Mystery of Godliness
By Apostle Aje Pelser; Harvester Cape Town October 2016

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
The revelations of the mystery that develop Godliness, are seen through the illumination of the Word of God.

Revelations of the mystery of Godliness:
God’s great mysteries are without controversy. In the world the media seeks after scandal and controversy but the things of God are simplified for His children by His Spirit.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written: \”EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.\”
1Co 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
1Co 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man\’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
1Co 2:16 For \”WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?\” But we have the mind of Christ.

1. God was manifested in the Flesh
This is the first question you ask a spirit when casting out demons:
“Do you believe that Jesus came in the flesh?”
Because we read in 1 John 4:2
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
1Jn 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”

In addition – we need to understand that Jesus needed an earth suit to do God’s will on earth. God is a spirit, but Jesus had to be the Word made flesh so we could read God in our setting so to speak.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus found his Script for life and Godliness in the Word, this is a great revelation for us who seek Godliness too!
Heb 10:5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: \”SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU DID NOT DESIRE, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME.
Heb 10:6 IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN YOU HAD NO PLEASURE.
Heb 10:7 THEN I SAID, \’BEHOLD, I HAVE COME— IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME— TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.\’ \”
Your Godliness is dependent on your relationship with the Body of Christ. You can’t do it alone. You need other believers connected in Christ. As we walk in the light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin – this is a mystery to people who scoff at church and think it unimportant to connect with a local church. However, the great revelation is that by staying connected and accountable, by being transparent in the light with one another and acknowledging faults we are healed and cleansed. A repentant lifestyle is such a wonderful freedom!

Madame Guyon speaks about mortification of the flesh – dying to self, reckoning that old life of sin dead daily, because it is already buried through baptism into Christ and raised into newness of a new creation life with Him by the glory of God the Father. That enabling glory of a new creation is a power source of Godliness and ensures the process of sanctification is completed – for He started a good work in you will complete it. Jesus being the Author and Finisher of our faith – for Godliness too!
The prophecies concerning Jesus were fulfilled throughout the New Testament and it would take a year to study the Life of Christ with Miracle Bible College to properly scan through the four Gospels and discover how much of the Old Covenant Jesus fulfilled prophetically. Even after His resurrection the disciples were discovering fulfilled prophecy when reflecting on Jesus’ life on earth. The Holy Spirit acting as the revealing agent from Acts 1 onwards.

2. Justified in the Spirit
Think on where God’s Spirit confirmed Jesus throughout the Bible. Think of all the miracles, the deliverance of oppressed people, the power over nature, the signs and wonders from Genesis through Revelation. Consider how God confirmed Jesus to be His Son when Jesus was baptized, when Jesus was transfigured, during the Crucifixion when the temple veil was torn in two and the sky turned dark and it thundered with earthquakes and some dead rose a the release of resurrection power that would raise Jesus from the dead on the third day.
Consider the confirmation of all Jesus taught and promised through the received promise of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and how that continues to this day when believers repent and are baptized for the remission of sins through faith in Jesus’ name, receiving the seal and baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, accompanied with the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, along with the boldness to be effective witnesses for Christ.

3. Seen by the Angels
In Jesus’ life He was seen by the Angels at Birth, after He overcame temptation. They were there during his crucifixion and He could have called on 10000 angels to save him from suffering. At His resurrection when the stone was rolled away and at His Ascension when the disciples stood gaping at the cloud that took Jesus into the heavenly realm, the angels saw Jesus. In Mount Zion there are an innumerable company of angels where Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant residing at the right hand of God. Yes the angels saw Jesus as the Lamb slain form the foundation of the world that stepped forward to break open the seals in the book of Revelation.

4. Preached among the Gentiles
Jesus had to go through Samaria to reach the Gentiles in his lifetime, and then later sent Apostle Peter to Cornelius’ home by the Spirit. Later Apostle Paul would decide:
Act 18:5 When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
Act 18:6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, \”Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.\”

5. Believed on in the World
It is evident that Jesus is believed on in the world, but this is not possible without the process delineated in Romans 10.
Someone has to be sent to preach the Word so that people can hear it. When they hear it, faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word, so that people can call on the name of the Lord and be saved. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to astound the so-called wise of this world. With all our technology and systems of management and administration in the church world, the preaching of the Word is still the most important part of any meeting. All else can go wrong, but if you preach the Gospel it will have the effect God wants. Everything else should line up with that and people should be careful not to shift the focus form the Word through programmes, or over planning a meeting with too many interruptions. Give us today our daily bread!
How will the world believe? They will receive a pattern of living from our lives that line up with what we preach! Apostle Paul says earlier in the passage:
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
1Ti 1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

6. Received up in Glory
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and is waiting for all his enemies to be made his footstool:
Mat 22:43 He said to them, \”How then does David in the Spirit call Him \’LORD,\’ saying:
Mat 22:44 \’THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, \”SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, TILL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL\” \’?
Jesus has received the name above every other name. At that name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess:
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Php 2:7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Php 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
Php 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
Php 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We will have eternal glory with Him too!