God’s Mystery to Be Quickly Finished by Ludwig Richard Conradi

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 22, 1906

God’s Mystery to Be Quickly Finished

By Ludwig Richard Conradi

L. R. CONRADI

(Reading for Tuesday, December 18)

The epistle to the Ephesians is wholly dedicated to one purpose: it presents to the brethren dwelling at Ephesus, and, indeed, to the entire church of Christ throughout the succeeding generations, the real intent of God’s will, which, hidden for ages, was manifest in the days of the apostles, and will be completely carried out in the fulness of time.

From Eph. 1:9, 10, we learn that the mystery of his will is that in the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. The original word for “gather together in one,” might be rendered, “recapitulate, or again put under one head.” And this very thought—that all things should be summed up under one head in Christ—is the mystery of God’s purpose. From the fourth verse of the chapter we find that even before the foundation of the world was laid, the Lord had purposed that in Christ there should be this holy and blameless family.

What the Lord purposed in the beginning, he also set forth in creation, as we see from Col. 1:16-18, by creating all things—the angels in heaven, and man upon the earth—through the one Christ. Just as the Sabbath is the memorial of finished creation, so it is also the sign that at that time there existed such a union between God and the heavenly hosts that there was one family in heaven and earth.

Satan, by introducing sin into the universe, not only caused disunion among the angels of glory, but he succeeded in bringing about such variance among the members of the first family that one arose and slew the other.

As time passed, there arose other kinds of bitter feelings among the sons of Adam—racial feelings, national feelings, social feelings, religious feelings, and personal feelings—until the whole world became a Babylon, filled with confusion and division, every man’s hand against that of his brother. Indeed, God’s chosen people were unable to present a united front for any considerable length of time anciently, but were soon divided into the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah. Often one kingdom was against the other, and frequently one tribe was the enemy of the other. Finally, such was the enmity between Judah and the mixed people who inhabited Samaria, that the Jew would not even drink from a cup that had been used by a Samaritan. The Galilean Jew was not so highly esteemed as the Judean, and the Gentile was an unclean dog. If we go still further, we see that there existed the greatest animosity between Pharisee and Sadducee, and that there was a false, impassable barrier of professionalism established by the priests against the common people. And thus, for thousands of years Satan had succeeded in blinding the minds of the children of men concerning the mystery of God.

Yea, further: when the Saviour chose the twelve disciples, there was contention among them. But to them, as well as to us, he gave the new commandment, “Love one another;” for “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. And the chief burden of Jesus’ last prayer to the Father was: “That they all may be one; . . . that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:20, 21. Now the mystery is being revealed. The great sign of discipleship in Christ is that we love one another. The fact that Christ, by his Spirit, has come into the world, is to be demonstrated by the unity manifested among his children, in harmony with the eternal purpose of God.

This was the great lesson the apostles had to learn. The day of Pentecost did not come until they were all of one accord. As soon as a number of God’s people had fully opened their hearts to his Spirit, and unitedly sought him for the fulness of his blessing, the outpouring of the Spirit was granted them. Many people were in Jerusalem at this time, and each one heard in his own tongue. Jews and proselytes from every nation under heaven were converted. It was not long before the glad tidings came that Samaria had received the word, and that they, too, were filled with the Spirit, and had joined themselves to the true Israel of God. Acts 8:14-17. Somewhat later, to the astonishment of the circumcised Jews, the Spirit was poured out on the uncircumcised Gentiles, also. Acts 10:44, 45.

But even in those days an extra council had to be summoned, and considerable had to be done, before all could see this mystery of God, which united Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised, man and woman, as one in Christ, with equal rights in the one great common family. Paul had to write a special epistle to a church composed almost entirely of Gentiles, that their eyes might be opened fully to see the great mystery of God, and to really feel their union with all the people of God on earth and the angels in heaven.

That one Body on the cross, who died for all, is an everlasting testimony that, whether Jew or Gentile, whether the people of olden times or the generation living to-day, we are all one body in Christ, and that we all have access by one Spirit unto one Father, and that we are one household; and that the church is but one temple, built upon one cornerstone, Christ Jesus, and the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

It was Paul’s endeavor to make all men see what is the fellowship of this wonderful mystery, that even the principalities and powers in heavenly places might recognize in the unity of God’s church the manifold wisdom of God. Angels who witnessed the division and havoc wrought by the rebellion of their leader in heaven, and who saw how Satan from the very beginning had succeeded

in dividing the human family, now behold how the Lord is uniting, by his Spirit and through his gospel, one great family, chosen from among all these separate nationalities, tongues, and peoples. More than this: by being made ministering spirits to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, the angels have become personally interested in our individual welfare. Their sympathies have become most closely interwoven with ours, for they encamp round about us by day and by night; and they will be the first ones to meet us when the Saviour appears in the clouds of heaven. Thus is formed a bond of union between the great family in heaven and on earth that will grow throughout eternity. Eph. 3:15.

In view of these things, the apostle admonishes the church to keep the “unity of the Spirit,” because there is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. For the revelation of this oneness, the various gifts have been established in the church. Eph. 4:11-13.

We are ever to remember that in order to bring about this unity, Christ has given himself for his church, to sanctify and cleanse it, that he might present it a glorious church, not having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, and that we are to-day members of his body, and of his flesh, and of his bone. This is, indeed, a great mystery. We are not only to see Christ in ourselves, but we are to see him in every brother, and in every sister, of whatever race, nationality, or tongue; we are to recognize his body in his living church, and to maintain its unity as the great central feature of Christ’s presence among men and in his church.

What the Lord began of old, he will finish in our day. The work of the gospel will be finished under the seventh angel. To-day we see race contending with race; we see nation pitted against nation, until the whole world is a great military camp; we see tongue arrayed against tongue; we see religion striving against religion; we see the rich seeking to oppress the poor, and the poor striving to wrest from the rich their legally and illegally acquired riches; we see division between the high and the low, the educated and the common classes. But there is also a glorious message sounding throughout the world, and its influence is gradually leavening the ranks of society. It is selecting a people from among all classes, and uniting them into one common brotherhood in Christ Jesus, under the guidance of the Spirit of Christ, in spite of all hindrances and ofttimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

The process is going on in all parts of the world. We see evidences of it among the five hundred millions of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, where there are to-day no less than forty different nationalities and tongues uniting closer and closer upon the platform of God’s mighty truth for this time, realizing, also, that they belong to a family composed not alone of their own kith and kin, but that their neighbor, their brother, their sister may be found in all lands under the heaven, wherever there is any one in need of the gospel for this time. Although the hydra of revolution is spreading throughout Russia and other nations, and creeds and classes are pitted against one another, on the other hand we see hundreds, yea, thousands, from among these very peoples uniting under the guidance of the Spirit of God, bent on accomplishing the one great purpose of advancing the cause of truth into the very heart of Asia, to Manchuria. While in the Levant we see the Greek slaughtering the Bulgarian, the Rumanian banishing the Greek, and the Hungarian fighting the Austrian, yet wherever the genuine gospel of peace takes hold of these men, we find that it unifies their various interests. They can come up together and joyfully unite in our great annual-camp-meetings, where as many as one thousand people are assembled, representing more than twenty-five of these nationalities, made one in heart and purpose by that one Spirit.

OUR FIRST MEETING-HOUSE IN ICELAND, AT REYKJAVIK

We may see the Irish against the English, we may see the Scotch and the Welsh pursuing their own interests, but when this blessed gospel takes hold of them, lo, in a day they are one.

Not only are various nationalities thus welded into one; the rich and the poor come together, and become one in their work and in their purpose, the wealthy giving of their abundance, and the poor according to their ability, to push on the triumphs of the cross in their home land, and in the lands that still belong to the “regions beyond.” To-day not only are those who belong to what the world calls the humbler ranks of society accepting the message, but we see persons of the nobility, and men of influence and learning, forsaking their worldly positions to become identified with God’s people, realizing that in taking this step they are uniting themselves to the true nobility, and becoming partakers of the wisdom which can not in the least be compared to the wisdom of this world, and heirs to the riches above, riches so great that even the wealthiest of this world never dreamed of them.

Indeed, we see God’s word being fulfilled even further. Malachi said that the message in the last days would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. I will relate just one incident to illustrate this. Some five years ago I visited a place in Asia Minor, and a number of young people gave their hearts to the Lord. However, a good brother of some standing in the church there rather objected to the baptism of these young converts (some of them were fifteen or sixteen years old), because he thought them too young. Now, when I returned to Asia Minor last spring, this same man came to my meetings; but the elder of the church told me the sad story of the brother’s having gradually lost his first love, and finally so far back-slidden from God that he had opened a store on the Sabbath, and the church had had to disfellowship him.

When I learned of this, I longed to see the backslider return. We had special meetings for the youth, and a number gave their hearts to God. As I spoke to them Friday night, I found that one of the new converts was the son of this brother. Early Sabbath morning we were to go up the mountainside, until we came to a place where there was sufficient water for baptism. Now, in examining those who presented themselves for admission into

the church, I asked this boy whether he had spoken to his parents, especially to his father, about the step he intended to take. (From what his father had said five years before, I rather feared he would object to the baptism of his son.) As he had not yet asked his father’s permission, I told him he should go home, and speak to him about it.

Next morning the father came to me. He said he had had a terrible night. When the son had asked permission to be baptized, he had felt like objecting. But as the boy directed his mind to God, and they had sought God together, the father’s heart of stone had been broken, and he became conscious of his own spiritual condition, and of the wrongs he had done to the elder of the church, and to the church itself. He had come, he said, to ask forgiveness of the elder of the church, for the way he had felt toward him. When we reached the place of baptism, the brother then desired to make a statement to the members of the church, and he told them how he had wandered from the truth, but how his

own child, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, had turned his heart toward God, and now he had no greater desire than to be united with the church by entering the water with his son, and being rebaptized.

It was a happy scene as child and father were baptized together. That was a joyful day to the mother, who had still clung to the truth; and it was a happy day to the church, as one of their former number had again returned; and there was rejoicing in heaven, among the angels of God, over the one sinner that had repented.

There have now been about thirteen thousand gathered out from among the various nationalities and languages and tongues and people of the European field, and it is the united purpose of this little band to share in carrying the gospel to every part of Europe, and Africa, and Asia, as well as to the Americas and the islands of the sea.

O may this week of prayer be the means of uniting God’s people as they have never been united before! May we see evidences of the manifestation of the Spirit, and may we put aside every obstacle, be it in the family, or in the church, or in the conference. We are now scattered pretty well into all parts of the world, by thousands and by tens of thousands. If we unitedly, inspired by the greatness of the work before us, seek God for the fulness of his Spirit, that we may go forth into effective service, and complete his work, and complete it quickly, we may rest assured that the great work of gathering out a people from all the nations will be finished. And we shall also soon behold that glad day when men transformed by the same Spirit into the glorious image of God, shall ascend with the angels to meet their Lord in the air, and enter the city of the great King, there to behold the glory of our Father. Thus will the purpose of God, planned from the very beginning of creation, be triumphantly fulfilled.