Revelation 19 and verse 6. I am sure you have all heard,
and if you have not heard, you ought sometime to hear, if you
don't have to go to some pagan religious assembly to hear it,
Handel's Messiah. Excellent, excellent, masterful. piece of music dedicated to the
honor and glory of Jesus Christ. How many times men and women,
especially at Easter time, have gathered in large assemblies
all across the country, around the world, to hear choirs well-rehearsed
sing that Messiah. And as they come to the Hallelujah
chorus, oh, what rapture, what excitement it fills the heart
with. Tonight I want to speak to you,
if God will enable me, about the subject of that great cantata,
the Hallelujah Chorus, described here in this chapter. In Revelation
19, in verse 6, I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings
saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. I have no desire to stir up our
hearts to a momentary rapturous feeling. a mere emotional frenzy. But oh, I have a burning desire
and a burden to stir up our hearts and souls and lives with the
realization of this glorious fact, the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth. In the strictest sense, our text
refers to that blessed day that is yet to come when all opposition
to Christ has been eliminated from the earth, when Babylon
is cast into the sea of God's wrath. It refers to that day
when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of his Christ, when the knowledge of the Lord shall
cover the earth as waters cover the sea and the nation shall
learn war no more. But the doctrine of the text,
the doctrine taught in this text, is a blessed truth enjoyed and
realized by God's church in all ages upon the earth. The Lord
God omnipotent reigneth forever before the worlds were made and
forever after the worlds are dissolved and at all times and
in all places from beginning to end the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. All of God's saints in all the
ages rejoice to sing with unison this great hallelujah chorus. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord,
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Now, specifically, when our text
speaks of the Lord God omnipotent, It is referring to the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior. This is the distinction of the
doctrine of our text from the doctrines of all other religions
about God. The heathen, for the most part,
as if you care to study at all heathen religions and heathen
philosophies, the heathen, for the most part, recognize that
God reigns. The Jews firmly hold to the truth
that God reigns. But the doctrine of the Bible
is this, the Lord Jesus Christ is our God, and the Lord God
omnipotent, the triune Godhead, exercises his sovereign dominion
and government over all the universe in the person of his son, Jesus
Christ our Savior. The entire world is ruled by
God, always has been, is now, and shall forever be ruled by
the Triune God through the person of Jesus Christ our Savior, our
Divine Mediator. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath committed all things into the hands of the Son. Our Lord
Jesus Christ assured his disciples, all power, all authority, all
dominion is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Jesus Christ
has taken unto himself by divine right and by merit of his obedience
as the center substitute all power, all authority, and all
dominion. Hallelujah, the God-man reigns
over all things. He has the right to reign as
the sovereign, absolute Lord of all things because he's God. And as a man, he earned the right
to reign over all things by his obedience even unto death. Christ's
universal dominion is the effect and the reward of his accomplished
redemption. Blessed is the man who can, upon
solid and scriptural grounds, rejoice in the fact that Christ
is the sovereign monarch of the universe. Blessed is the man
who can make the sovereign dominion of Christ a matter of heartfelt,
joyful praise. Blessed is the man who sees,
acknowledges, and admires the universal rule of Jesus Christ
and willingly bows before his throne as a voluntary subject
of his dominion. The sovereign dominion of the
Lord Jesus Christ is a matter of joyful praise among all the
redeemed. Now let me try to answer some
questions that I believe will help us in understanding the
rule, the reign, the dominion of Jesus Christ our Lord. First,
who is this great King? Now I've already told you that
this King is Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the incarnate God-man,
the mediator between God and man. He is the very same man
who died as the sinner's substitute, the one whom the Jews crucified. He is described in this chapter
as the faithful and true witness. He is the Lamb of God. His name
is called the Word of God. He is King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. This great King is our Savior. But let it never be forgotten
that this man, who is our Savior, This man who died as our substitute,
this man who is seated upon the throne of everlasting dominion,
this man whom we trust is himself the Lord God Omnipotent. Oh, if we could get hold of that.
If God would somehow impress in our hearts the fact that Jesus
Christ is the Omnipotent God. His name is El Shaddai. God Almighty. He is the Lord Jehovah with whom
is everlasting strength. He is God with whom all things
are possible and nothing is impossible. He is the one of whom David spoke
when he said, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. Marvelous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee. When I was made in secret and
curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And thy book were
all my members written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy
thoughts unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them.
Jesus Christ, that man who was born at Bethlehem 2,000 years
ago, that man who lived on this earth in perfect obedience to
God, that man who died upon the cursed tree, Jesus Christ is
himself God Almighty. He is God. He is not a God. He is not one likened to God. He is not a creature of God.
He is God manifest in the flesh. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness of the incomprehensible
infinite triune God dwells in the body of that man, Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now just let that sink in. Just
let that sink in. All that God is, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, all the fullness of the infinite God, whom the
heavens cannot contain, dwells in the body of a man. And that man is our Savior. He's
God. He's God. He is over all, God
blessed forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ is described
by Paul in these words. He is the blessed and only potentate. He's the only Lord. He is the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling
in light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor
can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. What a declaration of His Godhead.
He's the only one who is light. God is light. He's the only one
who is light. All life comes from Him. He only
has immortality dwelling in light. Light which is so radiant, brilliant,
and glorious that in His essential Godhead no man can see Him, no
man can approach unto Him, no man can know Him. But this same
great God took on Himself human flesh so that men could see Him
and know Him and live by Him. We're Trinitarians. That means
we worship one God in the Trinity of His sacred persons according
to the Word of God. There are three that by record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. We worship, trust, and love the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But we recognize, and
it's time that men understood this, we recognize that we have
no knowledge of God. no knowledge of God the Father,
no knowledge of God the Son, no knowledge of God the Holy
Spirit, except as they are revealed in the person and work of Jesus
Christ, our divine mediator. He is the one who's seen the
Father and declares him unto us. He is the one who is the
work by which God reveals himself unto men. God at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets. But in these last days, he's
spoken unto us by his Son. He's given the Son. He's revealed
the Son. If you would know God, you must
know the Son. All that the Father says or reveals,
he says and reveals by the Son. All that the Father possesses
or gives is in the Son. All that the Father does, He
does through the Son. All that the Father receives
from His creatures, He receives through the Son. As for the Holy
Spirit, He is the Spirit of Christ. He leads men to Christ. He speaks
only of Christ and magnifies none but Christ. The Holy Triune
God has put all things in the hands of Jesus Christ, the Mediator. that he might have all honor,
all preeminence, and all glory. Now let me show you this in the
scriptures. Turn over to Matthew 11. Matthew chapter 11 and verse
27. All things. What does that include? All things. are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him." Look in John chapter 5, the gospel of John
chapter 5. What I'm saying is this. never
look for, expect, or hope to see, to know, or to commune with
any God except that God who Jesus Christ is. He is God. He is the embodiment of the Godhead
in human flesh. John chapter 5 and verse 19.
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself. That doesn't
mean he doesn't have any power on his own. He's equal with the
Father. That means everything he does, the Father does. He
does nothing alone. He does nothing isolated. The
Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
do. For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth him all things that himself doeth, and he will show
him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, do you believe
that God has power to raise the dead? For these Jews did, and
our Lord says, as the Father, as God, raises up the dead and
gives life to whom he will, even so the Son quickeneth whom he
will. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. That is, the father
himself, personally, without mediation between himself and
others by the son, judges no one. The father doesn't even
deal with anyone. The father doesn't speak to,
nor is he spoken to. The father doesn't bless, nor
is he blessed. The father doesn't judge, nor
is his name blasphemed, but in the person of the son. Everything's
in the son. Everything. That all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Now look in
John chapter 14. John chapter 14. Hold your hands there, I'm going
to read a passage to you. In Colossians chapter 1, you
don't need to turn to it, but in Colossians chapter 1, we read
in verse 17 that Jesus Christ is before all things. He's the
preexistent one. He existed before anything, for
he's the eternal God. He's before all things. And by
him all things consist. Everything is held together by
him. And he is the head of the body
that you and me, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, the preeminent one, that in all things he might
have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. Now look here in John 14 and
verse 6. The Lord says, I am the way,
the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father,
but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known my father also. If you knew me, you'd know God.
And from henceforth, you know him and have seen him. Philip
saith unto him, Lord, Show us the Father, and that'll be sufficient.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet
thou hast not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. Do you see that? He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father. How sayest thou then, Show us
the Father? When you look at me, you look
at the Father. When you're talking to me, you're talking to the
Father. When you're speaking of me, you're speaking of the
Father. When you're magnifying me, you're magnifying the Father.
When you oppose me, you oppose the Father. That's what he's
saying. He's saying, I am the one in whom the Father dwells,
by whom the Father deals with men. This great God is the one
who lived and died. arose, intercedes, and reigns
in heaven as our Savior. Our Savior is and must be both
God and man in one glorious indivisible person. Now we speak of His Godhead
over here and His manhood over here because we're men and women
with puny brains. You know, we just, we can't grasp
it all at one time. But don't ever try to divide
His Godhead and His manhood. He is one indivisible person,
the Godman. We spell it G-O-D-M-A-N, spell
it G-O-D-M-A-N. He's the Godman, one glorious
God-man dwelling in one person. He is altogether God and altogether
man. Were he not man, his work could
not be imputed to man. Were he not God, his work would
not be worthy of and satisfy God. But being both God and man,
his work is both of infinite merit and his work is worthy
of God's glorious acceptance and his work is suitable for
men. God came into this world as a man to save men. That holy thing formed in the
womb of the virgin is a body for God to dwell in. That holy
thing coming forth from the womb of the virgin is a body that
houses God. God lived on this earth as a
man and perfect righteous obedience to the law which he himself had
ordained and revealed and he did it for the righteousness
of men. God died upon the cross as a man under the wrath of Almighty
God to satisfy the justice of God and to put away the sins
of men. The Apostle Paul speaks to the
Ephesian elders and he says, you be careful how you rule over
the church of God for God purchased that church with his own blood.
God arose from the tomb in a body as a man, ascended back into
heaven and reigns upon a throne of glory as a man for the salvation
of men. Our great king is God, but our
great God is a man. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us, God in human flesh, God in manhood. He is one of us, bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He's God. We sing him. We've handled it, we've touched
it, and we've declared Him unto you. That's what John said. Look
over in 1 John 1. 1 John 1. That which was from the beginning,
that's God. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, the word
of life, for the life was manifested, we've seen it, and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father,
it was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with
us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. Not only is our Savior God, But
our God, Jesus Christ, is omnipotent. Omnipotent. There are lots of words to describe
the attributes of God. One of them, chiefly, is omnipotence. That means he has all power. All power. There's nothing lacking
in his power. Any description you have of power,
moral power, spiritual power, strength, it's all in him. He's omnipotent. Therefore, he's
able to do whatever he's pleased to do, always and in all things. And he always does. Now listen
to me. Not only is it His ability to
do whatever pleases Him, but He always does exactly what pleases
Him. Always. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased
in the sea, in the earth, and in all deep places, in heaven
above, in earth beneath, and in hell beneath the earth. Our
God's in the heavens. He's done whatever He pleased.
Omnipotence is essential to divinity. A weak, helpless, frustrated,
defeated God is an absurdity. Now when I say weak, I mean if
there's anything God wants to do but can't do for any reason,
He's not God. That'd be absurd. That'd be absurd. When I say weak, I mean if there's
any weakness in him, it's absurd to call him God. If there's anything
God cannot do which is consistent with his nature, if there's any
power anywhere greater than his power, any will anywhere greater
than his will, any desire of his holy being that he does not
satisfy, any purpose that he does not accomplish, then God
is dead. That's right, that's right. When the time comes that God
wants what he can't have, that God purposes what he can't accomplish,
that God Almighty desires what He does not possess. If the time
comes when God tries to do but fails in any area, no matter
how great, no matter how small, mark it down, God is dead. The universe is in chaos and
man is without hope. A God who is not omnipotent is
no God. Only a fool would worship, trust,
and serve a weak God. I just soon worship a piece of
wood as worship of God who lacks the power to do all his pleasure. We worship the sovereign, eternal,
unchangeable, omnipotent God of glory, Jesus Christ. You can
trust an omnipotent God. You can trust him. He's the only
one you can trust, Bob. He's the only one you can trust. Take
away omnipotence and you can't believe a word in this book.
Not a word. Not a word. Take away absolute
omnipotence. You can't believe a promise God
makes. Not one. Take away from God absolute control,
absolute power, and this book is useless and meaningless. How
can you say that? If he doesn't control everything,
buddy, you can't believe anything he says. Because the only way
any being can accomplish all his promises and all his purposes
without fail is if he's in absolute control of all things, of all
things. You see, you can trust him for
none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? You
want to see God's omnipotence? Here it is. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. God said, let there be
light. And the sun began to rise. That's right. God gathered up the dust of the
earth, which he had made by the mere fiat of his will. He gathered up the dust. Put
it all together with less effort than I illustrate. Put it all
together and made a perfect man. I mean a perfect man of clay. They laid in the dust and God
breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Adam stood up and
lived. That's omnipotence, brother.
That's omnipotence. I know that's not scientific. It's scientific to every man
who has good sense. Every man, man who doesn't believe
that's an absolute fool. The only reason he doesn't believe
it is because the fool has said in his heart, no God, no God. You look around you. I went out
last night, right after that rainstorm had come, the wind
blowing around. That wind is but the breath of
God upon the earth. And I looked up, and there hung
those stars, just like they'd been hanging. There they are. Got up this morning, and kind
of hidden behind the clouds, but they're from the sun. Just
like it's been hanging all these years. Not millions of them,
just a few thousand, 6,000 maybe. Look out here and you see the
rising and the setting of the sun. You see the change of the
seasons. Oh, I know everybody talks about
things being out of order, out of kilter. Everything's done. exactly according to his will
and his power, everything. By him all things consist. What
holds the stars in their place? What holds the stars in their
place? Now you children go to school, learn your biology and
learn your science, learn the astrology as best you can, learn
it all and remember this, The laws of nature, as they call
it, is the hand of God, like mighty glue, holding the universe
together. That's it. That's it. By his
omnipotence. And he saves sinners by that
same omnipotent power. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. What the book says. Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and calls us to approach unto thee.
This is the God by whom we are kept by his power through grace. This is our great King Jesus
Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent. We rejoice in him. He is God. He is man. He's the Omnipotent
Godman in whom we safely trust. But how did he come to be such
a king? Now, without question, the Lord
Jesus Christ has been king of the universe forever. His kingdom
is an everlasting king. He's king by divine right because
he's God. He's king by divine decree because
he was ordained of God to be the mediator king from old eternity
in the covenant of grace. And he is king over all things
by right as creator and owner of all things. But our text speaks
specifically of Christ Jesus in his mediatorial character
as king. He's ruler and sovereign monarch
of the universe as a mediator. As our mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ earned the right of sovereign dominion over all things by his
obedience as a man. Now let's look at the scriptures,
both the Old and the New Testaments. Turn over to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. This is what I want you to see.
Jot it down, study it. The Lord Jesus Christ in human
flesh earned the right to rule the universe forever as a man. He earned the right. That's his
right by virtue of his accomplished redemption. Psalm 2 and verse
6. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. God's talking about his decree
and he's speaking prophetically. In his decree, he set Christ
up from everlasting as king over Zion. And in Acts chapter two,
you read how that Peter declares it's come to pass. God set him
up on his holy hill. I will declare the decree. The
Lord has said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten
thee. Ask of me and I'll give you the
heathen for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for your possession." Turn over to Isaiah 53, Isaiah chapter
53 and verse 9. Christ made his grave with the
wicked. He was with the rich in his death. Verse 10, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, made his soul an offering for sin,
put him to grief. Because of that, he shall see
his seed. He shall prolong his days. He's
going to rise from the dead and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Now, that simply means this.
Jesus Christ, by virtue of his accomplished redemption, arises
from the dead. And God turns over his purpose
to the hands of his son and he accomplishes it. Look at verse
11. He shall see as the result of
his sovereign rule. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. Shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong. He'll give it to whom he will.
Turn over to Daniel chapter 7. Book of Daniel chapter 7. Verse
13. I saw in the night visions and
behold one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before
him, and there was given to him." Now get the picture. Here's the
Son of Man coming before the throne of His Father, and they
brought before Him a gift of His reward, a gift which He had
earned, a gift of dominion. They brought before Him and there
was given to Him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all
people and nations and languages should serve Him. And they do. All people, all nations, all
languages serve him. His dominion, his rule, his government,
his sovereign power is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass
away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. John
chapter 17. John chapter 17. Now you've read
the prophets. Let's see if it comes to pass.
John chapter 17 verse 2. The Lord Jesus is uttering his
high priestly prayer. This is one of the first things
he says, as thou hast given him power, dominion over all nations
and people and languages and tongues, over all flesh. Why? Why? In order to accomplish this purpose,
that he, the king, should give eternal life to as many as God
the Father has given him. Look in Acts chapter 2. Acts
chapter 2 verse 29. You remember the prophecy we
read of David in the Psalms. There was another text similar
to it in Psalm 16 where David spoke. And in verse 29, Peter
is speaking. He says, men and brethren, let
me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. He's dead and
buried. His grave is with us to this
day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according
to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. Now, please hear me. David is not talking about a
little old throne over in Palestine. He's not talking about a physical
earthly throne. He's not talking about a chair
made out of leather, wood or gold. He's talking about the
throne of God. He's talking about the throne
of sovereign dominion. And you'll see it in this text.
He said David knew that God was going to raise up Christ to sit
on his throne. And he's seeing this before spake
of the resurrection of Christ. Now that's talking about what
took place just before Peter was speaking these words. Not
something that's going to come at another day, but what's going
on right now. That his soul was not left in
hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, this
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this, the outpouring of the Spirit, which you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto me, Set thou
on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore,
let everybody know, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made that same Jesus whom you nailed to the
tree, whom you crucified, the Lord in Christ. That one whose
blood's on your hands, he's got you in his hands. Now you better
straighten up and pay attention. That one whom you despise, that
one whose authority you rebel against, that one whom you will
not hear, he's got you in his hands. You best pay attention.
You best pay attention. And they did. They were seized
with fear and trembling, crypt in their hearts. And they said,
men and brethren, what shall we do? Turn over to Romans chapter
14. I'll skip over some of these.
Romans 14 in verse 9, I'm saying that Christ's dominion is the
result, the effect, and the reward of his obedience as our substitute.
Romans 14, 9, for to this end, for this purpose, Christ both
died and rose and revived that he might be Lord, what does it
say? Both of the dead and the living. Preachers everywhere say to men
and women, let Jesus be your Lord. Won't you make Jesus your
Lord? I'm going to tell you something,
whether you like it or not, He's your Lord. He's your Lord. And you're going to have to deal
with Him sooner or later. And He's certainly going to deal
with you. He's Lord of the dead and the living. He's Lord of
those who have died and gone either to hell or to heaven,
as well as those who live on the earth. And he's Lord of those
who are spiritually dead, as well as those who are spiritually
alive by his grace. He earned the right. Turn to
one more text here. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
chapter 2. In verse 9. Paul has been describing
the humiliation of Christ, his sufferings, his death on our
behalf as our substitute. Look at what it says, verse nine.
Wherefore, wherefore, because Christ entered into this world
in human flesh, because Christ became servant, the servant of
men and suffered as the servant of God and died upon a cursed
tree, wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and of things in earth,
and of things in hell, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, sovereign monarch, is that every tongue
should say the Lord God omnipotent reigneth to the glory of God
the Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ holds the
government of this universe in the nature of a man and that's
the effect and reward of his obedience unto death as our substitute
for the fulfillment of the everlasting covenant of grace. And in the
last day, everything's over. Everything's over. Let me show
you one more text in this relation. First Corinthians 15. Our Lord lived to establish righteousness
as a man. He died to satisfy justice as
a man. He arose from the dead to demonstrate
the accomplishment of redemption in his flesh. He reigns in heaven
over all flesh to apply the benefits of his obedience to God's elect
by the power of his spirit. He will come again to gather
his redeemed ones to himself in resurrection glory. And in
the end, Christ, the mediator, shall present all his people,
all his kingdom before the throne of God in perfect salvation. Look at verse 24. Then cometh
the end. Not the end of all things, but
the end of time. Then cometh the end, not the
end of Christ's dominion. His dominion's forever. Then
cometh the end, not the end of Christ's reign. God set him on
the throne forever. He'll never give it up. Doesn't
have to. But now comes the end of time and the end of God's
purpose and the end of Christ's covenant engagements. He shall
deliver up the kingdom unto the Father. Then cometh the end when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom unto God, even the Father,
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and all
power. And then, in verse 28, God shall
be all in all. That means just this, Christ
the Mediator comes back to glory. where he formed and established
the covenant of grace from all eternity with our shepherds.
And he comes before the triune God with all the hosts of his
leg, redeemed, justified, and glorified. He says, here they
are. Here they are. And God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit shall be forever all in all. And all the saints of God
shall shout, Alleluia, the Lord God. reigneth. What is the extent of our Lord's
dominion? Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. The Lord Jesus Christ reigns
as sovereign king right now. The text does not say the Lord
God omnipotent shall reign, but it says he reigneth. We are not
looking for or waiting for some future millennial age in which
Jesus Christ will begin to reign as king. Christ is king today
and reigns over all things today. The Lord Jesus reigns in heaven
with undisputed sway. He's seated right now at the
Father's right hand. All majesty and glory There is
one spot in that upper world which outshines all other spots.
And that spot is the throne upon which is seated the God-man,
Jesus Christ. All the angels of heaven, the
seraphim and the cherubim, bow before him and cry continually,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Lord God Omnipotent. And all
the church of the redeemed all the 24 and 20 elders, all the
living creatures representing the whole church of God continually
bows before his throne and sings the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. In that spot in the upper world,
Jesus Christ reigns without rival as the king of everlasting glory. But do not imagine as many people
do that our Lord's dominion is limited to the world above. The
Lord Jesus Christ reigns today as sovereign monarch over all
the earth. Read Isaiah 40. Read Isaiah 45. Read Daniel chapter 4. Throughout
the scriptures, it is declared that the Lord, our Savior, rules
everywhere. Everywhere. He rules everybody. He rules everything. Nahum said
God has his way in the whirlwind. And if he has his way in the
whirlwind, he has his way in every wind. If he has his way
in the whirlwind, he has his way with everything. There is
absolutely nothing and no one in the world which is not under
the absolute rule of Jesus Christ, our Lord. He's king everywhere
over all things. Oh, I wish so much we could learn
this. Our Savior is the King. Our God is in charge for of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory both
now and forever. He's in charge. He's in control
of the physical world, the whole physical world. He's in control
of it. If we could learn that We'd never
flinch again in the bulk of life. I'm serious. We just learned
that He's in control. He's in control. If we had learned
that, we wouldn't get panicky and terror-struck whenever they're
calling for some terrible weather to move in. Well, if it moves
in, God moves it in. And if it comes to my house,
God sends it to my house. And if he sends it to my house,
good for me. That's right. My God's in control. Oh, I believe
that, but God teach me to really believe it. He's in control. He rules all the physical world. He rules all the animal world. Oh, I'm afraid of this. I'm afraid
of that. Don't want to go here. Don't
want to go there. You know, there was a man one time. who was cast
into a den of hungry lions. And when he got sleepy, he fluffed
up that lion's belly and went to sleep. And God shut the lion's
mouth on a preacher. Come on, you don't really believe
that. Yeah, I do. Yes, I do. God controls the beast
of the field. God controls the flight of the
sparrow and the roaring of the lion. He controls it all. King
Jesus is Lord over every nation in the world. He raises up nations
and he puts down nations. He says the nations are just
a drop in the bucket, just the small dust of the balance. That's
all. The nations, what are they? Jesus
Christ is King. And he rules over all men, all
over all the world. What's he going to do? He's going to
harden his heart. Oh, the Pharaoh package. No,
he won't. He's going to harden his heart.
Oh, but when the plagues come, he'll listen. No, he'll pretend
to, but he won't listen. He's going to harden his heart. dive into the judgment of God.
He'll pay attention. No, he won't. He's going to harden
his heart because God's determined that Pharaoh pursue Israel into
the Red Sea so that he can drown Pharaoh in the Red Sea. That
all men may know that he's God. That's right. Those Jews dancing
around the cross of the Son of God, mocking him, deriding him,
belittling him, spitting in his face. those Roman soldiers driving
the spikes into his wrist and shoving a spear into his side
and mocking him, those harlots and whoremongers and religious
folks, everybody throwing a party around as Jesus, the Son of God,
hangs on the tree. What are they doing? Whatsoever
thy hand and thy purpose had before determined should be done. That's what it says, isn't it?
Read Acts chapter 4. Oh, they did what they wanted
to. God didn't force them to do anything, but God wouldn't
let them do anything but what he from eternity decreed should
be done. He was delivered according to
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, by God's forewarnation. So what's the point in preaching
that? Well, it'll let you know something. Not a dog shall move
his tongue against you. Our Lord said to Pilate, you
don't have any power over me. You don't have any. My father
gives you whatever power you have. All of my life as a believer. I've been running upstream fighting
an uphill battle against the trend of all the religious people
around me. And I expect it's going to be
that way till I get done with my battle. I just kind of expect
that. But I'm telling you, I don't
tremble before any man or any body of men or any authority
in earth or in hell. I don't tremble. No, sir. No, sir. But what if they decide
to come and tear the building down? Bob Potts used to listen
to me on the radio. I don't know whether he knew
that I knew he did it or not. You come out here and circle
around, be sure folks didn't hear that and burn this building down,
didn't you? I'm not worried about that. I'm not worried about that.
Well, you just you can't bump the system. No, no. You can preach the gospel, though.
and stand in the feet of God's enemies and watch God mow the
enemies down before you. And I've seen it enough to believe.
Just believe. The gates of hell shall not stand
against you. Why? Because God controls the
gates of hell. Our Lord Jesus Christ Even rules
as king in the dominion of darkness and hell itself? Yes, even Satan
and the demons of hell are under the sovereign rule of King Jesus,
that prince of darkness. Oh, he's a mighty foe. He's a mighty foe. Too much power
for me. But not too much for my king. What can Satan do? Nothing. Without
God's permission. That old serpent. All he roars
like a lion. But when he comes before the
throne of God, he comes to give report to the Almighty. Read
Job 1. slithers like a cursed serpent
in the dust before the throne of his august majesty, and he
asks permission to touch one of his own. And the Lord says,
well, you can give them plagues and boils and you can bring disaster
to their lives, but you can't touch their life, their mind. What are you saying, Pastor?
I'm saying hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent. Well, I guess that's all I can
say for now. He reigns everywhere. He reigns
now. And he shall reign forever. And
sooner or later, everybody is going to bow to his throne and
submit to his rule, willingly or unwillingly. But everybody
shall bow. God help you. to bow now before
the throne of His dominion. Amen.