#10. The Censorship of Information.


The full inspiration of the Scriptures and the divinely appointed limits of the subject-matter revealed in them, as, for example, indicated in I Cor. xiii. 12, do not conflict with one another any more than the effectiveness of the electric torch as “a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path”, is nullified because it does not equal the light of day. In this respect the Scriptures are as and what they are because “There’s a war on”.

Another indication of intentional limitation of information, parallel to the censorship of news in war-time, is the presence in the Scriptures of a series of “mysteries”. This word, as used in Scripture, must not be limited to its modern usage, as, for instance, the “mysterious” nature of the spirit-world, but rather has the meaning of a “secret”, purposely hid because of the presence of an enemy, and revealed only at the appointed time. This can be seen in passages where we first meet with the word. “The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”, which fill the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, with their twofold teaching concerning the outer and inner courses of the purpose relating to the kingdom in the absence of the rejected King, reveal the presence and activity of an enemy. In the parable of the Tares, we read, “An enemy hath done this” (Matt. xiii. 28), and because the time was ripe, the disciples then hear and see truth that many prophets and righteous men had desired to see (Matt. xiii. 16, 17).

So, too, “The mystery” that fills the present dispensation with its distinctive glory was “hid in God”, and “hidden since the ages and generations” and therefore not revealed until the people of Israel, together with their hope and calling, were temporarily set aside at Acts xxviii. Inasmuch as this mystery goes back to a period “before the overthrow (katabole) of the world”, when the great enemy of all truth was cast out as profane, we can understand the wisdom that decreed that certain aspects of the purpose of the ages should be kept secret until the appropriate time. The phrase, “The mystery of His will”, found in Eph. i. 9, is very similar to one found in classical use, where it refers to the “plan of campaign” made by a king but naturally kept secret because of the enemy.

A feature which has never been absent from warfare but which has come very much to the fore in the present conflict is the use of the “spy” and his confederates. So much is this the case that it has given rise to the new names of “Quisling” and “Fifth Columnist”. The Churches of Galatia suffered from the activity of fifth columnists (Acts xv. 1, 5), and when the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem about this very matter he found that “false brethren” had been brought in “unawares”, who had come in “privily” “to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage” (Gal. ii. 4).

These churches had a “troubler” (Gal. i. 7) in their midst, whose object was “to pervert the gospel of Christ”. The truth and the church were being “leavened” (Gal. v. 9), the cross of Christ emptied of its sacred worth, and its message nullified.

Another part of this campaign of deceit is disclosed in the statement made by Paul in II Thess. ii. 1, 2, showing that false messages came by “spirit”, by “word” and by “a letter, as from the Apostle”, to counter which the Apostle in his epistles was led to use a distinctive phrase which he always wrote with his own hand (II Thess. iii. 17).

This campaign of deceit never ceases. So far as man is concerned it began in the Garden of Eden, and it is resumed even after the millennial reign, when the devil, being let loose, shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth (Rev. xx. 7, 8).

Deception is raised to a fine art in the dispensation of the mystery, as will be seen by the efforts of translators to do justice to the intensity of the words used in the passages that reveal it.

“By the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. iv. 14).
“By the sleight of men in craftiness, after the wiles of error” (R.V.).
“In the sleight of men, in cunning, with a view to systematized error” (Darby).

Rotherham, Weymouth, Moffatt and others may also be consulted, for each adds his help in throwing light upon the dark theme.

We must ever be on our guard against rumour and false teaching and remember that our spiritual foe is a past-master at the dreadful work of deception. By analogy, we may learn from the children of this generation, in their attempts to counteract the campaign of lies that often prepares the way for attack and conquest, the need of constant watchfulness.

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(From The Berean Expositor Volume 33, page 235).

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