branches, be graffed into their own olive tree."

From this we learn two facts. The first fact, God will graff these broken off branches in again; He will put them back upon their own olive tree. And this fact brings us back to the question, "Hath God cast away His people?" Surely He has not. The olive tree, the covenant promises to Israel is as green as the olive tree; all that happened is that branches, on account of unbelief, were broken off. The hand which broke them off, and which took the wild olive tree and gave the wild olive tree, the Gentiles, a chance, that hand will take these branches and put them back. Here again it is "life from the dead," that which was cut off is put back; it means the restoration of Israel.

The second fact is a still more important one. It gives us the order in which these events will come to pass. First, the wild olive tree, graffed in, fails, then the wild olive tree branches are cut off, and in the third place broken off branches, Israel, will be put back upon their own good olive tree. To-day we witness the apostasy of Gentile Christendom. The next event will be the removal from earth of the true church (1 Thessal. iv:16-18) and upon that follows the cutting

off of that which is only an empty profession, judgment upon apostate Christendom, and this is followed by God receiving Israel back. This is the teaching of the parable, Israel shall be received back. That the broken off branches do not mean individuals is clear. How strange that men should teach, they mean individuals which were cut off, and that all unbelieving Jews, of all generations which ever existed, will be raised from their graves and brought back to the land to enjoy there all blessings promised to the faithful and believing remnant.

The next and last demonstration that God hath not cast away His people will lead us further in the order of events, when and how all Israel is to be saved.

A Mystery Made Known.

CHAPTER VIII.

We have reached the final answer to the question: "Hath God cast away His people." As the seventh and last proof of Israel's glorious future, it is the completest of all. "For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that ye be not wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the nations has come; and so all Israel shall be saved. According as it is written, The Deliverer shall come out of Sion; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is the covenant from me to them, when I shall take away their sins" (verses 25-27). These words are not addressed to Gentiles, and no longer does the apostle say, "I speak to you, Gentiles," but they are addressed to "Brethren," that is, true believers. It has the same meaning here as in Romans xii:1. He is now going to make known a secret, a mystery, which by revelation was made known to him and of which he does not want his brethren

to be ignorant. It is known to every reader of the Word of God that the word "mystery" and the revelation of mysteries hid in former ages is found exclusively in the Pauline. epistles. Our Lord in Matthew xiii, that great dispensational chapter, speaks of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (verse 11). The seven parables contain mysteries concerning the present Christian age. In the epistles given by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul we find the full revelation of these secret things, hid in former ages, and now made known. What are these mysteries in the epistles of Paul? We can count seven. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Tim. iii:16). This is the mystery of the blessed Gospel itself in all its fulness. In Colossians 1:26-27, we have a second mystery: ... the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, Christ in you the hope of glory." Here the blessed union of Christ and the believer is made known. In Ephesians iii and v we have a third and fourth secret. These are concerning the church, which is both His

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Then in 1 Corinthians

body and His bride. xv:51 is a fifth mystery: "Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." It is the blessed secret about the coming of the Lord for the gathering of His saints, more fully made known in 1 Thess. iv:16, 17. In 2 Thess. ii is the mystery concerning the iniquity and the final Antichrist, and here in Romans xi it is the mystery of Israel.

These secret things made known through Paul in these epistles are of the greatest importance. Ignorance in these is deplorable; the true Christian position, calling and privileges, as well as what the church is and the destiny of the church, cannot be grasped without a knowledge of these Pauline mysteries.

Not alone does Paul want the brethren to know the mystery here, that they may not be ignorant, but he adds "that ye may not be wise in your own conceits." This would be a very suitable word to put over Christendom, "they are wise in their own conceits." It characterizes the present day confusion and falling away about us. And why is the professing church wise in her own conceit? The answer is evident, because the professing church ignores the mysteries made known.