00.3 Introduction
Introduction When the great mystery of the wonderful good news of the body of Christ was first declared at Ephesus, the record in Acts chapter 19 states "so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed" to the end that "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks [Gentiles]." Some years later before the close of the life and ministry of the apostle Paul, he declares in his last letter to Timothy, "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." II Timothy 1:15.
Comparing Acts 19:10 and II Timothy 1:15 we note with clarity that before the end of the first century and before the end of the apostle Paul’s lifetime, the purity of the revelation of the greatness of the mystery had been almost forgotten. The failure to adhere to the gospel of the good news of the great mystery was not a personal dislike for the apostle Paul, but it was a turning away from the teaching of the great mystery revelation. In II Timothy chapter 2, verse 18 Paul speaks of those "who concerning the truth have erred." In chapter 3, verse 8 he speaks of those who "resist the truth." In chapter 4, verse 4 he speaks of those who "turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." When the first century believers failed to continue to act in the light of the great mystery as unfolded so magnanimously in the epistle to the Ephesians, they lost the true teaching concerning the mystery which is the center of all true Christian faith, the one body of Christ. The immediate consequence of the loss of this truth of the great mystery produced glowing errors. It initiated the different so-called "bodies" with all the subsequent division and schism in the church body. Instead of rightly dividing the word of truth and recognizing the "one body" which God made (Ephesians 4:4), men set about making their own ecclesiastical bodies and sects. The truth as to the believer’s perfect standing before God in Christ was the next major loss. The truth as to what God made every believer to be in Christ, how every believer is justified by the faith of Jesus Christ and saved by God’s grace was all basically lost. Failing to adhere to the truth the teachers began to propagate error regarding the Lord’s promised return from heaven, the gathering together and the resurrection. Preparation for death and judgment replaced the great hope of the blessed return of Christ. Spiritual darkness engulfed the Christian world, and religion (man-made forms of worship) became the norm of Christianity. This all-pervading spiritual sterility is yet around us, upon us and in us. We have not recaptured the truths of the revelation of the, great mystery. The first truth to be lost is always the last to be recovered.
Before the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven He made the solemn declaration given in John 16:12-15, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Every sincere believer must ask himself the question as to when, where and how this promise of the Lord Jesus Christ was fulfilled. What is meant by "all truth" or, as the Revised Version has it, "all the truth," into which the Holy Spirit was to guide? It certainly could not mean that the Holy Spirit would show one truth to one person and another truth to another person, and that these truths would be so different they would proceed to quarrel about them. The words of Christ’s promise "he shall guide ... he shall speak ... he will show you" are definite. We have only one place to look for the answer, the epistles which are addressed to the Church by the Holy Spirit. In these seven epistles we have the perfect "truth" into which the Spirit was to guide and lead. These seven epistles contain all the truth Christ could not speak while on earth, for the time had not yet come for that revelation. These seven Church epistles contain "the things to come" which the Spirit was to give by revelation, which would "glorify" Christ. The remainder of the epistles in the New Testament are either general or they are specifically addressed to the Hebrews, the twelve tribes, the dispersion, or to individuals.