And Jesus
came and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
~Matthew 28:18-20.
These are
the final words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. All of Jesus’ words
are important but His last words should have a special significance of their
own. The words recorded here are important because Jesus is saying something
about a power change, a change in government. He is saying “Something has
happened that you should all know about. The Ring of Power has changed hands
and I now possess it. This changes everything and therefore all people need to
know about it, should be warned about it, and take immediate action.”
On Friday,
January 20th, at noon, a new president was inaugurated as the 45th
P.O.T.U.S. From that moment on, the powers and authority enumerated in the
Constitution of the United States and the laws of the United States were placed
in the custody of Donald Trump. For the sake of brevity, I will refer to these
powers as the gold ring of power. He
will possess custody of the gold ring for a four year term that will be
extended should he win reelection. If he loses the election, the gold ring will
be given to another.
It is
interesting to observe the change in the people’s perception of a person, a
regular citizen, when they take possession of the gold ring of power. Trump’s
inauguration and election was met with great joy in some places and horror and
anger in other places. This visceral reaction has never happened in the history
of the United States that I am aware of.
I am not
trying to make a political statement by mentioning this. I realize that there
are some who are readers of this newsletter who are not happy by Trump’s
election and that is fine. I ask those of you who don’t like Trump to take into
consideration what I am going to say about Jesus getting the Gold Ring of
Power. The Bible says the whole world is going to go into spasms when He comes
to enforce the power He now possesses on earth as it is in heaven. The whole
world is going to react because they are going to find out that “All authority has been given to Me in heaven
and on earth. Let us now consider what Jesus is saying in Matthew chapter
twenty-eight.
We must
begin by asking a very important question: Who is Jesus and what does He mean
to the world? I found a quote by the late, great preacher, Leonard Ravenhill
that says it all. “I find it most
intriguing to contemplate the fact that while men are considering what place to
give Jesus in history, He has already decided what place to give them in
eternity.” This is a great quote because it accurately puts the cheese on
the cracker as to the problem the world faces when it comes to their
relationship with God. Fallen men see Jesus as a historical personality, a
religious icon, someone we can choose to follow or reject without impunity. They
are willing to concede He has made positive contributions to civilization and
we are better for it. However, that is not an adequate response to One of the
stature, power and greatness of Jesus. Such a response exposes their ignorance
of Jesus’ place on the Throne of Power to govern heaven and earth in
righteousness and holiness.
Some might
be surprised to hear me say this but it is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is
not a religious issue. It is a governmental issue. People erroneously think of
Christianity as something that belongs in the category of religions. It is not.
The Faith as we see it as defined by the Scriptures, should be placed in the
category of “Empires in world history.”
The Gospel
is the story of Jesus Christ’s rise to power to rule the earth. The Prophets
testify to this fact in almost every book of the Old Testament. The Messiah, in
the understanding of Jewish people, were looking for a king, a conqueror, a
warrior, as well as a savior. A careful reading of the Gospel of Matthew
centers on the arrival of the King, the One who would fulfill the Messianic
promises and take custody of the Gold Ring of Power. In the words of those who
were alive at that time, they were elated that the new born King had arrived.
But Herod was not pleased. He feared the arrival of the King and did all he
could to have Him destroyed while He was an infant.
I remember
hearing a Jewish, born-again, pastor say one time that Jewish people are
looking for the arrival of the Messiah to take over the world. Christians, on
the other hand, are looking to go to heaven when they die. Why is that? I often
say when preaching that Jesus is coming, not to take us to heaven, but to take
over the earth! And should we die before that happens, we will go to heaven for
awhile, and be with Him there. But He will be leaving Heaven and will come to
rule the earth and expand His kingdom to the earth as it is in heaven. He will
bring both realms together, the heavenly and earthly under His control and
dominion.
The Gold Ring of Power
Before we go
farther, we must visit the history of the Gold Ring. When God was finishing the
work of Creation, and He put Man in Eden, He gave them the Gold Ring to rule
the Garden. We call this the “dominion mandate.” However, the serpent, a.k.a.
Satan, entered their domain and convinced them to eat of the tree they were
forbidden to eat of. By doing so, Satan took possession of the Gold Ring. From
that time forward, the world has been under the dominion and control of the
serpent. He has been the chief architect of this present evil world. We know that we are children of God, and
that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19 NIV).
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the world is trending away from
God at every turn. It is in serious moral decay, becoming more violent and
godless by the day. All this is happening because the wicked one has been the
possessor of the Gold Ring. But wait.
What is Jesus saying? All authority has
been given to Me in heaven and on earth. If Jesus has all authority, the
Gold Ring, why is the world still in a state of corruption?
Consider
what has happened up until this present time. Man lost the Gold Ring of Power.
Satan took custody of it. Jesus came into the earth to do many things including
reconcile Man to God and win back the Gold Ring. A book recently fell into my
hands that beautifully explains this. From Destined
to Overcome; Paul Billheimer states;
“Legally,
Calvary was Satan’s complete undoing. Legally, the Cross completely destroyed
Satan. All of his claims were cancelled when he sent Jesus to the cross and He
died there. But like any other legal transaction, Calvary’s legal victory must
be enforced.”
Billheimer
goes on to explain the difference between the powers of government in the
American Constitution. The legislative branch, the Congress, they make the
laws. The judicial branch, interpret the laws as constitutional or not. The
executive branch is charged with the duty of “enforcing the laws of the United
States.” To say it plainly, a law is worthless unless there is a power to
enforce the law. Without law enforcement, lawlessness will rule the day. It
seems that this is exactly what is happening today, in the spiritual as well as
the natural.
Jesus is
warning the world that the Cross was a great victory for God’s creation. His
death means we can be reconciled to God. His resurrection means He can serve as
high priest and king forever and His exaltation means He now has custody of the
Gold Ring of Power forevermore. He is temporarily withholding His plan to
enforce His conquest because He wants to seek and save the lost, i.e., give
people an opportunity to change their mind about Him and receive a royal pardon
for past offenses against His Majesty. He has raised up heralds to go into all
the earth to inform the world of their new King and warn them to repent and
prepare themselves for His arrival to enforce His conquest by telling His
disciples to “Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you.” He tells them to do this because He must give the people of
the earth His great salvation, that makes them fit for His Kingdom and ready to
participate in His vast eternal empire. They must repent of being allied with
the enemies of God, those who resist and conspire against His Throne. The good
news is that this all powerful King is offering clemency and amnesty because He
is merciful to all who will call upon the Name of the Lord. But when the King
comes to take full possession of the earth and enforce the Law of the Lord on
earth, the nations are going to go into full rebellion mode.
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who
sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He
shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten
You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends
of the earth for Your possession. You shall
break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s
vessel.’ ” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the
earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is
kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who
put their trust in Him. (Psalm2).
Psalms 2 is
a snapshot of a future day when the Messiah rises from His Throne to take possession of His inheritance. The earth
and the fullness thereof is already His legally. Now He comes to take it by
force and the nations are raging about it. If you think the protesters were mad
because Trump won the gold ring of the American government, wait till they find
out Jesus has the Gold Ring of Power of the whole earth. They will conspire to
stop Him. He will laugh at their nonsense and foolish attempts to unseat Him
from His Throne.
Psalms 110
reveals the battle plan of the King on the day of His wrath.
The LORD said to
my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in
the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be
volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb
of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. The LORD
has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to
the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right
hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall
fill the places with dead bodies, He
shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the
wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head. (Psalms 110).
I am posting
these verses to illustrate the strong interest the Lord has for this earth. The
Cross has as much meaning for who will control and set the agenda for the earth
as it does for the salvation of men. One more verse to make my point.
John, to the seven churches which are
in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and
every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so,
Amen. (Revelation 1:4-7).
John opens
the Book of Revelation saying that this information is coming to you from Jesus
Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over
the kings of the earth. The information written here is a prophesy of
what is about to happen when the Ruler of the kings of the earth comes to make
His Law the Law of the land. When Jesus first appeared in public, He said “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Now, the King is here and so is His Kingdom and the wicked, unbelieving people
of the earth are in mourning over Him.
I have
always wondered about that verse. Why are people in mourning? I think I know
why. People mourn when it occurs to them that all their plans, hopes, dreams,
future, is lost. They see Him coming in the clouds. For the redeemed of the
Lord, He is the Alpha, the beginning of the glorious future the righteous have
been patiently waiting for. For the lost, He is the Omega, the end of
everything they love and think is great. He is the end of life as they know it.
The failure
of the world to pay proper respect to Jesus Christ is the root of all other
sin. Everyone who sees Jesus as He really is, is emptied of his pride to such
an extent that he is crushed in the process. Jesus said that the Gospel of the
Kingdom would be preached in all the world as a witness and then the end would
come. (Matthew 24:4). Get ready people, Jesus has the Gold Ring of Power.