Reign in Righteousness and Judgment

Hello and welcome ladies and gentlemen to All Things Fulfilled. I'm William Bell. In this video I'm going to be responding to Phil McPhalen. He had a debate some time ago, a couple of weeks or so, with Dr. Syngenis. They were debating on millennialism, I believe. One was a non-millennialist and Phil McPhalen is a historical premillennialist. And I had made some comments on that video and I made a written response and then he responded with a long video. And so I'm going to make a series of short videos in order to respond to those points rather succinctly as possible. Now, he said in his video that in order for Christ to be reigning prior to his second coming, or at least in the Pentecostal pre-Parisian reign, that he had to be dispensing judgment and justice. And that, let me get his exact statement, he says, you cannot have a kingdom of righteousness without dispensing justice and judgment. And he sort of bolstered that with saying that, you know, there are wicked and sinful men roaming the earth and that's proof that Christ is not reigning. Well, I'd like to respond to that and let's go ahead and take a look at a scripture. Okay, so now we're back and what I have on the screen is Psalm 110 verses 1 and 2. Let's take a look at that. It says, sit at my right hand, this is the text, the affirmation of Jehovah to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. And let's go to the King James Version so we can make this more easily understood by today's English reader. All right, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Now, God is telling Christ to sit at his right hand until he makes his enemies his footstool. And then he says, the Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Now, the rod is like the scepter of righteousness. That's what Hebrews tells us. And so he says, the Lord shall send the rod of your strength, which is God's word. It's the means by which he rules in the kingdom. That's the power and the authority of Jesus Christ. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. So here is the scripture telling us that Christ is ruling in the midst of his enemies. And this is what he says to him, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness. From the room of the morning, you have the due of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, if he says that Christ is not reigning because there are wicked people on the earth and because the kingdom of righteousness means that he has to dispense judgment and justice in the earth, the scripture is telling you that Christ is reigning in the midst of his enemies. And because of that, we have the kingdom in righteousness. So let's look at a couple of other passages here. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20, or 18 and 19, particularly Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. The text says, go therefore, excuse me, 18. And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now, if Christ is going to all the nations and or sending the apostles to all the nations to make disciples of them, they're passing a judgment on those who have not obeyed the gospel. And when they preach the gospel, judgment is passed on them and they respond to the gospel and obey. Those who refuse to obey are certainly judged as unworthy of everlasting life. Here's another text that we should take a look at, and that is in the book of Acts. Let's go to Acts chapter two, which picks up that text in the Psalms. We'll start in verse 29. The scripture says, men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried in his tomb 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 body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne. He foreseeing this, now notice he would raise up the Christ to do what? To sit on his throne. He foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father, the premise of the Holy spirit, he poured out this, which you now see and hear for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies, your footstool. And that shows you that Christ is reigning over his enemies because he's making them his footstool. Now let's come in on that. When we go to first Corinthians, we'll add a text or two, but before we get to first Corinthians, I'd like to talk about a couple of passages in Romans. So let's go to Romans chapter one. And I know I'm moving a little quickly in this, but I don't want to make this a long lesson because it doesn't take that long to demonstrate the fallacy of this position in Romans chapter one. The scripture says in verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Now, if it says that the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven, look at where this, what this statement follows. It follows the preaching of the gospel for, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. What is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also to the Greek for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the gesture live by faith. So what is God doing with the gospel? He's dispensing righteousness and judgment in the earth. And that's what was being revealed in the first century, which has now been revealed. And so the text says, well, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it to them. And therefore he says they are without excuse because God has revealed what needs to be known about unrighteousness now. And I think even later on, it says who knowing the righteous judgment of God, after he talks about all of these centers, you know, being filled with unrighteousness, sexual, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undeserving, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. Oh, now watch knowing the righteous judgment of God. Well, how do they know that? Because God revealed it from heaven that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. So this is God's judgment. This is God's dispensing of judgment when he said that they were deserving of death for doing these things. And that comes from Christ rising to sit on the throne and ruling in the midst of his enemies. Now, let's go again to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight, and the verse is one. Notice he says, therefore, or there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. How did that happen? A judgment was rendered through the gospel to declare them justified as opposed to guilty of sin, and therefore delivered them from the bondage of sin. That is a judgment. Therefore, there is now no condemnation. That's not waiting for a future second coming or an alleged future coming. It wasn't even waiting for the coming that was imminent in the first century. That was the judgment of God and declaring them as righteousness so that they are no longer condemned under the law. Now let's go to a, well, let's even read this text. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God did by sending his only son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit that is God's judgment. And there's another text in Romans chapter 10. The scripture says, excuse me, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes for Moses writes about the righteousness, which is of the law. The man who does those things shall live in them. But notice Christ was the end, the goal, the tell us of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes that's the judgment of God. Now let's go to first Corinthians. And in first Corinthians, we're going to take a look in chapter five, Corinthians chapter five, and notice something that the apostle Paul said in first Corinthians regarding the judgment of God in first Corinthians chapter five, starting in verse four, this is what the man who had taken his mother's wife. And here's what Paul said. He says, for I indeed as absent in body, but present in spirit have already judged as though I were present him who has so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, by whose authority is that done? Remember Christ said that when he was raised from the dead, he said that all authority and power has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. So when Paul comes together saying that he had already judged, how is he doing? So he's doing it in the name of, or by the authority of Jesus Christ in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord, Jesus Christ delivers such a one to Satan or the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So Paul is telling them your glory is not good. Do you not know that a little 11, 11 is a whole lump? That's a judgment. Ladies and gentlemen, remember Jesus had told them in Matthew chapter 19, that when the son of man would come in his glory of his father, he said that they would, those who had followed him in the regeneration would sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Well, here is Paul judging them in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And why is that? Because in Titus chapter three, let me skip Corinthians for a moment. We're going to go to Titus chapter three, and we'll come back to first Corinthians and we'll look at a verse in six, but notice that Titus said, but when the kindness and the love of God, our savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy spirit. Now these are coordinate and as a coordinating conjunction, connecting two things of equal grammatical rank. And since they were already being renewed through the Holy spirit, that also tells us that they were being washed or receiving the washing of regeneration. So they were in the regeneration. And that's why Paul was judging them through the authority and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice he said, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, that having been justified, you can't be justified without a judgment of God. And so this tells us that in the kingdom, God was dispensing righteousness. And I did want to go back to one other text in Romans before I conclude out of Romans in the 14th chapter of Romans. Notice what the text says for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in what in the Holy spirit. So you may as well say they didn't have the Holy spirit starting on the day of Pentecost as to say that the kingdom had not come through righteousness on the day of Pentecost, because he says, well, the kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy spirit. Now in Colossians chapter one, and these scriptures is just kind of popping in my head. That's why I'm kind of off my beaten track, so to speak, but I'm still on track. He says he has delivered us from the power of darkness. That's a judgment, ladies and gentlemen, a judgment had to be rendered in order to do that and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Now, the point is, is that the kingdom was being established in judgment, according to Isaiah chapter nine and verse seven, the judgment and righteousness of the kingdom would be consummated at the time of 70 AD when it had reached its fullness at the time of the harvest. But from its very beginning, it was a kingdom of righteousness, dispensing judgment. And Isaiah nine and verse seven, he says of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Wait a minute. He's got a government. What is he doing with the government? He's dispensing righteousness and judgment and justice of the increase of his government and peace. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts has performed this. Now let's go back to the text in first Corinthians chapter six, and we're going to look at verse nine and first Corinthians six and verse nine. He says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Well, who's judging them as unrighteous? You know, the atheists tell us we can't judge anybody because there's no God, there's no standard of righteousness, but these people are being judged as unrighteous. This is after Pentecost before the coming of Christ in 70 AD or some alleged coming of Christ in our future. Do you not know, excuse me, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither pornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. You see, that was a judgment on all of these behaviors, this conduct, and because it was judged, some of them repented because of the righteousness of God. They repented at the preaching of righteousness and such were some of you, but you were washed. See, there's that washing of regeneration. You were sanctified. They had then become set apart for God. You were justified, cleared from the guilt and the condemnation of sin in what? In the name of, that is by the power and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Now let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which picks up Psalm 110 and Acts chapter two with Christ rising to sit on the throne. The scripture says in verse 24 and 25, then comes the end when he shall have put down all rule or put an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Now that's actually in the present tense. It's saying the last enemy that is being destroyed is death. But notice that Christ is reigning in the kingdom, putting down all rule and all authority and he's going to the last enemy to be put down was death. Now watch the next statements. For he has put all things under his feet. Wait a minute. It says he has put all things under his feet. That means he's judged those things. He's put them under his feet and the last enemy that is being put there would be death. This is an already, but not yet concept. So let me look at one, maybe one or two more scriptures. Let's go to Ephesians chapter one and Ephesians chapter one let's start at verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his own 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. So that's in that present age, that Pentecostal pre-Pharisee age, but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. Now Christ is head over all things. That means he's ruling and he's ruling in the midst of his enemies, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all one last text. And we'll take that from second Corinthians chapter three. And the verse is let's start around verse seven, because what we have here is the administration of death, a transition and a transformation out of death into life. That's what judgment was all about. The scripture says in verse six, let's start there. Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit for the letter does what it kills, but the spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was glorious, remember that's what condemned them. So they're under condemnation. They need a judgment rendered in their favor so they can be released from that bondage. If the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away. How will the ministry of the spirit not be more glorious for if the ministry of condemnation, you see, that's the ministry of death. The ministry of death is the ministry of condemnation. The ministry of condemnation is the ministry of death and the life here or the spirit, which is that which gives life is the ministry of righteousness. You can't preach the gospel without preaching righteousness, without dispensing righteousness and judgment. So I don't know what gospel he preaches. The ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory and it makes the glory of the old covenant as though it had no glory at all. That's the glory and the transformation that they were receiving. As he says in verse 17 of 16, nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, when he turns to the spirit, when he turns to righteousness, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit. Therefore, he's the life and he's the righteousness. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is freedom from sin, from death, from the bondage, from condemnation. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed. That transformation was already going on in the pre Pharisee Pentecost timeframe. They're being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. So we have to say to Mr. McFarland that to argue that because there are enemies walking around on earth means Christ is not reigning is totally untrue. The Bible says rule in the midst of your enemies. And that is precisely what Christ was doing. I hope that you got something out of this video and we'll bring you a video number two after this and we'll pick up on another one of his points. Thank you for watching. Oh, before we go, be sure and subscribe to the channel. Click that bell so that you can receive more videos anytime we upload a new video. In addition, we want to encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter, which is free. You can go to allthingsfulfilled.com forward slash subscribe. I'll put all of this below so that you'll be able to see it. And if you want to check out our website, go to allthingsfulfilled.com as well. So with that, I'm William Bell saying you have a very pleasant day.