Studies in the Gospel Message
THE subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for December 20 is The Two Mysteries. The greatest fact in the world is Christianity. This is “the mystery of godliness.” Next to Christianity, the greatest fact in the world is the papacy. This is “the mystery of iniquity.” The mystery of godliness is God manifest in sinful flesh. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” The mystery of godliness becomes personality in him who is both Son of God and Son of man, the Messiah. The mystery of iniquity is “the god of this world” manifest in the flesh, “setting himself forth as God.” “We read but once of the ‘mystery of godliness,’ and but once of the ‘mystery of iniquity.’ They are the two pre-eminently grand mysteries of revelation. . . . Just as the ‘mystery of godliness’ is not merely the manifestation of the system of godliness, but the manifestation of God himself, so the ‘mystery of iniquity’ is not merely the manifestation of the system of iniquity, but the manifestation of the person or author of iniquity. The prophecy brings before us two mysteries, the one the counterfeit in all points of the other. We have an invisible agent, even God, beneath the one; we have an invisible agent, even Satan, beneath the other. . . . There is as real an incarnation of the spirit and mind of Satan in the ‘mystery of iniquity,’ as there is of the spirit and mind of God in the ‘mystery of godliness.’” Christ is “the mystery of godliness,” and Christianity is the revelation of Christ in the flesh. Satan is “the mystery of iniquity,” and the papacy is the revelation of Satan in the flesh. These are the two mysteries. We shall now consider their development and their outcome. Sin found its origin in the ambition of Lucifer, the anointed cherub, to be equal with God the Father and his only begotten Son. “Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested his Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.” This led to the expulsion of Satan and his angels from heaven. The same wicked ambition prompted Satan to tempt our first parents to become disloyal to God and to yield themselves to his dominion. Thus he became the “prince of this world,” and sought to establish his government here in open defiance of the government of God. Thus the reign of death was introduced. “But ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ O, the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love him! Who can know the depths of that love which ‘passeth knowledge’? Through endless ages, immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore. God was to be manifest in Christ, ‘reconciling the world unto himself.’” From that time the enemy of God and man set himself to defeat this plan for the salvation of man. Through the sanctuary and its services God was revealing the provision which he had made in the gift of his Son as the Redeemer from sin; but during all the centuries previous to the first advent, “Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. . . . Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works, lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted the principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.” Then through the coming of Jesus in our flesh was wrought out “the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” This is “the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” That which prophets had seen from afar was now an accomplished fact. By the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus, the God-man, humanity was lifted to a place on the throne of the universe, and the believers in Jesus were raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The secret is now revealed. Then came the masterpiece of Satan’s deception in his effort to pervert this revelation of the gospel by keeping the names and the forms of Christianity, but substituting himself for God in these names and forms. All this was foretold in Paul’s prophecy. “Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it [the day of the Lord] will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” Satan substitutes himself for God as the object of worship in the very temple of God, so that the homage due to God, and which men may honestly suppose they are giving to God, is in reality offered to Satan. The scheme or organization through which this purpose has been accomplished is known in history as the papacy; and just as the church of Christ is the body of Christ, the mystery of godliness, so the papacy is the body of Satan, the mystery of iniquity. “This counterfeit church has its high priest,—the pope,—who blasphemes the royal priesthood of Christ. . . . This counterfeit church has, too, its sacrifice,—the mass,—which blasphemes the sacrifice of Christ. . . . This church has, moreover, its Bible, which is tradition, which blasphemes the Word of God. . . . Thus has popery counterfeited, and, by counterfeiting, set aside, all that is vital and valuable in Christianity. . . . The forms of Christianity have been faithfully copied; its realities have been completely set aside.” The basis of this whole system is self-salvation, salvation by works instead of by faith, and there is therefore in it no defense against sin. It provides the forms of salvation, but it does not save. Herein is the mystery of iniquity. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was an attempt to give to men the reality of salvation from sin, in the place of the mere form. It gave to Christ and his sacrifice for sin, and to the Bible, their proper place. It taught men to accept salvation as the gift of God rather than to attempt to purchase it. It set forth justification by faith as the only way of salvation, instead of justification by works. It restored Christ to his rightful place as Head of his church, and dispensed entirely with the need of any so-called vicegerent of God and vicar of Christ. It was an effort to replace the mystery of iniquity with the mystery of godliness. The next move of the arch-enemy was to pervert this reformation. The same tactics were again employed. Man was put in the place of God. Men were led to look to Luther instead of to God. The Bible was interpreted in the light of the teachings of Luther, and the reformation of Luther was largely checked. Later, others took up the work with more or less success; but by rejecting the clear light which came to them concerning the second advent of Christ, all these churches turned their faces Romeward. Apostate Protestantism became one in principle with Romanism. The mystery of iniquity seemed to be again in the ascendency. Then it was that a new reformation6began. The proclamation of the great advent message was a distinct call to apostolic Christianity. The exceeding sinfulness of sin as the transgression of God’s holy law, the free pardon for sin through faith in the merits of a crucified Redeemer, and the gift of Christ’s righteousness as the wedding garment in preparation for the soon coming “marriage supper of the Lamb” were presented to the people with convincing power. God wrought with his servants, and a world-wide testimony was borne to the truth. The mystery of godliness was again revealed. But even this closing message has lost some of its original power, and its sharpness has been somewhat dulled by a compromise with wrong principles. We are now in the final struggle between the two mysteries. We are now in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, and the word of the Lord is that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God.” We may expect that Satan will now work “with all power and signs and lying wonders” to overthrow this message, and to keep his place in the temple of God. Just now our only safety is in that faith which keeps us in the closest fellowship with the work of Jesus, our High Priest, as he ministers for us in the heavenly sanctuary. This work, and the great danger of the present hour, are well set forth in the following extract from “Early Writings:” “I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who were bowed down arose with him. . . . He stepped into the chariot, and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. . . . Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to him in the holiest, and cry, ‘My Father, give us thy Spirit.’ Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God’s children.” In this hour of God’s judgment we must by faith enter in with Jesus into the most holy place, and accept his ministry there for the cleansing of the sanctuary. This ministry provides “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” It brings to us the experience of righteousness by faith. This is our protection against the subtle effort of Satan to substitute the mystery of iniquity for the mystery of godliness in the very message which we are proclaiming. May God save his people from deception in this supreme hour.