Hlden s cmments n this matter sund like ne f the main arguments utilized by Vernn A. Schutz in his bk The Three Bible Churches. But, the reader may say, surely the Church is spken f in the Old Testament; des nt Stephen affirm it in Acts 7:35, where he speaks f the Church in the wilderness? That Stephen uses the wrd Church, and applies it t Israel as fund in the wilderness, is beynd a questin; just as certain as that the Hly Ghst emplys it in Acts 19:41, and applies it t the idlatrus rabble gathered int the theatre f Ephesus; f whm, after they had spent tw hurs in shuting Great is Diana f the Ephesians, it is said, He dismissed the church. The emplyment f the wrd church r ecclesia in these cases n mre implies that the ne assemblage was the Church f Gd than the ther. Regarding the first key pint f the mystery, that the Gentiles shuld be fellw-heirs, is nwhere fund in the Old Testament Hlden writes: The brad statement in this, as in the ther pints, is that f Gentile equality with the Jew... And such is the highest psitin f the Gentile in the prphecies f the Old Testament; he is t share in the benefits f Israel s inherited blessing, but is never lifted int the psitin f a c-heir never made Israel s peer. (After a lengthy expsitin f Isa. 60:3-16, Hlden cncludes)... but still it is f Zin r Israel that they are spken, and the Gentile is there exhibited as cming t her light t be blessed, and finding his blessing in ministering t her; as might happen where the servant f a master wh has cme int a rich estate, might share in the benefit f his master s imprved circumstances, thugh nt himself a c-heir with him in his inheritance. Israel is t inherit the Gentiles (Isa. 54:3); but the Gentile is nt t inherit Israel. Pastr Bryan Rss

6 6 Withut specifically using the phrase time past, Hlden cntrasts Paul s cmments abut Israel being ne bdy with the Gentiles with numerus passages frm the Old Testament prphets where Gd clearly distinguished between these tw grups f peple. Gd s recnciling bth unt himself in ne bdy is the secnd aspect f the mystery, accrding t Hlden. Did my reader ever detect, in the curse f this study f Mses and the prphets, anything that lked like this? Mst surely nt. If there is ne thing mre evident than anther in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is the steadily maintained distinctin between Israel and the natins, frm first t last; under the glry f the future as under the vicissitudes f the past. The welding f Israel and the natins int ne bdy, frm which their natinalities shall disappear; all distinctive autnmies be lst; is a thught as freign t the ancient racles as heaven is t earth. Take any f the Scriptures that refer t the Messiah s reign and the blessings that are t attend it; the natins and Israel will ever be fund in separatin. (After using Psalm 72, Isaiah 2, 11, and Zechariah 14 as examples Hlden states)... Everywhere it is the same: Israel and the natins in their respective places, in mst telling cntrast with what the apstle insists n as distinctive f the present rder f things, wherein (Cl. 3:11) there is neither Greek nr Jew, circumcisin nr uncircumcisin, Barbarian, Scythian, bnd nr free; but Christ is all, and in all. Regarding the third aspect f the mystery, that the Gentiles are c-partners in Gd s prmise in the Messiah, Hlden wrte. If there is any ne thing that excites the ire f the Jew, it is the claim f the Gentile t an equal share with himself in the Messiah. He laughs t scrn the Gentile pretensin t shw frm the prphets that such a thing shuld be; and he des s triumphantly; it is nt there; and t pretend t it is t weaken under pretence f strengthening the Christian cause. Gd has said it is nt there; t prfess t find it is t pervert His truth, and must lead t the cnfusin f him wh attempts it. Intimatins f Israel s failure and their rejectin there are; predictins f blessing t the Gentiles under Israel, and in cnnectin with the Messiah, abund, as in the Scriptures that have already been befre us; but a cpartnership, anything like the equality f privilege in the Messiah that the gspel has intrduced, and we urselves at this mment enjy, will be sught in vain. If the mystery f the church f Gd is nt fund in the Old Testament then what is fund therein? Accrding t Hlden, the Old Testament is taken up with the subject f the establishment f the kingdm. But if there is indeed n mentin f the mystery the Church f Gd in the Old Testament Scriptures, f what then is there mentin? I answer, f the Kingdm. A reign f righteusness and peace under the kingship f the Messiah. Zin, the seat f rule. Israel, a peple f peculiar nearness and special privilege, with the natins gruped arund this center, in their subrdinate places; blessed in Israel s blessing, in whm all the families f the earth are t be blessed. Such is the future depicted by the prphets, alluded t in the New Testament (Acts 3:19-21), as times f refreshing frm the presence f the Lrd, the times f the restitutin f all things. This and this nly is the theme f the prphets f ld. A state f things with which the present dispensatin in nw wise crrespnds, at almst any pint. A state f things the wrld has nt yet seen. Pastr Bryan Rss

7 7 Have, then, the prphecies failed? By n means. S certainly as these are fretld, s surely will they ne day cme t pass, s writes Hlden in a lengthy sectin where he discusses what happened t the kingdm. Hlden understd that during the earthly ministry f Christ, Israel s lng-prphesied kingdm was annunced as being at hand, and had Israel accepted her Messiah, the prphetic prmises f the Old Testament wuld have been accmplished. In the fllwing astunding sectin, Hlden addresses hw the revelatin f the mystery tk Satan by cmplete surprise t the unding f his entire plan f evil. T Satan, fr whm, be it brne in mind, the cunsels f Gd are as secret, until revealed, as t the children f men, it must have appeared a marvelus triumph f his ingenuity and devilish craft, when he had succeeded, t appearance, in verturning the plans and giving the lie t the prphetic teaching f Gd, by securing the rejectin and crucifixin f Gd s king... The revelatin f the mystery, unflded in vain befre the eyes f Gd s children, has been seen f him (Satan) with clearer discernment. Nr let the reader cnsider this as mere cnjecture; it is the teaching f the Wrd itself. (qutes Eph. 3:9-10) Here we have the fact that the display f Gd s manifld wisdm, by means f the church, was a fre-cntemplated bject f creatin, and that, with express reference t the principalities and pwers in heavenly places. Nw, if in Eph. 1:21 and Cl. 2:10, principalities and pwers seem emplyed t designate celestial inhabitants, in favr with Gd; in Eph. 6:12, the same is used fr the deadly enemies f Gd and man, the wicked spirits knwn elsewhere as the devil and his angels; by whm this manifld wisdm will be learned t their cnfusin and dismay, as by the thers t their edificatin and jy, thrugh the demnstratin f Gd s ability t accmplish results, the highest and mst blessed, thrugh the instrumentality f the very elements that seem mst t thwart his plans and traverse his purpses.... N; Satan has nt triumphed. Gd s purpse is nt fregne. Gd s plans have suffered n frustratin. A pstpnement, but a freseen ne, has delayed the immediate establishment; but, in his seeming victry the prince f darkness has utwitted himself, has wrught ut Gd s secret purpse, t suspend fr a seasn the erectin f the thrne, in rder t the preparatin f a bride fr His King, t be assciated with Him in His reign the Church f the living Gd an therwise unknwn thing; a peple brught int a special place f nearness; wh, wning and taking part with Him in his humiliatin and rejectin, shall als have part in His exaltatin and glry; wh, because they suffer with Him, shall als reign with Him; filling that very place in the heavenlies, in which Satan and his angels nw are thse pwers f the air f which he is prince, the wicked spirits in the heavenlies, against whm, as the ppsers f her blessing, the Church, in her individual members, has nw t cntend in spiritual cnflict (Eph. 6:12). N; the prphecies spke nly f earth; there was in these n intimatin f a peple t fill the place f the Satanic pwers, n wrd f their being dispssessed in favr f a peple redeemed frm the earth. This was a secret, a mystery hid in Gd, which Satan s seeming triumph gave ccasin bth t the unflding and t the accmplishment f, t his wn utter and eternal cnfusin, and t the display f Gd s multifrm wisdm, His grace and His glry; and the kingdm, the kingdm which Satan thught t frustrate, will yet be set up n earth the millennium f New Testament prphecy t the literal accmplishment f every detail f Gd s wrd, and the full vindicatin f the faithfulness f Gd and the truthfulness f His prphets. The present dispensatin is, then, an interregnum r parenthetic perid, cntemplated indeed in the cunsels f Gd, but nt revealed till given t Paul, as set frth. Pastr Bryan Rss

8 8 Once this truth is seen, it becmes the key t the interpretatin f Scripture and t the rightly dividing the wrd f truth, in the sundering f things Jewish frm things Christian. Until this is seen neither Testament can be understd aright; and Christianity, instead f having its prper and distinctive character, is degraded int a srt f bastard Judaism. Hlden writes that instead f seeing Christianity as smething taught exclusively by Paul, the church has viewed Christianity as the flwering f the bud f Judaism and has blended things Jewish with things Christian resulting in the entire misunderstanding f the Christian dispensatin. But they did nt see what is the dispensatin f the mystery; and because they did nt, they have als left us, in their chapter-headings, a mnument f the inevitable cnsequences f ignrance f this cardinal truth. In cmmn with all the divines f their day, they tk up the errneus ntin that Christianity, instead f being, as taught by Paul, a distinct thing, and a previusly unrevealed secret, was but the fretld utcme - the regular and anticipated develpment f what had preceded - the full-blwn flwer frm the bud f Judaism. Of the parenthetic r interregnal character f the dispensatin, they had nt a cnceptin. That the Church f Gd was a thing s distinct and peculiar, in respect f all that had gne befre, as t be quite unknwn t prphecy was a thught t which they were whlly strangers - a thught s freign t their minds, that, taking fr granted that Christianity and the Church must be there, they turned t the Old Testament scriptures, with the deliberate purpse therein t discver it. The natural result f a research fr what was nt, under the cntrl f a fregne cnclusin that it was, is easy t anticipate. They must f necessity misapply t it what belnged t smething else; and accrdingly, the prphetic annuncements cncerning Israel and the kingdm, are made t d duty n behalf f the Church; with the necessary cnsequence, in their wn and all minds that have fllwed in their wake; f an entire misunderstanding f the Christian dispensatin, n less than f the millennial dispensatin, yet t fllw - a blending f things Jewish with things Christian, t the lwering f the entire character f the heavenly calling, and a misapplicatin, thrughut, f the truth f Gd. Hlden even understd that the revelatin f the mystery filled up r cmpleted the wrd f Gd. If all the treasures f wisdm and knwledge are hid in the mystery; s that the dispensatin f it, as given t Paul, is the filling up, r cmpleting, f the wrd f Gd, as stated in verse 25 f the previus chapter; then it is self-evident, that where the mystery is nt understd, the key t the understanding f the Wrd, is nt in the hand; and the treasures f wisdm and knwledge, thugh fully revealed f Gd, must remain lcked. Hlden says Israel s hpe was t be with Gd in the wilderness, in the land, and ultimately in the kingdm. In cntrast, the hpe f glry fr the bdy f Christ is Christ in his peple. The hpe f the Church is the hpe f glry. Israel's hpe, in the wilderness, was the hpe f the land. (Deut. 12: 8.) Their hpe, in the future, is still the land, under the kingdm, in the millennial blessedness. If there is glry cnnected with it, as there certainly is (Isa. 4, etc.), it is still earthly glry - glry in the earth. The Church's glry, n the cntrary, is celestial glry - the glry f Gd and f Christ. The glry which thu hast given me I have given them; I will that they als, which thu hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behld my glry. Pastr Bryan Rss

9 9 Israel's hpe f prmised blessing rested n the presence f Jehvah with them in the pillar f clud and f fire. (qutes Ex. 33:14, 16; Num. 14:14, Deut. 4:7) Jehvah, with and amng them, in a symblical presence, was thus the glry f Israel's psitin in the midst f the natins f the earth, and the guarantee, n which their hpe f the prmised inheritance repsed. The riches, r wealth, f the glry f the mystery is, Christ in His peple, the hpe f glry. (Cl. 1: 27.) Great as was Israel's privilege, in having Jehvah s nigh t them, as never t any ther peple r natin; their pledge f a land flwing with milk and hney; that glry is eclipsed, by the verflwing abundance - the wealth f glry, pertaining t the pilgrim Church f Gd, in the dispensatin f the mystery; which glry, is persnal unin with a risen, exalted, and divine Head, as members f His bdy, f His flesh, and f His bnes - a unin which is t them the unfailing guarantee and basis, f that hpe f glry which is set befre them, as the gal tward which they jurney nward. Well may the apstle term this a wealth f glry - a glry veiled indeed frm carnal and unbelieving eyes; s that the wrld knweth us nt, because it knew nt Him; but hw real and hw unspeakably precius, t him t whse faith and experience it is knwn! Well might he, in cmparisn f Israel's glry, say Even that which was made glrius had n glry in this respect, by reasn f the glry which excelleth. Fr if that which is dne away was glrius, much mre that which remaineth is glrius. Christ in yu, the hpe f glry! D ur suls enter int it? Des ur faith lay hld n the fulness f its riches? Des the glry fill ur eye and satisfy ur hearts, till all earthly glry pales beneath its brightness? What an inheritance is urs - glry! - an inheritance incrruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth nt away, reserved in heaven fr yu, wh are kept by the pwer f Gd. This is much. T be kept by pwer, and that the pwer f Gd, is strng, and sure, and precius; but there is mre. The thught befre us ges beynd it. It is mre than being kept; it is unin, neness, with the Keeper. He that is jined t the Lrd is ne Spirit; by ne Spirit are we all baptized int ne bdy; members f His bdy, f His flesh, and f His bnes. And this is the peculiar, the excelling glry, f the mystery; and we, by grace, have ur prtin in it. Surely, fr such a prtin, we wuld praise and bless the Gd f all grace, wh hath called us t His eternal glry, by Christ Jesus. Hlden, like Trtter befre him, understd much abut the nature f the dispensatin f the fullness f times. Hlden viewed this dispensatin as the heavenly side f the mystery. The truth f the dispensatin f the fullness f times was nt anther mystery but anther phase, r mre advanced stage f the same great secret, accrding t Hlden. These thughts lead us upward, t what may be called the heavenly side f the mystery; t which we are intrduced in Eph. 1: 9: (qutes Eph. 1:9-10). This is nt anther mystery, but anther phase, r a mre advanced stage, f the same great secret. The third chapter, which, alng with Clssians, has mainly ccupied us thus far, intrduces us nly t the present r earthly side f the mystery - t the Church, in her pilgrim character, as jurneying twards her inheritance, in the dispensatin called by the Pastr Bryan Rss

10 10 Hly Ghst the dispensatin f the mystery; as that, t which the unflding and develpment f the truths f the mystery, gives tne and character. Here we are intrduced t anther, and yet future, dispensatin; equally secret t the bygne ages, but nw brught frth, as the cmplement f the uncvered mystery - t wit, the unin, under the sceptre f the Messiah, f heavenly as well as earthly things in ne kingdm f Gd. This cming dispensatin is termed that f the fulness f times r seasns, as that in which the dealings f Gd with this earth (t which times and seasns, krni kai kairi, belng) will attain their cmpletin; and that which characterises it is the gathering tgether - literally, the heading up - f all things in heaven and n earth in the Christ. The language is peculiar, and strikingly impressive, this heading up. Has the reader ever seen a cper heading up a cask? He grups the staves tgether n end, arund the head f the cask, fitted int the chime r grve, cut in each t enable it t receive and grasp the beveled edge f the head. When all are in psitin, be tightens a hp arund, and drives n hp after hp, till all the separate pieces are firmly cmpacted int ne vessel. Did he drive the hps n the upright staves, withut the head, the first strke f the hammer wuld cast all int cnfusin. The centre f chesin, arund which the staves are headed up, is the head r end f the cask; and nce that is in place, the greater the cmpressin, the firmer and better the wrk. Christ is the centre and head, in whm are t be headed up all the separate elements, bth heavenly and earthly, whse unin, under the hand and sceptre f the Messiah, like that f the unin f Jew and Gentile in ne, under the present dispensatin, was whlly freign t the scpe f Old Testament revelatins. Hlden even seems t have understd sme things abut the unity f the spirit and the ne baptism f Ephesians 4 as being spiritual in nature. He explicitly mentins hw the bdy is being frmed by ne spirit thrugh whm all believers are baptized int ne bdy. Therefre the unity f the bdy is derived frm the fact that it has been tempered tgether by Christ. If Gd has revealed t us, that the rder and plan f the dispensatin in which He has set us is that Christ shuld, by His death, nt nly save ur suls, but shuld gather tgether IN ONE the children f Gd that were scattered abrad, s that there shuld be ONE FLOCK and ne Shepherd (Jhn 11: 52, Jhn 10: 16); that in recnciling men t Himself, by the crss frm amng Jews and Gentiles, it was His will that this shuld be effected, nt as scattered units, as in frmer ages, but that thse s recnciled, shuld be fund in unity in ne bdy (Eph. 2: 16); that this bdy, f His divine purpse, has been frmed by the ne Spirit, by whm all are baptized int it (1 Cr. 12: 13); that He has tempered the bdy tgether, and has set the members every ne f them in the bdy, as it hath pleased Him (1 Cr. 12: 18, 24), in rder that the whle bdy, fitly jined tgether and cmpacted by that which every jint supplieth, accrding t the effectual wrking in the measure f every part, shuld make increase f the bdy unt the edifying f itself in lve (Eph. 4: 16); and that, fr this reasn, His will is that there shuld be n schism in the bdy. (1 Cr. 12: 25.) If, I say, such is the revealed mind and will f Gd, as cncerning urselves, and the dispensatin under which He has placed us, then clearly all actin n ur part that des nt cnfrm t this truth, and has nt this principle as its basis, must be in cntraventin f His plans and in ppsitin t His will, and therefre SIN... Nw Gd has bth revealed t us the fact, and enjined n us the cnduct befitting us, as arising ut f the fact. He will have us t walk wrthy f the vcatin where with we are Pastr Bryan Rss

11 11 called (Eph. 4: 1); and inasmuch as we are nt nly called with a hly and heavenly calling, but are called in ne bdy (Cl. 3: 15); accrdingly, amng the instructins in detail, which fllw, a mst prminent psitin is given t the duty f endeavuring t keep the unity f the Spirit in the bnd f peace; and this, as arising ut f the truth, that there is ne bdy and ne Spirit, even as the hpe f ur calling (the glry) is ne, and unity characterizes all that pertains distinctively t it ne Lrd, ne faith, ne baptism, ne Gd and Father f all, wh is abve all, and thrugh all, and in yu all. T act then in any manner cntrary t this divinely frmed unity, is t walk unwrthily f the vcatin where with we are called; and t set neself in ppsitin t the whle rder and plan f the dispensatin; the very thing the entire Church f Gd has been ding fr centuries. What dctrine, in all the range f truth, has been s trampled under ft - s daringly and systematically set aside, as unity? Cncluding Remarks n William Hlden The depth f understanding Hlden displays is mind bggling. Reading Hlden is like reading J.C. O Hair, C.R. Stam, r Charles F. Baker 60 r 70 years befre anyne is suppsed t have understd these dctrines accrding t the standard histrical understanding we have functined under. Richard Hlden was a mid-acts dispensatinalist 60 t 70 befre that descriptr came int usage. He articulates all the cre principles f the mid-acts psitin. First, Hlden never says that the church started in Acts 2. Secnd, Hlden defines the mystery as the church f Gd. Third, he describes the church f Gd as the unique situatin in which Jews and Gentiles have been: 1) made fellw-heirs, 2) made ne bdy, 3) made partakers f Gd s prmise in Christ (Israel s Messiah) by the gspel. Furth, this mystery i.e., Gd s plan fr frming the church the bdy f Christ was kept secret since the wrld began and was therefre unknwn prir t the time f Paul. Therefre the church culd nt be frmed until the mystery was revealed t the Apstle Paul. Fifth, Hlden states, In the cming f the Messiah there was a real and perfectly cnsistent ffer t Israel f the lng-prphesied kingdm; an ffer which, had it been accepted, wuld have led t the immediate accmplishment f the prmises, in the intrductin f His glrius reign. This ffer f the kingdm is extended int the early Acts perid beynd Acts 2. In the fllwing statement, Hlden views the fundamental distinctin f time past between Israel and the Gentiles as still being in frce in Acts 3, A reign f righteusness and peace under the kingship f the Messiah. Zin, the seat f rule. Israel, a peple f peculiar nearness and special privilege, with the natins gruped arund this centre, in their subrdinate places; blessed in Israel's blessing, in whm all the families f the earth are t be blessed. Such is the future depicted by the prphets, alluded t in the New Testament (Acts 3: 19-21), as times f refreshing frm the presence f the Lrd, the times f the restitutin f all things. This and this nly is the theme f the prphets f ld. A state f things with which the present dispensatin in n wise crrespnds, at almst any pint. A state f things the wrld has nt yet seen. Accrding t Hlden, Acts 3 is describing a state with which the present dispensatin in n wise crrespnds, therefre, the current dispensatin culd nt have begun in Acts 2. Pastr Bryan Rss

12 12 Sixth, Hlden des nt extend the dispensatinal bundary t Acts 28:28, nr des he differentiate between the Acts and pst-acts epistles f Paul. Instead, as the fllwing qute testifies, Hlden viewed the revelatin f the mystery riginating with Paul and encmpassing the entire Pauline era:... that whatever the mystery may be, it is smething quite unknwn until the day f Paul... The present dispensatin is, then, an interregnum r parenthetic perid, cntemplated indeed in the cunsels f Gd, but nt revealed till given t Paul. Michael Penny, authr f Appraching the Bible, states the fllwing regarding Hlden s view f the mystery and the place f the Pauline Epistles, Instead f limiting the revelatin f this mystery and the start f this dispensatin until after Acts 28:28 and the giving f Ephesians, Hlden widens it t embrace Paul s day. That is, all Paul s letters are seen t be directly fr this dispensatin. (Penny, 210) Cnclusin, what wuld yu call smene wh held the fllwing dctrinal psitins? Des nt teach implicitly r explicitly that the church began in Acts 2. Viewed the kingdm as still being ffered t Israel in Acts 3. Did nt start the dispensatin f Grace in Acts 28 r differentiate between the Acts and pst-acts Epistles. Defined the mystery as the revelatin f the church the bdy f Christ. Taught that the mystery was nt revealed until it was given t Paul and that it included the entire day f Paul. Taught that the bdy f Christ will ne day ccupy the psitins f gvernmental authrity in the heavenly places currently ccupied by the principalities and pwers with whm they currently wrestle. Knew that the church was nt spiritual Israel but an entirely separate and distinct entity. Taught that the revelatin f the mystery fulfilled and cmpleted the wrd f Gd. Understd that the hpe f glry fr the church was Christ being frmed in the believer. Saw the dispensatin f the fullness f times as a yet future dispensatin in which all things in heaven and earth wuld be centered in Jesus Christ. Understd that unity f the spirit cntained nly ne baptism and that believers were placed int the ne bdy by the spiritual baptism f the ne spirit. Taught that Gd was a dispensatinalist and that the surce f all the cnfusin in Christendm stemmed frm a failure t rightly divide the wrd f truth. I WOULD CALL SUCH A PERSON A MID-ACTS DISPENSATIONLIST. RICHARD HOLDEN WAS A MID-ACTS DISPENSATIONALIST YEARS BEFORE THERE WAS A FORMAL CLASSIFICAITON FOR THE BELIEFS HE ARTICULATED. Pastr Bryan Rss

13 13 Wrks Cited Hlden, Richard. The Mystery, the Special Missin f the Apstle Paul, the Key t the Present Dispensatin. Reprinted as The Mystery: Ephesians 3 in The Christian s Friend, in Penney, Michael. Appraching the Bible. Nrwich, Nrflk, UK: The Open Bible Trust, Sadler, Paul. The Berean Searchlight. May Sadler, Paul. The Berean Searchlight. January Stam. C.R. The Berean Searchlight. January Pastr Bryan Rss