I AM A KING
John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
The Lord Jesus Christ had already responded to the highest ranking person of the ecclesiastical community concerning his identity as Messiah. Mark 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. And he had done this under oath! Matthew 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. And because he is the truth (John 14:6), he most surely will tell the truth! For as he informed Pilate, he came into the world to bear witness unto the truth.
Now in our text listed above, he is questioned by the authorized representative of Caesar and the Roman government as to whether he was a king. And just as he was truthful to the highest religious authority, professing himself to be their Messiah, so he is here truthful to the highest political authority that he is indeed a king! For those words of verse thirty seven in our text that the King James translates as, Thou sayest that I am a king, are expressed in the Amplified Bible as, “You speak correctly, for I am a king.”
But take notice of the question which the Lord asked Pilate in response to Pilate’s question concerning his being a king. It is a question which today’s professing religionists need to ask themselves. “Did somebody else just tell you this, or did you come to know this within your own heart?” For knowing that Jesus Christ is Lord of all lords, and King of all kings, must needs come by revelation to the heart and soul, and not just by way of the subject of some Sunday School lesson to the mind! 1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
For repeated lip service to religious dogma does not manifest a true witness of regeneration! Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
The Prophet Daniel had prophesied that in the days of the fourth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s image, (which is the Roman Empire), the Son of man would set up his everlasting kingdom. Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
And Daniel had even prophesied that this was to be done upon the ascension of the Son of man. Daniel 7:13 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. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
And to this the Hebrew writer gives his confirmation! Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Therefore the kingdom of the Lord was set up during the days of the Roman Empire, after the Lamb of God had by himself purged our sins! Satan has greatly used Mr. C. I. Scofield and his so-called “bible” to, even in our day, still cause millions to believe that Christ’s kingdom remains yet off in the future! – But can this be due to the fact that they have never been ‘born again,’ therefore cannot see, nor have they entered into the kingdom?
{C. I. Scofield was sued by his wife for divorce in August of 1877 in the Circuit Court of St. Louis in case number 0 44252, in an unsuccessful attempt to force him to support her and their two daughters. 1 Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. See “The Incredible Scofield” by Joseph M. Canfield. Ross House Books, Vallecito, California, 1988.}
And just as it takes a physical birth to see and enter into the natural realm, so it takes a spiritual birth to see and enter into this spiritual kingdom. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Therefore the king’s instruction to those who dwell therein is not to regard things physical, but things spiritual. Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
The Gentile world kingdoms are said to come up out of the earth and sea. Daniel 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
But the spiritual kingdom is said to have come down out of heaven from God! The Lord told his disciples that some of them should be alive to witness the coming of his kingdom. Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And so they did! Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
The Apostle Paul instructed the Galatian believers concerning the difference between the earthly and the heavenly Jerusalem. Galatians 4:25 For this Agar (Hagar), is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, (that is, the literal, physical city), and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above (the true church, appearing as both bride and city), is free, which is the mother of us all. Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
And just as the spiritual kingdom is from above and requires a spiritual birth to enter therein, even so its king is from above, who also had a supernatural birth! Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
In fact, no carnal emotions are said to be from above! James 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For the new birth, or the birth from above, causes all things to become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
All religion, even orthodox, devotedly practiced without the indwelling of the Hoy Spirit produces a rigid morality that will come to destroy everything and everyone that does not accept their beliefs. Once the descendants of Abraham came to establish the law of God above the God of the law, it became a murderous instrument in the hands of Satan! John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Take careful notice of the creature listed in Revelation 13:1 and 17:3. Both set forth but one beast. But both have multiple heads setting forth names of blasphemies. All religions, apart from the true church, indwell by the Holy Spirit, with all their sects and denominations are but one and the same manifestation of satanic deception. And being of their father, the devil, they all will kill, steal and destroy! John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: 15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
Religion apart from the Holy Spirit produces the strong delusion that will eventually fill the depths of hell! And it is simply because these individuals receive not the love of the truth! They receive the rigidly held rules and regulations of their sect. In fact, they are devoted to them! But the one thing all religions of the world have in common is their failure to receive the love of Christ, the Person of the Truth! 2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Pilate had two choices. He could receive Jesus of Nazareth as presently reigning king. Or he could do as history reveals and reject his kingship and with it deny the truth of God. For to receive one is to embrace and love the other! They are effectually joined together! And this was clearly set forth to him in the personal witness and testimony of the Person of the Word himself! For he, as king, bears witness of the truth of God! Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Pastor Gene Breed
January 6, 2018
