245 - THE BATTLE OF THE MYSTERIES /LAWLESSNESS VS GODLINESS
MAY 13, 1961
HENRY F. KULP
I Timothy 3: 14 - 16 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
You will notice in the 15th verse, that Paul talks of the house of God, which is the church of the living God. My how this verse is misunderstood.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
First of all, the word, house, is the word, home. It doesn’t mean any kind of a building that we call a church. You know, we’ve gotten to link that word, church, with a building. I believe God is here in this building with us. But this is true only because the children of God are here. But when the building is empty, God is not here anymore then He is in your home, or out there on the street, or in the store, or there in school. It might be better that we explain this. First of all, he says we ought to learn how to behave ourselves in the home of God. What is the home of God? It is the church of the living God. It is the place where God dwells.
1/ Let us go to the Old Testament for just a moment.
Exodus 3: 2 - 5 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
You will remember, this is the place where Moses, having fled from Pharaoh, went down to the wilderness of Egypt, and he was there for forty years, keeping sheep, when suddenly he saw the burning bush. Now, this is the backside of the dessert, down in Egypt. It was not the Promised Land, but Moses was standing in God’s presence, and where God is, that place is holy. Please remember this statement—where God’s presence is, where God is, that place is holy, that ground was holy because God was there.
2/ So now we should have come to the conclusion that we should definitely know how to behave ourselves in the home of God, because where God’s home is, that is where His presence is, and naturally, that place is holy. So if we are in this home of God, we certainly ought to know how to behave ourselves.
3/ What is the home of God? It is the church of the LIVING God, so the next thing we have to ascertain is what is the church of the living God? The church of the living God is the home of God, it is the presence of God.
4/ So we must ascertain about the church. The word, Church is derived from the Greek word, which is the possessive form of the Greek of the word, Lord. It therefore means the Lord’s or belonging to the Lord. But the word, church, here is not this word that means the Lord’s or belonging to the Lord. It is the Greek word, EKKLESIA, and this word means a called-out assembly. Let us notice how that word Ekklesia is used in another portion of God’s Word.
Acts 19: 32, 39 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused: and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
For here the word, church, described an ungodly multitude which assembled to persecute Paul and his companions. By no stretch of the imagination can you say this means a church building. No, it is a company of people. Nor, can it possibly mean a denomination. It is just an assembly of people, so then we come to the conclusion the home of God is the church, or an assembly of people.
5/ Now, lest we make a mistake, it is necessary for us to see there was a church in the Old Testament and that church, or that assembly of God in the Old Testament, is not the church or in the assembly of God in this dispensation. Folks will say, there wasn’t any church in the Old Testament, there was just the nation, Israel.
Turn with me to Acts 7: 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
And this is sufficient evidence to prove that there was a church in Moses’s day, for Israel is called the church in the wilderness, or the assembly in the wilderness—this is the assembly of God in the wilderness. But this assembly of God in the wilderness is not the same assembly where God makes His home here in I Timothy 3: 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
6/ The church which is mentioned here as being the home of God in this day and age is explained for us in Colossians 1: 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
He, Christ, is the head of the Body, the Church, the assembly. So the assembly is called the body here—it is the Body of Christ. It is not a building. It is not a denomination. The moment one believes on Jesus Christ and is saved—passes from death unto life—that moment God puts him in as a member of the assembly, or the Church which is His Body, and the Body is the dwelling place, or the house of God—because He lives in the body of everyone who is saved. And so God tells us, we ought to know how to behave ourselves in the house of God.
7/ Then notice, the church is the pillar and ground. The idea is that the church is a pillar, and as such, is the prop, the base, the support of the truth. So this means, that the church, the assembly which is the home of God, or the house of God has been appointed to uphold the truth of God, and if the church fails in giving out the truth, where will anyone get it? Do you know of any company of people in the world standing for the truth of God except God’s church bought by His blood. The devil knows if he can get a man into the pulpit who is a modernist, so that the blood is never mentioned—that is the devil’s business—he knows he’ll not get the Gospel out in that place. His sailing will be smooth.
I John 5: 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world – not part of it—but the whole world lieth in wickedness, and you will notice that the margin says—in the wicked one. We are of God, and the whole world lies in the wicked one—in the devil—such as a child lying in a crib. There is not an ounce of eternal truth in this world. The only place you will find it is among God’s blood-bought people, the assembly of God, which is the dwelling place of God—and He has appointed us to be a pillar standing upon the base of truth, and holding up the truth of the Bible, holding it forth to the world in the lap of the wicked one. And we must be faithful to the truth, for this is the greatest work on earth.
8/ Remember, John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus said of Himself, I am the truth. So every child of God ought to preach the truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ, so to uphold the truth, means to uphold Jesus Christ. He has appointed the church to be the pillar and the base of the truth—of Christ.
9/ It is necessary for us to recognize how we should behave ourselves, because we are part of this assembly. God dwells in the church, He dwells in us, and we should be careful how we walk, how we talk, how we behave day by day. It is also well for us to notice that the church of God, the assembly of God, which is the house of God, the home of God is a purchased possession. Not only is it the fact that it is the house of God, but we want you to see how God purchased this house of God, and this is another reason why we should know how to behave ourselves in the house of God.
Act 20: 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Here he talks about the deacons, he talks about the bishops, he talks about the overseers—he says they are to feed the church, the assembly of God, which He has purchased with His own blood. That makes this church important—the church composed of blood-bought worshipers—it is why we should be careful how we behave ourselves in this church—we should watch definitely the manner of our behavior, because we have been bought with blood, precious blood.
10/ Now we come to verse 16 and the mystery of godliness.
How we do praise God for I Timothy 3: 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
There are some blessed 3: 16’s in the Bible. Take for instance Malachi 3: 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
John 3: 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And now I Timothy 3: 16
Perhaps this will help to fix this truth in your mind.
11/ Next, you will notice that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ does not occur in this verse, and yet it is evident that it is all about Him.
12/ Now the word, mystery, in the greek meant a Greek mystery religion, that had a secret rite, that was administered to the person being initiated.
Other folks did not know this secret, did not know about it—only those who were in the sect. This does not mean that it is something that cannot be understood, but rather a truth, previously hidden.
13/ You will notice that this is the mystery of godliness. Let’s contrast with another mystery.
II Thessalonians 2: 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
For the mystery of iniquity, and that as you well know means, lawlessness or lawless one. What is the mystery of the lawless one, or lawlessness? Notice the 8th verse and then shall the wicked—and it should be wicked one or lawless one be revealed—so there is a mystery of iniquity in which there shall be a lawless one come upon this earth—and it has to do with the anti-Christ—the one who will be the devil incarnate. He’ll walk upon this earth, and he will be the devil in human flesh. Notice in verse 3 he is called the man of sin—the son of perdition.
14/ Let us look at this relationship—this mystery of iniquity.
Ezekiel 28: 1 - 4 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
And here it talks about the son of man saying unto the prince of Tyrus—now if you go over to the 12th verse you read about the King of Tyrus. So we have two different persons talked about here. The King of Tyrus, and the prince of Tyrus. And what is the relationship between a king and a prince? It is that of a father and son. Everyone admits that the King of Tyrus in verse 12 is Satan. The prince of Tryus is the anti-Christ who is his son. You will notice that his sin is that of the same sin of Satan, for he says, I am God—I sit in the seat of God, and so therefore he is the same as Isaiah 14: 12 - 15 where Satan claimed to be God, and wanted to sit upon the throne of God—the stars of God—he wanted to be God.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
So the mystery of lawlessness, basically is that Satan will come and dwell in the physical body of a human man, and his relationship to this man shall be that of father and son.
15/ John 8: 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Here we read that the devil is a liar. He is a murderer, and then he when he speaketh the lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is the liar, and the father of it—the father of what?—the lie. What is the lie? That the anti-Christ is God, and so Satan is the father of this lie, he has a son, and the son satan’s lie—the anti-Christ. This is the mystery of iniquity.
16/ What is the mystery of Godliness? That God was manifest in the flesh—justified in the spirit—seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed in the world, received up into Glory.
17/ The word, manifest, is to make visible. You will notice, John 4: 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is s Spirit, that means He is invisible. He does not have a physical body. Now, Jesus Christ was invisible down through the years, the same as God the Father, but at the time of His incarnation—the invisible Son of God became visible. He took upon Him a physical body. So God became a man, God the Son—and He became visible to angels, and to man—to all created beings.
18/ Notice something else here—our Lord was seen by Angels. Prior to this time they had not seen Him physically. They knew He existed, but they could not see Him because God the Son is invisible, and now for the first time they see Him in His physical body.
19/ The word, seen, means to look at a thing intently—to watch or look at a thing with interest. The angels watched the Lord Jesus in every move He made.
20/ Do you realize that the angels whatever they could do for the Lord Jesus Christ as long as they were permitted to do it. They were ready to do it at a moments notice.
Do you remember the promise that was made Psalms 91: 11 For He shall give His Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
You will remember when He was hungry in the wilderness, the angels came and ministered unto Him. In the garden when He was weak, angels came and strengthened Him. They watched every move that He made, from the time that He was born and made visible unto them until He went back to Heaven.
Luke 22: 43 And there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him.
Here is the ministry of an angel to the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden.
Matthew 28: 2 Behold there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Then notice, Verses 5, 6 And the angel answered and said unto the woman, fear ye not, for I know ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here—He is risen.
The angels had much to do with His earthly ministry. But the important thing for you to see this one, of lawlessness, is the manifestation of Satan in the human flesh. The mystery of Godliness, is that Jesus Christ, the invisible son of God became visible and took Him the form of man. He became tabernacled in human flesh, and of course He did all to die for our sins.
AMEN
Ref: 05/13/1961 / 245 - THE BATTLE OF THE MYSTERIES—LAWLESSNESS VS GODLINESS / 09/20/2020
