14)
These things write I unto thee, hoping to
come unto thee shortly:
15)
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.
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.
1)
Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
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hough the Bible makes it clear that
godliness is a great mystery, when questioned concerning it, people from all
walks of life have an opinion. One would expect the opinion of the unsaved to
be wrong, but unfortunately, salvation too often seems a mystery even to those
possessing it. Too many of us are confused about not only what truth is, but
what all is necessary to be saved.
Much is said today on the issue of
“truth.” It would seem that no matter what one believes or how he conducts
himself, all of us have it. Obviously, all preachers, teachers or students of
the scripture do not have a clear understanding of the matter at all, for if
all know what should be proclaimed as truth, many
churches would be empty. Why? Because no one desiring the
truth would knowingly sit where truth is not being proclaimed.
The charge of those involved in the
Last Day ministry is to proclaim the simplicity of the Word in a forthright,
unadulterated way. Indeed, the Word and ways of God are so simple as to pose a
stumbling block for those who themselves would desire personal glory. You see,
by making His way plain and simple, the Lord eliminates the possibility of us
gaining merit by having to “work” to be saved. The fact is, if one follows His
way, he will be saved; if not, damned. But man is intrigued by and justified by
the mystical. If he can figure it out, he is to be lauded; if he fails he can
be excused by claiming a lack of understanding.
In “playing dumb” concerning our
understanding of the Lord and His Word, we show ourselves highly ungrateful for
the life we have been given through Him and it. We must always remember that at
one time, the Word was so scared that it was revealed to only a few. There was
no Bible as we know it; no free access to the Scriptures. Now, we are
admonished and expected to read for ourselves, study, learn and apply the
Word—largely, so that we will be without excuse.
Without argument, we have been given
numerous examples of how we are to conduct ourselves. Despite the fact that
these are found in the Scriptures themselves, most are ignored. Despite the
fact that God, Himself, endorses them, we seem to have an opinion about what we
think is necessary. Obviously, if the Lord validated this attitude, there would
be no universal standard. Having none makes godliness a “mystery” to Man and
open to interpretation.
Surprisingly enough to some, God is not
interested in trying to help us live to please ourselves. His emphasis
throughout time has been on us pleasing Him. This means, of course, that we
will have to suffer some inconveniences in our lives so that we know where our
loyalties lie. For if all went our way, we would never have
an incentive to be saved. Many feel they will be able to circumvent God
and prove to Him and others that things can be done
“my way”—and still profit.
An insistence upon your own way and a
refusal to submit to the will of the Lord ensures that salvation will remain a
mystery to you. Consequently, you will develop your own set of rules and fail
to operate under the same constraints as others.
One wonders how those having
experienced Pentecost can advocate so many different doctrines, “methods of
operation” and codes of conduct. No one can escape the fact that God has given
the plan of salvation for mankind and a plan of life for every man. Though the
plan for the specific life may vary, the plan ending in salvation is constant,
ensuring that the individual life must fall within its confines.
Most are willingly ignorant concerning
godliness in that they refuse the truth of the Word. What does scripture site
as the consequence? They will believe a lie and be damned. The more we ignore
the truth, the less sensitive we become to it and the tougher our conscience
becomes. This in turn, deadens our hearing for the Word of God. Who does this
please? Satan, of course, who wants us to be able to hear the Word and it have
no effect. As effectively as he can, he wants to destroy some of our greatest
joys in being saved: the blessings of the Lord and of salvation.
What is a mystery to those outside of
salvation and those who have not tasted of the truth of the Word of God should
be solved once one really knows “who Jesus is.” One of those mysteries is
maintaining joy in the midst of sorrow, trouble and testing. This mystery was
solved for us once we realized that joy is based on the person and attributes
of God, and God alone. The mystery of living the holy life in the midst of a
“crooked and perverse generation” was solved for us when we accepted that Jesus
died that we might triumph and that without such a life we would not join Him
in glory.
You know, we can be instrumental in solving
the “mystery of godliness” for others. In living godly, we must pique the
curiosity of the ungodly, thereby allowing the “mystery of the godly” to explain
the “mystery of godliness.”