Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints. Colossians 1:26
I remember as a very young Christian, possibly only 12 years old, maybe 13, seeing a hand-drawn chart called ‘Mountain Peaks of Prophecy’ Based on Clarence Larkin’s chart of the same name, this chart gave me my first clearly understood grasp of the value and meaning of prophecy. The chart showed an Old Testament prophet looking into the future and seeing a set of mountain peaks. On one peak, this prophet could see the birth of Christ, on another, he could see the death of Christ, on yet another, he could see the arrival of the antichrist, and on a fourth mountain peak, he could see the descent from Heaven of Christ for His victory at Armageddon and the start of His millennial reign. One thing that leaped out at me from that chart was the valleys. Although the prophet could see what was on the mountain peaks, he could not see what was in the valleys between the mountains. The most significant of these valleys was – or should I say is – the age of Grace or the age of the church. Nothing in the Old Testament describes this age that you and I are in… it is a mystery that was hid from the prophets, to be revealed by the Apostle Paul and others.
In the Old Testament times, an Israelite could see that God dwelt in temples made with hands, built according to a specific pattern. It was all clearly laid out. But in the New Testament, Jesus Himself told the woman of Sychar that the time was coming when worship would no longer come from physical edifices. He also told His disciples that those who were gathered unto His Name would have His presence (Matthew 18:20). The pattern of the New Testament Assembly is further defined in the teaching of the Apostles.
How sad today to see so much of professing Christendom setting aside the pattern of the New Testament Assembly to return to the beggarly elements of the old. There is no excuse; Paul says the mystery has been revealed! God has made it manifest to His saints.
We are in the Valley of Grace. We can see what the prophets could not. Because the mystery of God’s Assembly is revealed to us, let us grasp its significance, and live and worship in the good of its revelation. -Jim MacIntosh