The Apostle of the Gentiles went in his walk and witness from glory to glory. The dying of Christ for our sins became in Romans a death and resurrection with Him and upon this he based the whole doctrine of sanctification: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This reckoning is no feeling, experiencing, but an act of believing, of taking God at His Word.

In Ephesians the Holy Ghost went a step farther and pointed out to the saints that they are also united with Christ in his session at the right hand of God, “Far above all heavens.” The Apostle, at that time, between 62 and 65 A.D., had a manacled mandate and ministry message. In the rat hole of the Roman prison God Almighty burst open the heavens and told him a sacred secret which in all other ages had been hid in God. This secret could not have been told before. Why not?

1. Because Christ first had to suffer and die before the Body could come.

2. Because the Body, of which this secret speaks, follows the Head and He became the Head through His resurrection and ascension. Ephesians 1:20 to 23; Ephesians 4:10; Philippians 2:9.

3. Because Israel first had to have all his chance and had to be offered pardon through the crucified and risen Christ.

4. Because it had to be kept secret from Satan and being “hid in God” the devil did not know of this secret.

When Satan thought at the cross, and Israel’s fall, that his triumph was complete and he had scored a complete victory over God, then this secret of a glory surpassing all things was told to the stultification of Satan.

Nevertheless, the devil also seems to have scored a great victory in that he instigated a deadly hatred, against the human teller of this secret. It is very important to see that from the time he told this mystery, Paul was forsaken by many of his old friends. Study carefully Philippians 2:20 and 21; Colossians 4:11; II Timothy 1:15; II Timothy 4:10; II Timothy 4:17; Ephesians 6:19 and 20. The great apostasy which plunged the Church in the long dark ages for more than a thousand years, commenced with the rejection of Paul’s message, mystery and ministry. At least eighty per cent of the confusion and delusion of our troubled days is also directly attributable to the same cause.