Gods Sabbath

448

E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

Paul was especially chosen to reveal the mystery of God as he confirms himself: “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—surely you have heard about the adminis tration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to under stand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his pow er. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administra tion of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:1–11. Throughout his ministry, Paul exerted a powerful influence upon the church. As long as he continued to fulfill his divinely appointed mission, it was not possible for the mystery of iniqui ty to become fully established. But on the other side, Satan, having deceived the church leaders, was working to establish the mystery of iniquity. The opposition was strategically placed and solidly entrenched. What better agents could he have recruited? These were men of great authority in the Christian church who enjoyed tremen dous respect from the believers and gave every appearance of being totally committed to God’s service. Any suggestion to the general membership that these men were working for Satan would have met with utter astonishment and disbelief, for they shared their position thinking. Nothing could have suited the arch-rebel better, for through these men, he was determined to destroy God’s work by instituting the papal system within the