Dare We Dethrone Our Lord? There has been a strong stand against premillennialism among most brethren and rightly so. Any doctrine that denies our Lord is now ruling over His kingdom cannot be toler ated by those who understand the truth. If we dare teach that He is not now ruling over His kingdom and will not until He returns sometime in the future, we are insulting the One who now sits on the right hand of God ruling in heaven. The Church began with the teaching that the resurrection brought about the exaltation of Jesus to sit on the Throne of David by the right hand of God. (Acts 2:30-31) Unfortunately, some have failed to realize this ruling is not limited to just the church, but He is ruler over all the earth. The apostle Paul was inspired to write that when Jesus was raised from the dead, God "seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come". (Eph. 1:20-21, Col. 2:10) Before He ascended to heaven, our Lord instructed His disciples to teach all nations and baptize them. What right did Jesus have to tell the apostles to teach everyone they must submit to His will? The reason Jesus gave the apostles was: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore..." (Matt. 28:18-19) All are under the authority of Christ. The apostles' job was to go out and teach everyone that they need to submit to His authority. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He began His prayer by saying "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind... (John 17:1-2 NASV) Revelation was a message of encouragement to the Christians being persecuted. Even though they were facing difficult times, the Christians could take comfort that this message came "from Jesus Christ...the ruler over the kings of the earth...(Rev 1:5) Later in this book we can read of the time when the enemies of God will make war against the Lamb. They will be completely defeated. Why? They are fighting against the One who is "Lord of lords and King of kings". It is obvious that not everyone acknowledges Jesus as King. At this time we have the freedom to submit to His authority or rebel. Whether we accept or reject His rule over us does not change our responsibilities in the least. The reason for the judgment of the wicked is they have failed to submit to the authority of their Creator. The fact that God judges the wicked as guilty sinners confirms the fact that they are under His authority. We can recognize this principle easily with human government. For example, Georgia did not raise their speed limit to 65 mph as early as Kentucky did. During this time, if someone from Kentucky was traveling through Georgia at 65 mph, the Georgia police had every right to stop them and give them a ticket. Why? As long as anyone travels on Georgia roads they are subject to the laws of Georgia, not Kentucky's laws or any other state. However, once the person returned to Kentucky, they were free to travel 65 mph on the interstates without fear of arrest by Georgia police. Why? Georgia laws are not the authority in Kentucky. No Georgia policeman would have any right to write a ticket for someone traveling 65 mph on Kentucky interstate. The government can only punish those who are under its' authority. If God is a just God, He can only punish those who are under His authority. If we are not under His authority, He has no right to punish us no matter how we live. To teach that God has authority over the church but not over the world denies that He has the right to judge anyone who is not a member of the church. If that is so, it is better to never become a Christian. If we are not under the authority of His law it is impossible for us to sin. Romans 4:15 says "where there is no law there is no transgression". If we are not under His law we can do no wrong. Romans 5:13 tells us "sin is not imputed where there is no law". Since "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) it is obvious that all are under the law of God. This is the reason Christians must go out into all the world teaching all men to repent. All men are subject to their Creator whether they recognize it or not. All men have broken the commands of their Creator so all men are condemned as sinners before God. Their only hope is to be forgiven by the conditions that God has provided. One of these conditions dictates cessation of their rebellion against God's laws as they have been guilty of in the past. The command to repent is for everyone because we all have violated His laws one way or another. The idea of God ruling over all of mankind is not unique to the New Testament. Throughout the Old Testament we can find that Jehovah was not King only of Israel. He was King over all the earth. Psalms 47 is only one of many passages that teaches this. Psalms 47:2, 7-8 For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over the earth For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. Israel was a special nation to God with special privileges and law. This did not alter the fact that all mankind was responsible to their Creator. The Gentiles were under a different standard than the Jews, but they were still responsible to God for their actions. (Romans 2:12-15) If they were not responsible to God, what gave Him the right to destroy Sodom, Edom, Egypt, Babylon and many others? It was because they transgressed the standards God had set for their behavior even though they were not in covenant relationship with Him. Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way that it was the God of Israel who was ruler over all the realm of mankind. He was told "They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. (Daniel 4:25) One of the greatest messages of the book of Daniel is that Jehovah rules over all of mankind and not just the nation of Israel. (see 2:21, 37-38, 44, 4:17, 24-37, 5:18-28) All of the many prophecies against the nations proves that God expected them to live up to a certain standard and He had the right to punish those who refused to do so. Now that the fullness of times has come, the rule and authority belongs to the Son until He delivers the Kingdom up to the Father. (1 Cor. 15:24-26) During the time in which we live, all are under the authority of Christ. This is why it is so urgent that we teach the world to repent. They have not subjected themselves to His laws and are under condemnation. Yet, some among us are teaching what Belshazzar tried to practice (Daniel 5), i.e. some people are exempt from the authority of the God of Israel. In particular, they teach that unless one is baptized into Christ he is not subject to the laws Christ gave concerning divorce and re-marriage. The teaching of the Lordship of Christ can be understood by them until they come to the subject of divorce and re-marriage. Suddenly, intelligent and knowledgeable individuals who should know better want to throw out the sovereignty of our Lord. They understand one must repent of their sins to be forgiven of breaking God's laws. Then they make one exception, that we are guilty when we break God's laws unless that law is concerning divorce and re-marriage. We are free to violate our Lord's commands concerning divorce and re-marriage and get in a situation He condemns as adultery and not have anything to repent of! All we have to do is be baptized to be forgiven of our guilt for breaking God's other laws but we never were under His laws concerning marriage to begin with. Why does anyone need to be baptized to begin with? It is because we are guilty of breaking the laws of our Lord. We then stand condemned before God until we are forgiven by the blood of Christ. Before we become a Christian, can we be held accountable for breaking all of God's laws except the ones concerning marriage? If so, where is the book, chapter and verse that teaches this one exception? The Bible teaches that baptism washes away sins. Where does it teach that it washes away marriages? To say that a man can divorce his first wife for "incompatibility" and then marry another and then remain in that second marriage after being baptized is to teach that baptism washes away the first marriage that was not a sin and turns the second marriage (or third or fourth or fifth) that our Lord calls adultery into a holy relationship. Does baptism wash away the first marriage which God authorized for all mankind and at the same time turn the second union Jesus called adultery in Matt. 19 into a holy union? To teach that past marriages and divorces that have occurred before baptism do not matter is to teach one cannot be guilty of violating God's marriage laws unless they are first baptized for the remission of sins! Who can believe this? Why must couples separate from those whom they have married after an unscriptural divorce? It is because they have violated the laws of God and need to repent of their sins! He sets the standards for us to live by and when we fail in this we become guilty sinners. Our only hope is to turn away from our sins and live according to the standards He has commanded. Although ignorance in the past may get us in very difficult situations later on, that ignorance does not excuse refusing to submit to God's laws after they are learned later. Our Lord said this would be difficult and that not all men would be able to accept it. (Matt. 19 :11-12) However, all who love their Lord above all are willing to submit to His authority no matter what the cost may be. (Luke 14:26-27, 33) To say that they were not under the marriage laws of Jesus before baptism is to say that Jesus was not their King in this part of their lives. This denies that He has ALL authority and is Lord over ALL mankind as he claimed. This teaching makes our Lord a liar! Not only that, it makes Paul a liar for writing that Jesus is now on the right hand of God far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. This teaching also denies the Great Commission. If Jesus does not have all authority we do not have the right to go into all the world preaching the Gospel! Brethren, do we dare attempt to dethrone our Lord as the Premillennialists try to do? Do we dare uphold those among us who try? Wayne Wells wayneliz@twave.net http://users.twave.net/ncc