Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 820 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

-- Brother Phil Enlow: In Psalms 2, we have a psalm of David and he is looking out at the nations of the world and their reaction to God. And he says this, "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters." (NIV).

But then he goes on and says, "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, You are my Son; today I have become your Father." Now who is that referring to there?

( congregational response ).

That's referring to Christ. We know that from the scriptures in Hebrews and in other places this is quoted and directly applied to our Savior. And so you've got the Lord sitting in Heaven. Can't you imagine what He thinks about when He looks down at the utter foolishness of men who are trying to build a world without God? And how utterly ridiculous it is when God has declared...He's saying this is the way it is. You can plan and you can do all you want, but I've put My King on My holy hill, and that's it. You're either gonna have to deal with Him or you're gonna perish.

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way...."

So you've got a pretty clear picture of what God has instituted and the real authority in Heaven and earth and where it lies, and the fact that all men will be judged ultimately by their response to that particular authority that God has established. Look at a scripture that we're familiar with in Isaiah. I think it's chapter 9. I think it's the one I'm thinking of. Isaiah chapter 9...this is another prophecy. See what we're seeing here is a prophetic look from the vantage point of the Old Testament of what God was planning to do.

In verse 6 of chapter 9, he says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever." Then lest there be any doubt, he says, "The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." Praise God!

That's the rule that we need. That's the authority that we need to come under this morning. And I believe that's what we've been singing about and talking about, is our need to be given to God's will and not our own. But from a doctrinal standpoint this was a prophetic look at the kingdom God was planning on establishing, and we're not left in the dark even in the Old Testament as to when this was to take place.

I think the scripture I'm thinking about is in Daniel chapter 2. As I say, this is not the main point, but I do want to kind of cover some of this to set a context. Daniel...there was a vision that was shown to Nebuchadnezzar, and I won't go into the details of it, but he saw a huge image. And I believe it had a head of gold and this part was silver, and this part was bronze, and as it went on down it became iron and then clay mixed with iron. And the Lord was revealing to Nebuchadnezzar and also to Daniel something of the history of the world, the unfolding of the history.

Now God knows the end from the beginning, doesn't He? This wasn't any surprise to Him. He sets up kingdoms, He tears down kingdoms. So we know that He told Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold, but after you there's going to be another kingdom, and then there's gonna be another one, and then there's another one. And we know from history...in fact Daniel lived through the first transition. Daniel was there when...who was it, Darius? Anyway...was it Darius? I can't remember...anyway.

( congregation inaudible ).

Yeah, the Medes and the Persians were the kingdom that came in. But anyway, there was a night when they were feasting. They brought out the utensils they had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and they were having a drunken feast with the Lord's...stuff that had been dedicated to the Lord. And the Lord put the sign on the wall, wrote on the wall, and said, you are weighed in the balances, you are found wanting. This night the kingdom will be taken. And that very night the Medes and the Persians came in. Of course the empire changed, and they flourished for a while.

And then later on you see Alexander the Great over-running just about everything, and he took over for a while and his kingdom flourished. And then when he died it broke into four parts, and eventually the Romans rose to ascendancy. And so you see in this vision that unfolding of one emperor after another--one empire after another.

But listen to what it says in verse 44, "In the time of those kings...." So you see we've got a limit here. "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed..." Thank God. "...Nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." Praise God!

And so you know when Jesus came on the scene He began to preach, "...Repent: For the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (KJV). But the situation was such that the Israelites had developed their own traditions as to what all this meant. They thought it meant an earthly kingdom. They thought it meant that the Messiah was going to come and was going to exalt them above the nations, gonna set up an earthly capital in Jerusalem, and that was the nature of the kingdom that had been promised. Of course you've got people today that believe that, that believe it's still out in the future.

But God said He was gonna set it up in the times of these kings. Jesus came and said it's here. And I'll look at a scripture just briefly in Luke chapter 17 that kind of illustrates this truth. Verse 20 of chapter 17 of Luke, says of Jesus, "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied...." Now what were they thinking of? They were thinking earthly, weren't they?

That's the thing with man's mind, unless he's been illuminated by the Spirit of God, all he can think about is this world. You've got a lot of religion! It's focused on this world. Well, thank God, we need to get along here, and we need God's strength to do it, but our life is not about ultimately this world, is it? The kingdom that was established through Jesus Christ is not about this world. It will never have a political expression.

Listen to what he says. He says, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation..." You won't see it. You're not gonna see this [with] natural eyes. "...Nor will people say, Here it is, or There it is, because the kingdom of God in within you." And another translation of that same word is among you...among you, within you. In other words, it's an invisible thing to the natural man. But that doesn't mean it's just some mystical something that doesn't exist in reality. It's very real.

( congregational amens ).

But the key is that people have to be born again not only to enter, but to even see the kingdom of God. God has established a kingdom that He has promised will last forever. We look at the day of Pentecost, and we see this unfolding. The natural conception of a ruling Messiah is that He's gonna raise up an army, and He's just gonna deal with the foreign enemies. He's gonna lift us up politically and materially, and make us something great in the world. But God had a different plan and His plan was to bring His Son to the throne of the universe through the cross. He had to go down to go up. That's a pretty good lesson for us.

( congregational amens ).

If we want to be something in the Lord, the only way up is down...is to humble ourselves into His mighty hand. Of course you know what Jesus said. I'll refer to this what Jesus said to his disciples after He was raised from the dead and they met with Him. He said, "All authority..." all authority, "...in heaven and on earth has been given to me." So here's the highest power. Here's the highest authority in the universe.

And now on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up after the miracle of their being able to speak in all these languages. "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus..." verse 22, "...Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know." And he goes on to describe what happened to him at the crucifixion, how they rejected him and crucified him.

But down in verse 32, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact." Praise God! This was not simply a philosophical belief they had adopted. It was a fact. They touched Him. They had met with Him. They had eaten with Him. It was a fact as far as they were concerned. That's why these frightened disciples could suddenly stand there with boldness, not to mention the fact that the Holy Sprit was upon 'em. But there was a change in them that was more than just an external force. God had really opened their eyes and their understanding.

Now listen to what happened. It's not just that He raised Him to life, "Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." So to the disciples the proof...now first of all they had proof that He was raised from the dead. Now they had proof that He had in fact ascended to Heaven. He had in fact occupied the throne that had been promised. The evidence of it was the outpouring of God's Spirit.

And so this was the inauguration day of the kingdom of God in the practical sense. Jesus had come as an expression of it, but I mean in terms of really the day of establishment of the kingdom of God--this was it. This was the announcement. My kingdom is in operation, and everybody is going to be...their fate is going to be determined by where they stand with respect to this King that I've established.

He goes on and says, "For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore...." So there's a rule and there's a purpose for that rule. There's something God intended to accomplish through what He had set out to do by setting His Son on His throne.

Now this is not some vague spiritual thing. You know He said back in Psalms 2, I'm gonna set you over the nations. You're gonna rule them with a rod of iron. There's a lot of folks that think He's got to come down here and be in a building in Jerusalem to do that. That's not so. I'll tell you what, God absolutely...Christ has absolutely ruled over the nations.

( congregational amens ).

And what men have not understood is the nature of that kingdom and the purpose for which He has ruled. And I want to establish that, but then I want to bring it home to where we live because that's what really matters. But I tell you we need to understand...I think we need to understand the big picture and then bring it down into focus. So that's what I'm trying to do here.

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Okay, now it was beginning to get clear to the people. We're either on His side or we're not. That's the whole thing.

I want to look at one scripture in Hebrews...Hebrews chapter 10. And this gets back to the fact that Jesus was the High Priest, both the High Priest and the sacrifice for our sins. This was the foundation by which we could even enter a kingdom that would pertain to God because He's a Holy God. Verse 12, "But when this priest..." Jesus, "...had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins..." How many sacrifices?

( congregational response ).

How long was that in effect?

( congregational response ).

For all time. Once for all, thank God! Thank God. "He sat down at the right hand of God." So here is the exaltation, "Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." And so we see that there is a reign that has been established, and that reign is going to continue until every enemy has been made His footstool.

Now I'll just make this comment in passing. Last week I spoke about this scripture in Daniel nine and Daniel's seventy weeks. I said I was going to say something at the end, and I forgot to ever get back to it. So I will bring it in because that scripture in Hebrews chapter ten deals with it, and it deals with the fact that the sacrifice that Jesus offered was once for all.

Those who teach this futuristic view of that scripture that there's going to be this millennial kingdom and all that, actually teach...are you ready? They actually teach that there will be a temple rebuilt in which animal sacrifices will be offered. Think about that. How does that stack up against the scripture? Not very well, does it?

But let me show you something else that I believe helps to set the rule and the reign of Christ in its context. Then I want to get to its purpose. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 has a lot of truth relative to this, and the subject here is the resurrection of Christ and the fact that there were some who were questioning some of the aspects of this truth. I guess some of the folks were saying there is no resurrection of the dead. They must have been influenced by the Sadducees or something.

But anyway, in verse 20, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Now what's he talking about there? There were other people in the scriptures who were raised from the dead, and that's something that God has done. Every once in a while you'll hear about God doing that as an unusual miracle. I told you that Jim and I met that man in India that God had raised from the dead before all the villagers. It's just something that God does, but that's not what he's talking about here. That resurrection is right back to this same life, and ultimately they're all gonna die anyway. Lazarus was brought forth from the grave, but Lazarus is not still here. He died.

But this is a different kind of resurrection. This is a resurrection to eternal life to a body that cannot die. So Jesus is the first fruits of that resurrection. This is a resurrection that God has set before us as our hope. This is the ultimate hope. As long as we're in these bodies, these bodies are gonna hate God and love sin. And we're gonna have to learn to live with them and rule over them.

But there is a resurrection. There is a hope that's been set before us. Christ is the first fruits. You want to know what the proof is that the other is coming? This is it. Jesus was raised from the dead, and so you and I have a solid hope set in history that the resurrection is real and just as God did what He promised in that day, He's gonna do what He's promised to us.

( congregational amens ).

We stand upon solid ground, don't we? Thank God. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man." Death came, of course, through Adam. Well, he says that in the next verse. "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Now it's all in Christ they'll be made alive there. This is not teaching universalism.

"But each in his own turn...." In other words, there's a progression of this thing. "Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." The reason I'm going through some of this is not only the purpose of the reign but also when it happens, because I believe the scripture makes very plain when this reign of Christ and the kingdom of God takes place.

And it should be very plain right here. "...Then, when he comes, those who belong to him...." Then after a 7 year tribulation, a 1,000 year millennium, and a little season in which the greatest battle fought in history will be fought, then comes the end. Wait a minute. It doesn't say that.

( laughter ).

It doesn't say that. It says, then comes the end, "Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." Now I'll pause there for a moment, because you see the picture? Here's the reign of Christ. At the end of that reign you have two different destinies. You have enemies who are destroyed, and you have a kingdom that has been brought to its fulfillment, and then that kingdom is to be handed over to God the Father.

So you see how the purpose of the reign of Christ is to accomplish this. And when this is accomplished there is no reason for anything to happen after that. That's why he says, then comes the end. That's pretty plain, isn't it? All right, so, "after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet."

Now here's a real clue, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." So now you've got something that give us a clue as to the timing of all of this. I'm trying to lay some of this out for those who haven't heard it and for...because I think it's important. I think we need to understand the reign that Christ has set up, the kingdom that God has set up and why He's set it up, because it affects us. You've got a lot of prophetic teachers who are talking about all this stuff that's supposed to happen later on. Well I need to know what's happening now. We need truth that affects us now.

( congregational amens ).

And this affects us now. Praise God! "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Well, when is that last enemy destroyed? Let's go down to verse 51 of that same chapter. We don't have to go very far. Paul says, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep..." That is, not all Christians will die is what he's saying. "...But we will all be changed..." That's the deliverance. That's what happens when every one of us that knows Jesus Christ...every one receives a body just like the body that he had when he came forth from the tomb. Praise God! Oh, I'm looking forward to that one. This one's kind of getting fat and old.

( laughter ).

Praise the Lord. I was talking yesterday at the funeral service about the tent that we live in and how that's a temporary dwelling. I'm afraid my tent's had a front porch added.

( laughter ).

( laughing ).

It's just part of living in this world, I guess. But you know God's got a permanent dwelling for us, doesn't He? That's what He's talking about. This is another way of saying the same thing. "...But we will all be changed..." That's a pretty positive statement, isn't it?

Now is this gonna take some long drawn out process? No. It says, "...In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye..." That's pretty quick. Boom...it's done...faster than you can think about it. "In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the..." which trumpet?

( congregational response ).

The last one, yeah. No more trumpets after this one. This is it. "For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality." And he's already told you why back in verse 50, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It's necessary that this change happen for us to partake of the kingdom of God, this eternal kingdom He's set up.

And so when this has happened, "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory." When? Then! When does all this happen? When he comes...at the last trumpet, all of these things happen at the same time. That's the last enemy that's destroyed. Christ's reign goes to that point. There's nothing beyond that point except to hand the kingdom off to the Father.

You see the timing of this thing? It's so plain. The last enemy is death. Death is destroyed when Christ comes. That's the terminus point of His reign, the purpose for which the kingdom was set up in the beginning. We see the beginning point...let me do it so you go left to right. The beginning point is Pentecost. The ending point is the coming of Jesus Christ.

That's the climax of history, and let me show you some scriptures in John that help to confirm some of this. John chapter 6, I believe it is. I don't want to get into the subject here particularly. Verse 38--verse 38, "For I have come down from heaven," Jesus said, "not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." What an example He has set. If there's anybody in history who had the qualifications in themselves to do their own thing, to make their own choices, to live their own life, surely He did. Wow! You think about how vain it is for us to try to run the show. My God, we need Him.

( congregational amens ).

Our very constitution, our very creation, we weren't made to be independent people in that sense. We were made to live in harmony with God. It is not in man that walks, to do what?

( congregational response ).

Direct his steps. It's not in us. It's not in us because God didn't put it in there. God didn't make us to operate that way. Just like you wouldn't drive a car through the swamp, most of you wouldn't...we don't try to operate this machinery apart from the plan and the purpose of God. If we do we get in trouble. Praise God! "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose..." How many?

( congregational response ).

"...None of all that he has given me..." Boy that's wonderful. "...But raise them up..." When? "...The last day." So the resurrection of the saints occurs on what day? The last day... Now are we just grabbing one little verse out of here? Let's go on. The next verse, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at..."

( congregational response ).

"...The last day." Verse 44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." We're very dependent upon the Lord, aren't we? What does He say? "...And I will raise him up at..."

( congregational response ).

"...The last day." Look over in verse 54. And again, I'm not going to try to get into this. This is the subject but, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at..."

( congregational response ).

"...The last day." This is getting pretty plain, isn't it? The purpose for which God has set up Christ upon the throne...and, 'course, I think this is just a figure of speech. He's not sitting on a chair somewhere. But it's a symbol that we can understand of a place of authority.

Let's go back to I Corinthians chapter 15, because I believe some of the truths are all here that I believe God wants us to see. Let's look at verse 27. I think that's where we left off after the last enemy is destroyed.

It says, "For he has put everything under his feet." Now who is the 'he' there? He has put...that's the Father. "...Has put everything under his..." that's Christ's, "...feet." That's pretty plain from the context. "Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ." So here you have the Father standing alone at the top. Then you have Christ. Then you have everything and everybody else. That's the order, and the order has come from the top. That's pretty plain what it says.

"When he has done this...." Let's look at the end of the story. "When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be made all in all." Won't it be something to walk around the new earth that God has promised to create and run into Jesus, our elder brother?

( congregational amens ).

And yes, we will bow to Him. We will worship Him. We will love Him. We will recognize that it's because of Him and Him alone that we are there. We can take no credit, no glory whatsoever. But yet in another sense He will be our brother.

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