THE MYSTERY OF GOD VERSUS THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
By Elder J. O. Corliss
FROM the infancy of our world there have appeared two opposing forces, each attempting to control the destiny of the human race. The first of these, the mystery of God, has ever and only sought the elevation of man, and is therefore entitled to occupy the throne of the human heart. This place has, however, been usurped by the mystery of iniquity, disguised as a friend, in order that it may work the ruin of those over whom it assumes the rule of a pretended benefactor. This is indeed, upon its very face, a serious imputation, but when the real features of this power are unmasked, and its actual designs are revealed, it must be clearly seen that the accusation is none too strong. However, to make this matter properly appear, it will be necessary first to view the position and work of the mystery of God, when it will readily be seen whether or not the opposing mystery has assumed the livery of heaven, in which to carry out its designs against the uplifting of the human race. The word used to indicate the subtlety with which both of these forces operate, is truly expressive. "Mystery" signifies "known only to the initiated." The mystery of God is, therefore, something known only to those who have entered upon friendly relations with God. This idea is confirmed by the words of the Saviour. On a certain occasion he spoke a parable illustrative of the work of grace in the heart, when his disciples asked him for an explanation of it. He immediately complied, saying: "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." Mark 4:11. By this text it is plainly evident that the mystery of God extends to all the operations of his kingdom, and that the initiated alone, each for himself, understands the mystery of that kingdom, as its workings are administered in his own heart. No one else can possibly know it; to all others that operation is a profound mystery. Moreover, the administration of that kingdom in one heart may, according to circumstances, operate quite different from the way it does in another, so that no one is able to judge the condition of another. The condition of society in the time of Christ made it necessary to thus emphasize this doctrine, from the fact that the Jews had been educated to know nothing of any kingdom except that which was administered through human agents. Even in the theocracy, which was God's established kingdom among them, laws to regulate the conscience were given through their earthly rulers. Indeed, every sort of worship was prescribed by some definite rule, being announced through the same persons who administered in civil affairs. That form of government was therefore their ideal, and they supposed, consequently, that the appearance among them of the promised Messiah would be but to strengthen that same government, by his becoming its king, and purging the existing corrupt administration. His enthusiastic followers therefore sought to carry out their cherished idea in an attempt to place the Saviour on the throne of Judea. John 6:9-15. Escaping this popular demonstration by a season of retirement in the mountains, he again appeared in public, doing his work of love and mercy, when the Pharisees demanded him to tell when the kingdom of God would appear. He replied: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation [margin, "outward show"]; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20, 21. This was a new thing under the sun to the astonished Pharisees—a veritable mystery. They knew nothing of an inward kingdom in man, a heavenly power capable of controlling every act, word, and even thought. Unless they could have a king who would visibly sit on the throne of Judea, ruling according to their ideas, they cared for no other. A king ruling in each heart separately, according to the needs of that heart, was a matter beyond their knowledge, and they had not sufficient interest in the thing to make further inquiry concerning it. They therefore rejected the saying, and persecuted its Author to death, supposing, without doubt (at least in some cases), they were doing God service. But Jesus did not die without leaving the seed of this grand truth growing in the hearts of some. A dispensation of God's grace was, moreover, committed to the apostle Paul, that he might be able to make others see the fellowship of that mystery, which he terms "the unsearchable riches of Christ," hitherto hidden in God from the beginning of the world. Eph. 3:1-9. The object of this teaching, he says, is to the intent that the church might know the multiplied wisdom of God, which from the beginning he purposed to give through the Lord Jesus. Verses 10, 11. Christ being the wisdom and power of God (1 Cor. 1:24), the one in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3), it follows that he who would have these gifts, must receive Christ, in whom only they abound. He who has Christ possesses these, while to all others they are denied, and are therefore mysteries of the darkest nature to them. Because these gifts are hid in Christ, and can be received only through him, he is, in its true sense, the mystery of God. So when God makes known the riches of the glory of his mystery to anyone, it is by the indwelling of his Son, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The reign of Christ in the human heart is the mystery of God's rule over man. Every heart, therefore, which receives Christ, becomes the throne of God's kingdom which is set up in the individual. Christ being the design of the law of God for righteousness, his presence in the heart is the implanting there of that law, to which the members of the body become subjects. Thus each individual who gives himself wholly to God is, in a sense, a kingdom in which Christ is the sole ruler. No other has any right to dictate to the conscience of that person, or prescribe his round of religious service. He is the servant of the Lord, who is able to sustain him, and "to his own Master he standeth or falleth." Rom. 14:4. He who really has Christ ruling in his heart, and so understands the mystery of the kingdom of God, can have no desire to enforce by law religious dogmas upon others; for that would be the usurpation of God's right to rule in man as he wills. It would also be a violation of the rights of a fellow-man, whose privilege it is to be wholly controlled, religiously, by the light of his own inner conscience, as it is there reflected by the Spirit of God. Like his Master, such a person will devote his time and energies to saving men, rather than to condemning them. His sentiment will ever be like the Saviour's, who said, "If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not." John 12:47. The Spirit of Christ being his impelling motive, he could not possibly entertain the thought, not even for a moment, of asking a human government to enforce religious precepts by legislative enactments, since that would be the traitorous betrayal724of the power of Christ into the hands of selfish men.