246 - THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESSMay 20, 1962
Henry F. Kulp
I Timothy 3: 15, 16 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.
Last week we talked about the true church, and how thou shalt behave thyself in the true church. And folks certainly made a mistake talking about the church. They think the church is a building or some visible organization. But a simple illustration will make clear the difference between the church as a visible society on earth and as a spiritual fellowship of believers united only by their common relationship to Jesus Christ.
Take the case of John Smith. His friends know him as a tall, thin man with black hair, brown eyes and a good sense of humor. That is the popular way of describing a man. But let us take a closer look. Suppose John Smith dies. We go to the funeral home and we look at his body, and folks say my, doesn’t he look wonderful—he looks real good. At once we are aware of the fact we are viewing a corpse, not the real John Smith at all, for he is absent from this body, and then we understand that the real John Smith was not the body—John Smith was the invisible person who lived in that body.
Just so, we usually think of a church as a building, or an organization. Actually, a church is a spiritual house—it is composed of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and are saved. It is a spiritual house, and all who believe on Jesus Christ are taken by the Holy Spirit and are made a habitation of God, where God comes down and dwells in the lives of those who are saved. The church is visible only and in as much as the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in the physical bodies of those who believe. But they are not Baptist, they are not brethren, they are not Lutheran, they are not even independent. Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus is part of the called out assembly, which is the house or dwelling place of God.
1/ And this house of God which is the assembly of God is the one which is to propagate and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we come to the fact that God became a man is the mystery. Notice, our Lord was made manifest in the flesh—the word, manifest, is to make visible. Remember, Jesus Christ‘s aid o the Samaritan woman, God, as to His nature, is Spirit—that is God is an incorporeal being—he, in other words, does not have a physical body, He therefore is invisible.
John 4: 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 18 and 14
2/ Let us notice then, Matthew 11: 24 All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father.
This helps us understand the mystery of the incarnation. God and man in one person. This is past human comprehension. Man can’t understand about God the Son becoming man and yet remaining God. He stumbles over it at all times. But man just as he believes the Bible, believes the mystery. How softly we should tread whenever we speak of the person of our Lord, for the full knowledge is only with the Father. This shows the nonsensical argument some say—well, you prove to us that Jesus Christ is God and man. Go ahead tell us how it can be. You can’t, only the Father can fully understand it—but we accept it by faith.
3/ You take, right at the beginning with His virgin birth—going on to the transfiguration, and all the miracles He did, and then His agony in the garden when He cried out—if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Then you go to the cross and you see Him die, and when you read about His dying, it says He gave up the ghost—He dismissed the Spirit. No one ever died that way before, no one ever came to an end like that, Then He rose from the dead and then he ascended on up into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of God the Father—no man has ever had a life like that. Understand it you can’t, but believe, it, yes.
4/ Now let us notice another portion of scripture.
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.
The one mystery is the cause for great rejoicing—the other is a sinister and dark mystery. This is called the mystery lawlessness.
In I Thessalonians, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is the main theme—actually, not the second coming, but the rapture. Now Paul says, here, that this mystery is already working. It is in the world right now—and what is the mystery of lawlessness? Just compare it with the mystery of Godliness—it is Satan coming and dwelling in human flesh. You notice it talks about the man of sin, the son of perdition—it shows the duel nature of this man who will come upon this earth. You will notice in verse 8 he is called the wicked—and it should be the wicked one. The difference here is that Satan comes and indwells in the body of a man, but actually the mystery of Godliness is God becoming a man, which is different, but Satan is imitating God.
5/ Let us look at the relationship of this man and Satan.
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:
Here it talks about the Son of Man saying unto the Prince of Tyrus—if you go over to verse 12 you will read about the King of Tyrus. So we have two different persons talked about in this Scripture—the King of Tyrus, and the Prince of Tyrus. What is the relationship between a King and a Prince? It is that of father and son. Everyone admits that the king of Tyrus in verse 12 is Satan. The prince of Tyrus is the anti-christ who is Satan’s son. You will notice that the sin of the son is that of the father, Satan. He says, I am God, I sit in the seat of God. In other words, he made himself out to be God, and Satan did.
Isaiah 14
6/ Then notice, 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 was a murderer, and when he speaketh the lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it—the father of what—why, the lie. What is the lie—that is his son is the anti-christ.
7/ Now notice in 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.
It says that this mystery doth already work, only He that now letteth shall let until He be taken out of the way. When our English version was made, let, meant to hinder—it now means to permit. What the Apostle Paul was really saying was this—you know what restrains that he might be revealed at this time—it is that the Holy Spirit is hindering him from coming to set up his program at this present time—but that program of anti-christ, man of sin, is already in the world, and it is the program of religions.
8/ But let us make sure it is the Holy Spirit who hinders who now keeps the anti-christ from coming into the world. Well, who is it after all who restrains sin.The answer is found in the Bible, and God is the one who restrains sin.
Genesis 6: 3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
It declares that the Spirit of God was restraining sin in the days of Noah.
Then you go to Isaiah 59: 19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
Here it says the enemy shall come in like a flood—the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him—or as it could best be translated—the Spirit of the Lord shall restrain him—down through the ages it has been the restrainer—the Hinderer of sin, and today the Holy Spirit dwells in the body of the believer, and He is the restrainer of sin.
9/ So you can see the mysteries here. One is of Godliness, the other is of lawlessness, one is God becoming man—the other is Satan indwelling man.
10/ Then notice, he was justified in the spirit—the word justified means vindicated—endorsed, proved. His humanity was clearly seen, but His deity was not seen—it was hidden under a cloak of humanity. Yet at times, momentary flashes of His deity were seen, and so this means that the Holy Spirit bore witness that Jesus Christ was God – He was not an imposter.
John 1: 32 And John bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove and it abode upon Him—that is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, as to the Lord Jesus Christ as being God.
11/ Then notice, was seen of angels Our Lord was seen by angels.The incarnation was a spectacle to the angel world.They never saw God prior to this time, except when He took up an abode in a physical body in the theophanies, but here Jesus Christ comes to live in a physical body for all eternity. This is a spectacle to the angels.
12/ We find that the word, seen—seen of angels, is not the word usually used in the New Testament for looking at a thing, and this word here means to look at a thing intently—to look at a thing with interest—the angels were watching the Lord Jesus Christ in every move that He made.
13/ Then notice, preached unto the Gentiles. Perhaps you do not think that this is a very remarkable thing, and wonder why it should be in this verse—preached unto the Gentiles. But here is a remarkable thing for 4000 years God had not sent a Gentile.Think of that. For 4,000 years, God had not dealt with the Gentiles except through the nation of Israel. The Gentiles were on the wrong side of the middle wall of partition.
Ephesians 2: 11,12 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
They were without God In this world—they were as atheists.This was from the time of Abraham for the next 4,000 years.
14/ Then, you will notice, Christ was not received of His own—so then God, through the Apostle Paul who was the Apostle of the Gentiles—he carried the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. If things had continued as they had for 4,000 years, as a Gentile this morning, we would have no hope—we would be without God in this world—there would be absolutely nothing for us to look forward to, but an endless eternity of fire and suffering in hell. But, praise God, the Apostle of the Gentiles has made Jesus Christ known to us. God has a message for the Gentiles.
15/ Acts 13: 44 - 46 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Here we find that the Jews would not hear the Word of God, but the Gentiles asked to hear the word Of God and the Jews, jealous of there own position to seek to keep them from it. You will notice, on the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear Paul. Here is Paul addressing a throng, overwhelmingly Gentile, and then the Jews sought to turn the Gentiles from the faith, contradicting those things which were spoken by Paul, and blaspheming. Here we have the story about Jesus in the first part of Acts 13, all over again.
16/ Their contradiction and blaspheming was a particularly serious matter. In the light of our Lord’s warning that whosoever should speak blasphemy against men is forgiven, but whosoever blasphemed or spoke against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven, neither in that age, nor the age to come.
Matthew 12: 31, 32 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Jesus Christ said in those days, beware—I have sent the Holy Spirit to you—if you contradict or blaspheme Him you will never be forgiven for it. So then Paul says, he would turn to the Gentiles. This is a wonderful thing, a marvelous thing. The Word is preached unto the Gentiles—the Gentiles are now the object of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And of course, this is only true through the fall of Israel.
17/ Romans 11: 11, 12 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Here God says, through their fall—the fall of Israel—salvation is come unto the Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy. God says this word is being preached to the Gentiles to provoke the Jews to jealousy, and the fall of them be the riches of the world, the Gentiles and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles. For Paul says, I speak to you Gentiles, in as much as I the apostle of the Gentiles. Notice this word of this Christ who is God, being made in human flesh, is now sent abroad to the Gentiles.
18/ Then notice, believed on in the world. That is no small thing, either, is it? The glorious mystery of God in human flesh is believed. It is not believed everywhere, we know that—this world is still antagonistic and agnostic it is filled with religion rather than Christianity—all those who say, we don’t accept the Bible, we don’t believe that Jesus Christ has the truth. But praise, God, there are some who do believe it. Can you praise God this morning, that you are among those who do believe in this mystery?
19/ Let us turn to another book.
II Thessalonians 1: 8, 9 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Here Paul says, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of His power. Here God says, He is going to punish those who refuse to believe wonderful, marvelous God.
20/ Then notice, received up into Glory. Who received him? A person is not received unless there is someone there to receive him. If you go to visit someone and find that person is not home—they are out—you say, there was nobody to receive me. The word, receive, means reception. Who was there to receive the son of God? Did He have a reception? He most certainly did. He was caught up into Heaven, received by God the Father.
21/ What a wonderful reception He had.
Hebrews 7: 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
He was made higher than the Heavens.
Philippians 2: 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
God had highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name—His position or rank is authority. Jesus Christ had a glorious reception when He went to Heaven. He was given this exalted position because He took the lowly position of being man, and suffering the awful curse of being crucified, and praise God, He is now seated on the right hand of God the Father, in the place of exaltation.
AMEN
Ref: 05/20/1962 / THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS / 05/15/2021
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