A Look at the Mystery of the Body

Part 3B

By
Travis Bennett

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In the last issue of the Baptist Trumpeter I presented the beginning points of what is called the "Mystery". When speaking of the "mystery," I mean, the Old Testament’s clearly foretold, and yet purposely hidden, two comings of Christ and the role they play in the makeup of the "Body of Christ." This is not something that is new to the world of eschatology, but often, is obscured by its lack of understanding, and thus its exposition. Keep in mind that the mystery has as it's base the gospel message in type, shadow, form and content. The "Good News" of the message of Christ's work for the Elect of God, is what is being revealed by the Spirit in the New Testament. The question of the mystery concerning the Body of Christ in the O. T. is seen for the first time by its calling attention to the issue of timing. As such, many poignant questions need to be answered. For example,

When will the Deliverer promised in Genesis 3:15 bring the crushing blow to the head of the serpent?

When does the righteousness of Christ find application in the believer's life, O. T. or N. T. as first seen in Genesis 15:6?

When do we see the "New Birth" taking place, before of after the cross, as in John 3:1-10?

When will the Mystery that has been hidden since before time began (in God) be brought out into the open Eph. 3:1-13?

What does that look like and why was it hidden in the first place Eph. 4:11-16?

Last but not least, when will we as a Church realize the harm we do to Scripture by dividing the Body of Christ in a wrong dispensational manner?

In my last article I tried to focus on the questions of background and reasoning. The background and environment of the mystery is prophecy. The O. T. prophetic passages that speak of the coming Messiah look to us so obvious and easy to understand but to the mind of the O. T. viewer nothing could have been further from the truth. The reasoning behind this environment was at least twofold. One, the Jewish people would have never killed there Messiah if indeed they understood who He was? The second is a spin off of that blindness which roles out into judgement. They should have known not only what the Messiah was to look like, but also, the timing of His arrival should have been generally understood, but, it wasn't and so we have a Mystery.

Transition with me now, and let me ask you to think with me about the role the Parables Jesus spoke played in the identifying and hiding of this mystery? Most people when asked why Christ spoke in parables will say, "He did so to help people understand." This is only partly true. The use of parables according to Matthew 13:10-17 is to enable those who are the true elect of God to receive instruction concerning kingdom matters. Those who are on the outside looking in with no understanding are in the dark by reason of judgement, which is another way of saying, election or selective application of kingdom understanding. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice. . ." (John 10:27). The religious leaders of Christ's time were outwardly very pious. However they were ruled by self ambition and greed inwardly and thus the truth of whose voice they were hearing is simple, they heard the echoes of Satan, as in the Garden of Eden, as he sought to turn our first parents into self worshipers. These leaders had no revelation from above, they could only discern that Jesus spoke concerning them, but as to the nature of the hidden truth they remained clueless.

With that in mind let us examine a parable and see how we hear it.

The "husbandmen" that are mentioned by the Savior in this passage are, the natural Jews or the entire nation of Israel. God by reason of His election (unconditional) has granted to them responsibility in that He chose them as representatives (Gen. 12:2b) of His word, which he delivered to the world through them. They, in a state of rebellion and blindness, thought the salvation of God was to be gained by works and labor rather than mercy and grace and so they killed those servants (the prophets) sent to receive the fruit they should have borne. Their sin continued until at last they killed the Son of His love who was sent in His, the Lord of the vineyards, own place to gather the fruit that was due according to the investment. These men, guilty of murder, now thought they had gained possession of the vineyard only to bring down the wrath they so justly deserved upon themselves. The result was farther execution of the eternal unchanging plan of God; namely that God would lend out His vineyard to others. That would be you and I or the Gentiles who will produce what the husbandmen should have. However this would require another leave of absence and a changing of seasons as the fruit was never delivered the first time. So it waits, even now as the fields which are white grow to the fullness as more laborers are brought forth to work until the final call is sent out.

Is it clear to you from the above scripture reference that the stewards of God failed by reason of wrong understanding? They had no way of knowing that their removal was necessary in order to bring forth the fruit? It was hidden from them. They thought they were it, they thought they alone were the fruit. However their lack of understanding snagged them into the plan and they were powerless to change it. Now let me ask you why? Why was it necessary for them to be removed, and does this mean we start a whole new Body of Christ? Not an easy question to answer. The plan of God has always been to bring in the Gentile nations into a salvation relationship when the timing was in line with the plan.

Gentile salvation is not just a N. T. topic. The prophecies are very conversant with direct mentions and allusions to our coming into the kingdom.

Let me ask you another question that will narrow our discussion. In whose righteousness are the O. T. saints clothed and in whose righteousness are the N. T. saints clothed (see Gen. 15:6 [the Lords] Gen. 18:22, Gen. 20:4)? We share the same righteousness because we have the same sacrifice provided by the same Lord. When you have something put on your account you enjoy the fullness of it while it remains unpaid, thus the idea of the "Promise." Yes payment is due, but the promise of God is just as good as if the payment is already accomplished. Thus the mystery is again brought into view. Someone had to come and pay (the Son) and did He not pay for ALL the elect O. T. and N. T. at once with His death on the cross? Is the promise of payment made by God in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:1-4; Rev. 13:8) lacking something until its fulfillment on the cross? NO! The Jews thought they were the only ones who would ever have this God righteousness, but as the parable says the vineyard has been lent out to others. We are new representatives of the same vineyard and we partake of the already started work of those we have replaced. This is not some mystery unforeseen body and age. The concept of Gentile salvation is throughout the whole of the O. T. and explained that way in the N. T. (see Paul's understanding in Rom. 9-11). The issue is further explained in the following parable.

The illustration mentioned now places the issue of judgement upon this generation. Those who were alive in the time of Christ will reap that which they have sown due to the slackness with which they put off the calling issued for in the marriage calling (see verse 7). The rejection of the invitation shows the blindness and the sin in the same motion. They did not consider who it was who was calling and so they missed the marriage by reason of inability. They could not come because they were not made willing (Ps. 110:3; John. 6:44)! The going out into the highways implies the world (gentiles) of which you and I are a part. Those who were at the wedding were found in the dress of right-standing while the one who mingled among those who waited for the wedding was spotted in the attire of the flesh. The king, wanting to visit among the guests, saw one who was in the suit of sin and bound him and cast him out at once; as one would remove a stain from a garment spotted from the filth of the flesh. So it shall be in the end when the wedding is made ready and the guests are come in; the wedding party shall be purged of those who are defiled by the flesh and they shall be destroyed. Therefore, all things are then made ready for the wedding.

Lest we should walk away from this picture thinking that the Gentiles are now become the "New Israel" in a way that is unhealthy, I would like to produce some evidence from the same Saviors lips that dispel this notion as utter folly. Before we leave this though, please pay attention to the context of theses passages. The whores and publicans in the first parable are not gentiles but rather natural Jews of that day. If they weren’t they should have received some sort of prologue announcing a separation as is consistent with those instances in which such a change is brought forth. They were going in before these religious leaders, that is to say instead of them, and all under the message of repentance given by God through John the Baptizer and the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation was at work among them because they were being drawn and justified in the same manner as the others were.

In the second parable the servants who were sent out to bid the others come were already themselves in the service of the King. Thus they were in the make up of the called out ones before they were sent out to the others in the day of his calling. Those who did come in from the highways did not replace the ones already in the service of the king but rather joined them in the wedding hall.

Listen to the list of those mentioned as coming in with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Luke 13:28-30; "28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

If this is not a direct reference to Gentiles then what is? In this illustration we can see the provision for Gentile salvation before the Cross. This provision was not made apart from or instead of, but rather, these shall join with those mentioned. This is not something that is new but rather hidden.

I would like to draw your attention to another instance in which the Savior brings Gentiles into the Body by the drawing of water from a well?

Notice that she was one of many who believed unto salvation and indeed, confessed the Lordship of Christ. Again this is proof that demands the consideration of those critical of the postribulational position. This is not something new we are looking at but rather a mystery in the unfolding.

Lest we think that only Gentiles were being saved here are some examples of Jewish conversion before the cross:

Step away from basking in the light of N.T. revelation for a moment and let’s put ourselves in the O. T. saint’s position. Let’s say that God had told us "all things" (Mark  13:23) beforehand about when He will return but has left out the day and the hour. Do you know when He will return? Are there 88 reasons why He had to return in 1988? We look back in hindsight and condemn the O. T. Jew for not knowing when Messiah would appear but we seem to forget our own plight. It all seems so obvious, but to them it seemed so mysterious. A great example of this kind of mystery is the thoughts and questions of many in Christ’s own day concerning who He was. All references found in John: (1) 4:19-26; (2) 6:25-31; (3) 7:31-49; (4) 9:27-41; and, (5) 10:22-29.

This "Mystery" is a calculated blindness for the larger purpose of glory.

The witness of the Scriptures concerning the two advents of Christ to the nation of Israel produces a prophetic voice that testifies to the truth of God’s revelation of Himself to all who can hear it, no matter the generation. This enigmatic prophetic voice was to the O. T. hearer hidden in such a way that for him to see its message was to reflect an apprehension of or encounter with the post death, burial and resurrection understanding we have now come to call the "New Birth". This is not to say that the full articulation of all that Messiah was going to be and do, were ready upon his lips, but surely the abiding of the Spirit of God gave evidence to the validity of a "New Birth" encounter that encompasses all the aspects of what we now understand the gospel to be saying.

Here are some O. T. examples of unveiled N. T. truth concerning the New Birth-Salvation encounter:

As to the extension of this "New Birth," or "Gospel" experience and understanding that these patriarchs were born into, it can be said by the testimony of God Himself, "and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." It would be world wide in its application. Notice the following O. T. examples (see also the ten commandments: Ex. 20 1-17):

Such an unveiling of God’s glory is hardly a small consideration to undertake in an article against Pretribulationalism. However, I think the bearing this has on the nature and make up of the Body of Christ is warranted and indeed unavoidable. I hope you have enjoyed this look at the mystery and how at least some of it works. I will continue to clarify this in upcoming articles.

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