~ The Mystery Of Godliness
– Moving Towards Godliness
....PDF Version
AS READ BY KENNETH B VISSCHER, WINDOWS MEDIA FILE - MP3
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. 1Timothy 3:15-16
Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the
God of all comfort, He comforting us in all our trouble, so that we may be able
to comfort those who are in every trouble, through the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of
For I
received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the
night in which he was betrayed took bread; And giving thanks, He broke it and
said, "Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in
remembrance of Me." In the same way
He took the cup also, after supping, saying, "This cup is the New
Covenant in My blood; as often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of
Me." For "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
show" the Lord's death until He shall come. So that whoever shall eat this
bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, he will be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats
and drinks condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this
cause many among you are weak and sickly, and many sleep. For if we would judge
ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians
11:23-32
Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and
we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we glory in
afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience, and patience
works out experience, and experience works out hope. And hope does not make us
ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the
Holy Spirit given to us. For we yet being without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For one will with difficulty die for a righteous one, yet
perhaps one would even dare to die for a good one. But God commends His love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then,
being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For
if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only
so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the reconciliation. Therefore, even as through one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as
all sinned: for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when
there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had
not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of Him
who was to come; but the free gift shall not be also like the offense. For if
by the offense of the one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift
in grace; which is of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the free
gift shall not be as by one having sinned; (for indeed the judgment was of one
to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses to justification. For if
by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they who receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus
Christ.) Therefore as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came to all men to
justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. But the Law entered so
that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound, so that as sin has reigned to death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:1-21
Whoso
loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. A
good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he
condemn. A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the
righteous shall not be moved. Proverbs 12:1-3
To the
Chief Musician, for flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Jehovah;
consider my meditation. Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for
to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Jehovah; in the
morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up. For You are not a
God that enjoys wickedness; nor shall evil dwell with You. The foolish shall
not stand in Your sight. You hate all doers of iniquity. You shall destroy
those who speak lies; Jehovah will despise the bloody and deceitful man. But I,
in the abundance of Your grace, I will come into Your house; I will worship in
Your fear toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Jehovah, in Your righteousness,
because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face. For there is no
faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is wickedness; their throat is
an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God; let
them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their
transgressions, for they have rebelled against You. But let all who put their
trust in You rejoice; let them always shout for joy, because You defend them.
And let those who love Your name be joyful in You. For You; O Jehovah, will
bless the righteous; with favor. You will surround him as with a shield. Psa
5:1-12
I
returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of
understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to
them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an
evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men
snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. Ecclesiastes
9:11-12
This wisdom I have seen also under the sun,
and it seemed great to me. There was a little city, and few men in it; and a
great king came against it and besieged it, and built huge bulwarks against it.
And a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city;
yet no man remembered that poor man. And I said, Wisdom is better than
strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of him who rules
among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much
good. Ecc 9:13-18
(2 Visions)
**NOTE**-
Both visions relate to the broken body of
Jesus, His body as the broken bread of life for all mankind. Although in these
visions the context is coming across as though some reap death from it, that is
not the intent. The Lord gave these visions and because of them great war
ensued. Even after taking some time to test them, nothing was changed by the
Lord and so I have to write them as I’d received them. These visions in no wise
refute the restoration of all mankind into full salvation by Christ, instead
they depict only the time we are presently in and the purpose of the Lord in
preparing His people for His coming.
“The body of Jesus was set forth before the
world of men as broken bread, a loaf torn apart and broken to pieces and sent
out to all those who would look unto Him for the bread of life, this was indeed
the bread of life given for the life of the world. As His body broke apart, it
was not diminished, but remained the same even though an infinite number of
pieces of bread were broken off of His body and sent out unto the world. Men began
to partake of this bread. To some, the bread ingested became life unto them and
they also became loaves of bread and they also began to break apart to be fed
unto all those who were around them. But to some the bread came unto them, even
this same bread that Jesus said that if a man eats of it, they would never
hunger again. Some to whom this bread came had a wrong motive. They were steeped
in religious tradition and in the doctrines of man or of their particular
religious effort and belief. When they ate of the bread of life, that bread
became death to them. They died instantly while standing upon their feet and
their corpses turned brown and ashen like an embalmed mummy. Their lips became
sealed with death and they had no life in any part of their beings, the bread
of life to them caused them to perish instantly and nothing of their religious
effort or standing had any resemblance of life in them, they were completely
stoic, nothing was left living in them.” (End Vision)
“Then went forth the cup from the hand of
Jesus, filled with the life that was in His blood. This cup sent forth unto
those who partook of the bread was sent to give the life of Christ into the
lives of all they who would drink of it. As the cup came unto those who had
become broken bread themselves, the pieces of bread went forth dipped into the
cup so that the bread and the wine were mingled as the broken body and the
poured out blood of Christ’s perfect atonement. These who sent it forth in such
a manner were themselves also broken and poured out in the same fellowship of
sufferings. When the cup however came to those who died upon their feet being
stoic and bound by religious tradition, these were so dead and in such a state
of mummification that the cup passing by their lips had no effect, nor did they
even know it was there, nor could they drink of it for their lives were taken
in death because of their vain efforts at manifesting the life of Christ. The
life that was in the cup never passed therefore into them.”
(End
Vision)
In the two writings, “Jesus So Holy” and “Unity
In Sufferings” I prophesied that the Lord would bring us to “approval” by His
present motion of working. This writing is to clarify that approval by the Lord
and to define it as it relates to The Mystery of Godliness. Approval of the
Lord over our lives has absolutely nothing to do with material possessions. No
shiny new penny in your pocket proves His approval. It is not a nice new car or
house that shows you that you’ve obtained His favor. The approval of the Lord
is not based on anything that this world can give. It is solely based upon the
Lord “accepting you” into the fellowship of His very life. This approval comes
by two methods. First, His acceptance of you brings forth the fellowship of
sufferings, then the fellowship of having those sufferings culminate into a
completed path, a finished faith, a work that ends in the glorification of your
body. We still await the second part, the first part; the fellowship of
sufferings is yet ongoing.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: The increase of pressure upon your personal
life.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: The increase of rejection of your life by
others.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: The continual long drawn our process of
waiting for the Lord. This waiting includes all His promises to you personally.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: The outward circumstances of your life and in
the trials and testing you have endured that have not at this point come to an
end, instead they seem to be worse, the length of them continues.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: The fact that the world around you seems to
be increasing in the level of violence because of iniquity. No answer or peace
is found in the world to this point. Instead the threats of war and of
conflicts are only increasing.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: Your own carnal mind, the mind that thinks
naturally in this world still contradicts you by telling you that you need to
have “effort” in serving the Lord.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE APPROVED BY: This same carnal ambition that joins itself to
false religious doctrines that permeate our time telling us that we need to come
into the same carnal effort.
In other words, everything around your life
is increasing in opposition and pressure, not decreasing, but getting worse.
Why is this? It is so that the approval of the Lord upon you can be clearly
seen and discerned by His Spirit in you, not by what man says or sees about
your life, but what the Lord sees when He looks upon you. This view of your
life by the Lord seems to have no mercy at all, it is a hard thing because the
Lord’s standard is perfection in every part and we know that we are in need of
much correction. The true Overcomer does not look out into the world then look
for a way of escape. They do not hold to escapism doctrines, rather, they
endure the cross even until they know of no other thing to keep them. The
Overcomer also does not waste their time “looking within”, trying to see if
their way is in themselves to finish their course. The cross IS NOT DONE IN ANY
TRUE SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE LORD. It is still an ongoing process, but there is
at the same time a further separation by the hand of the Lord in setting apart
such persons as those who do not seek a way of escape.
Very few are able to hear this. Most are
caught up in trying to escape
their circumstances in this world and they are hiding themselves in comforting
doctrines not able to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel. There
are not very many who would embrace the continued working of the cross. Almost all
of Christendom for example is caught up totally in prosperity thinking that
this is the approval of the Lord. Others are looking to escape this world while
it is left to some antichrist or to Satan or some other thing which is in
defiance to the Lord. But the true Overcomer knows that the purpose of God is
for THIS world and it is in THIS world that He will manifest His Kingdom, not
some other far off location, BUT HERE ON THIS EARTH. There are myriads of
people around us looking for a way out, people wrestling scriptures to think
that there is any way but the way of the cross all to escape this present
world. The Overcomer sees through all of this, sees through all the contentions
of our time, all the things of their own heart that would deceive them and
would bind them and would set them adrift on a course with no answer to this
present life in this world. Along with this is the notable lack of the Lord’s
presence or the knowledge of His will and in all of that, they that overcome
hold fast knowing His promise is sure. In my life I have seen people turn away
while they looked for this escape because they are not able to hear that word
that is coming by way of my testimony. My life has suffered rejection in some
very strange places, but in all of this the Lord has not allowed my steps to be
turned away from the way of the cross. It is all being brought to a head and it
is all being defined as to the Lord’s approval upon those who are obedient. It
is His approval that envelops me.
Hear this sound like the wind of the spirit
upon the soft places of your heart. The vile oppositions, the spiritual wars,
the rejections, the carnal resistances, the myriad of pressures in the world of
men, all of this IS PROOF OF THE LORD’S APPROVAL UPON YOU. The more His
presence wanes from you, the more the proof of your acceptance by Him. As you
set your life up to follow the Lord all the way by faith, the pressures of this
time we are in may almost seem infinite. But it is all being brought to a
conclusion. Not some escape into the stratosphere as many are trusting in, but
rising up in victory in the finished work of Christ to defeat not just the
powers of the “air” but all that this present cosmos holds in defiance of the
risen Lord. His approval upon you is based upon your faith in His ability to
complete all that He set out to do in your life, and in spite of all the
oppositions, it is being done and it is near completion. A company of people
will be standing upon this earth, this soil, and while standing there they will
rise, not physically, but in resurrection power in their spiritual life, rise
to stand as full Overcomers over all the powers of the “air” and of all those
who hold the world in delusion. So few can hear this, but the final victory
will happen with your feet firmly planted upon the earth and upon the trials
that you endure daily. We do not look for an escape from this time of the
further working of the cross; we look instead for that same cross to be
completed in us.
There are no shortcuts; there is no escapism
doctrine that the Lord accepts. It is at His coming that we rise to defeat the
powers of the air, it is at His coming that the cross ends, it is at His coming
that our walk is finally culminated into full victory. So many people are
waiting for a way of escape when that way of escape is “obedience” to the cross
we are to carry. When the doctrines of Christendom begin to fail, so too will
the hearts of those who hold to them. The Lord is coming not to “destroy men’s
lives” but to “complete them”. His determination is to do that here upon this
earth, not somewhere else.
There is a communion which the Overcomer is
partaking of. It includes eating the body of Jesus and drinking His blood. This
consumption of the life of the Lord brings no different result than the
generations which have gone on before us. The ones who are truly eating His
flesh and drinking His blood are rejected and hated by those who hold fast to
denominational doctrines and doctrines of prosperity and escapism. The
Overcomer knows what it means to be found in the fellowship of His suffering.
They know what it means to be stripped of all their own way or their own
ability to make a name and a reputation for themselves. The Overcomer cares not
that the world seems to be following some elite force or conspiracy that is
antichrist in nature and is threatening to rule the world. The Overcomer looks
unto the Lord alone to complete their course and to perfect their faith.
This path we are on is the path TOWARDS
GODLINESS. The more the estrangements, the more the pressures, the more the
rejections, the more the path to Godliness becomes a reality. I have stated
that Godliness cannot be defined unless it is seen in the life of Jesus. Well,
that life is what will be seen in those who obeyed the Lord in bearing their
crosses unto the end not accepting deliverance or a way of escape, but enduring
this barrage of oppositions until they come to what seems to be the their very
last gasp for breath. It is in them that Godliness will be revealed not as a
doctrine, but as a people. A people who have taken on the very image of Jesus
first in His suffering, then in His glorification, upon these will the Father
declare His approval. We are moving towards Godliness much more than ever
before even though the opposite is all you can see. Are your circumstances
unchanged yet you still endure them? Has your life been beset with rejection of
every sort? Do you see in your life the impossible situations and lack of
deliverances for your manifold temptations? Then upon you is the hand of the
Lord outstretched to judge you so that you will be GODLY as He is GODLY. We
move opposite to what we think is right. Instead of walking into that which we
think is easier we walk into that which is much harder. Why? So that we have a
much better resurrection. So that Godliness becomes our very nature and
character, so that the Mystery of Godliness overtakes us completely bringing to
our lives everything that is related to the person of the Lord. This is the
heritage in this world in the lives of all they that hold fast in overcoming.
To be continued………………
Kenneth B Visscher