DEWITT TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES

 

THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD COMETH

AND

HAS NOTHING IN GOD’S BRIDE

By C.W. Wood               January/February 2007

 

John 19:28-30, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, saith, ‘I thirst.’ Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, ‘IT IS FINISHED,’ and bowed His head and gave up the Ghost.”

          The death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth on the Cross is the most remarkable event in the history of the world! It is the most important subject that can engage the human mind! This is so because our eternal destiny hinges on what we believe happened there. Not only does our future depend on what we believe about the Cross, but also our well-being here and now in these flesh bodies depends on it. Just exactly what did our Lord mean when He cried, “IT IS FINISHED?”

          Did He mean that His six hours of suffering was finished? Perhaps that is part of the meaning, but, oh He meant so much more than that! He meant that the incredible plan of His Father God, which had been formulated before creation, was now fulfilled and FINISHED. The full redemption of His creatures that He had “Subjected to vanity” (Rom. 8:20 ), was finished! Now His creatures, that He had allowed to be born with a lost soul, had been bought back. The chasm between God and man had been bridged, the price of their sins had been paid, and all who would walk that bridge back to God would have Eternal Life!

          He further meant that man, who in his flesh body could never keep His Holy Laws perfectly, would now be able to believe in the Perfect Life that Christ had lived, and have it credited to their account. That is to say, a man can now through the exercising of his faith, be counted as RIGHTEOUS before God while he is still guilty of failures in his flesh! It is as though we, ourselves, had always lived a perfect life, adhering to all points of the Law. Can we understand that our Christ had no need to make the sacrifice for Himself, but it was all done on our account! God’s plan was to credit His perfect obedience to our account. We can live a victorious life without condemnation!

          Referring now to the title of our sermon, we will quote a statement the Lord Jesus made in John 14:28-30, “You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved Me you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father, for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe. HEREAFTER I WILL NOT TALK MUCH WITH YOU, FOR THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD COMETH, AND HATH NOTHING IN ME.”

          Jesus said, “The prince of this world has nothing in Me.” This statement is loaded with Spiritual dynamite! We know that the office work of Satan is to “Condemn the brethren” and not only so, but he dared to try and condemn the Son of Man also. But our Lord was in no wise afraid of the Devil’s accusations, for He knew that He was sin-free and being sin-free, the enemy had no ground on which to stand and condemn. What a powerful truth the Lord Jesus had with which to resist Satan, the fact of His sinless-ness before the Father!

          We rejoice in the truth of the above statement that our Lord was sin-free and was therefore victorious over all the attacks of Satan. But we dare not let the matter rest there. The Bride of Christ must, at some time before the Rapture, stand boldly before the enemy and MAKE THE SAME STATEMENT THAT OUR LORD MADE! She must testify by saying, “The Prince of this world comes daily to condemn, BUT HE HAS NOTHING IN ME.” When the Trumpet sounds for the glorious Rapture, the Bride must be sin-free, standing before God with “The breastplate of righteousness” buckled securely in place. (Eph. 6:14) She must have the revelation that her sins of the flesh are not being charged against her! Rom. 8:33, “Who shall lay ANYTHING to the charge of God’s Elect?”

          It behooves us to study the Scriptures concerning the Cross, and pray for a revelation of what actually was accomplished there. The death on the Cross was the great, Earth-shaking subject on which the Apostles were commanded to preach. And so they did, even though it was offensive to the lost world. “I determined, Paul said, “not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (I Cor. 2:2) In the Scriptures, the death of Jesus Christ is represented as the single most important event that has ever occurred. It is the one fact upon which Christianity rests, the only ground of hope for guilty mankind! Our debt paid by God Himself.

          What was the Saviour’s plan in submitting to die on the Cross, why was it that Jehovah smote Him, and what has been accomplished by His death? We, who have been given the revelation of an End-Time Prophet, have a distinct advantage in that God gave this Prophet the answer to the above questions. To try and enter into the full revelation of the meaning of the Cross, we need the teaching of a Word Prophet. Some will say, we understand the meaning of the Cross, but let me ask you, do you ever find yourself under condemnation for some sin or other? Do you have days that you feel a wall between you and your God? Are you at times unsure of His Love encircling you, so that you know His thoughts are always good toward you and not evil? Do you ever wonder if it is truly His will to heal you from every affliction?

          If we are still in doubt about some of these things, then we need a fuller revelation of what was accomplished at the Cross! What has Christ done in order to secure the Salvation and Healing of us sinners? We must forsake our human reason and replace it with the plan of Almighty God. The preaching of the Cross is to them that perish, FOOLISHNESS, but unto us which are saved it is the Power of God (I Cor. 1:18 ). To which the Apostle added, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks FOOLISHNESS, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.”

          The preaching of the Cross must not remain FOOLISHNESS to those who are CALLED! It must become the unfailing Power of God to us-ward! Here is what we mean! We must not be foolish enough to allow Satan to condemn us for our sins and failures, which according to God’s Word, have been destroyed forever by the Blood of His Cross. I John 3:8, “…..For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.” Did He fail in His work? Never! Heb. 10:12-17, “But this Man, after He had offered one Sacrifice for sins FOREVER, sat down on the Right Hand of God.” Verse 14, “For by one offering He has PERFECTED FOREVER them that are sanctified.” Verse 17, “And their sins and iniquities will be remembered no more.”

          Heb. 9:12, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by HIS OWN BLOOD He entered in ONCE into the Holy Place , having obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION FOR US.” What was the reason for Christ’s death on the Cross? Can we all agree that it was to set God’s people free from ALL sin? Surely, if we know anything about the Scriptures, we can agree on this powerful and glorious point. He died so that we who were “Made subject to vanity” (Rom. 8:20 ), through no fault of our own, could be set free from all sin! And this is true while we are still guilty in our flesh!

          Our fallen nature (that Law of Sin in our members, Rom. 7:23 ), makes it impossible to live sin-free as our Lord did, but our RIGHTEOUSNESS is a FAITH walk. The Blood in His veins made the difference between us and Himself. Our great Saviour has lived that perfect life in our place, and has credited it to our account. Through faith in His plan, it is now as though we had lived the whole Law, perfectly, all of our lives, even to our last hour here!

          There are many wonderful, deep, and glorious revelations God gave His Prophet for the Bride of this age, and how we do appreciate each one of them. We understand the sin in Eden that it was not an apple but sex. We see one God and not three persons. We baptize in the Name of God, which Name is “Lord Jesus Christ.” We know about the sin of denominationalism, our church brand name will end up being the Mark of the Beast. One of the Popes of Rome will be the anti-christ. He will lead millions into perdition, we know that. We understand that the teaching that millions out of this age going in the Rapture is false. Jesus said “FEW” and so will it be. We know that church natural goes into Tribulation, but the Bride in the Rapture. We could go on naming the revelations that God has given His Bride in these last days. How glorious and exciting they are, but it is this writer’s belief that God has reserved one last revelation for the hour we are now in, the revelation without which it will be impossible to go in the Rapture. This is not to say we do not need the ones our Lord has already given, only that without this last one, our Rapturing Faith will not be complete. We are speaking of what God has done through the Cross so that He can legally offer to every man, “THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

          Rom. 5: 17 -18, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one (Adam) much more they which receive abundance of grace AND OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.” Verse 18, “Therefore as by the offence of ONE, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of ONE, THE FREE GIFT came upon all men unto justification of life.”

          The great question concerning the Cross is, “Will we believe what our natural mind knows about ourselves, that there is no good thing in our flesh, or will we, by PURE FAITH, take hold of God’s offer of the “FREE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS?” The will of God was to subject His Elect Angels to vanity (speaking of His Bride) so that His desire to be a Saviour could be set in motion. We know from the Prophet that God wanted a way in which to express His powerful Love that had before time had no proper way of expression.

          Since this was God’s plan, and since He is PERFECTLY SATISFIED with the payment He, HIMSELF, made, will we still subject His plan to our HUMAN REASONING, questioning whether or not we are FREE FROM SIN? Dear Bride, we must allow the will and plan of God to be supreme and unquestioned in our minds! It is true that our REASONING will come into conflict with WHAT IS WRITTEN, and when it does, we are told to “Cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Cor. 10:5) Why would we reject so great and so merciful a plan?

          Rom. 4:8, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Who is this man? Is it not one who fully accepts God’s plan that makes him righteous? We are commanded to “Gird our loins about with truth of God’s plan for our deliverance and buckle on the breast plate of righteousness.” (Eph. 6:14) We are speaking of our total and complete redemption from all sin, past, present, and future! We are searching for the full revelation of what Christ accomplished by His Cross. We have preached and taught about the Cross, and no doubt we have an intellectual knowledge concerning it.

          But, we have now entered into the time frame when we must have a spiritual revelation for what God has done for us on the Cross. By this, we mean that we must be able to claim our freedom from Satan and sin while we are still in a sinful flesh body. Our flesh man is vile, polluted, helpless and hopeless in ourselves. Only the Holy Ghost which renews the mind can convince us to, by faith, lay aside our natural condition and stand firmly on what God has written concerning our Redemption and Righteousness. Our pardon must be received as a pardon!

          We are to say what Jesus said, “The Prince of this world comes but he has nothing in us.” With no unrepented sin in our lives, he has no ground to stand on from which to condemn us. He has no legal authority over us at all. We refuse all condemnation. We are free!

          QUOTE: ONE MORE TIME LORD, PAGE 3, “Satan has no more power, only as he can bluff with it. If he can bluff you into it, alright, you will have to have it. BUT LEGALLY HE HAS NO MORE POWER AT ALL. EVERY POWER HE HAD WAS TAKEN FROM HIM AT CALVARY !” (End quote) (The Cross destroyed Satan’s legal hold on us. All he does now is a bluff.)

          I John 3:8, “For this purpose the Son of Man was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

          In I John 1:5-9, we see some very important Scripture concerning what we are teaching. “This then is the message which we have heard of Him (Christ) and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness (still believing our sins are charged against us, after repentance) we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the Light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another (with God) and the Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from ALL SIN.” Let us claim our righteousness and move out for God!

          QUOTE: POSSESSING THE ENEMIES GATE, PAGE 13, “And now we just STAND AS CONQUERORS. See, there is no fighting to do. The fight is over, we own it. He was wounded for our transgressions; with His stripes we were healed. To know that it’s EXACTLY IN LINE WITH THE WORD.” (End quote)

          James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore unto God, RESIST the devil and he will flee from you.” (Because all he has is a BLUFF) (Satan knows this but dreads for us to find it out!)

          QUOTE: POSSESSING THE ENEMIES GATE PAGE 11, “Aren’t you happy this morning to know that we stand more than a CONQUEROR. There is nothing to fight (the devil) about. The fight is over, the whistle has been blown. The (Victory) flag has been raised. In the midst of every sin-pile, THE OLD RUGGED CROSS IS PLANTED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, A CONQUEROR. THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE IT. LOOK AND LIVE.” (End quote)

          Rom.6:22, “But now, being MADE FREE FROM SIN, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto HOLINESS, and the end everlasting life.”

          If we believe the full benefits that Jesus earned for us on the Cross, our lives will show them! We will accept our full pardon and walk in victory day by day.

          Let us examine further the plan of God that has set us free. If there was to be any kind of a payment made for the sins of man, then the plan would have to originate in the Mind of God, Himself, so that God, Himself would, for all Eternity, be completely satisfied with it! We have listed a few of God’s great Mysteries revealed in our day, but also, as we have said, we are now entering into the Highest Mystery of all. I Tim. 3:16, “Great is the Mystery of Godliness.” Yes, indeed, it is mysterious for a man to claim the righteousness of God, but we are!

          Amazing beyond our ability to understand it is that spectacle that happened on Golgotha ’s Hill. There the Prince of Life hung, dying. There the great God of all Glory was made a laughing-stock, and the Figure of unutterable shame. There we see the Holy One of God made to be sin, and forsaken by His Father, the Author of all goodness and blessings made a curse for sinful earthworms like ourselves. The Mystery is that this person was none other than our Creator. The Mystery is that the greatest Personage in Heaven or on Earth would mingle His Holiness and Majesty with the lowest degree of dishonor that the mind of men could think up.

          Where can we go in our search for understanding of this Mystery? Who can give us a proper understanding of what our God did on Golgotha ? Human reasoning will fall so very short, for “Man can receive nothing expect it be given him from Heaven.” (John 3:27) It will take a revelation by the Holy Ghost before we can enter into this Mystery. There is only one place to which we can appeal, and that is to what God has been pleased to make known in His Word.

          We will now look at this Word and see that it was not only evil men that were willing for Jesus Christ to die such a death, but IT PLEASED GOD TO BRUISE HIM! (Isa. 53:10) It was, in all truth, God, Himself, that put His Christ to grief. In Zech. 13:7 we read, “Awake O sword against My Sheppard, and against the Man that is my Fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; Smite the Sheppard and the sheep will be scattered….” The human sentence of death to Jesus was only the fulfillment of God’s own plan as, “The Kings heart was in the Hand of the Lord, and as the rivers of water He turned it withersoever He will.” (Pr. 21:1)

          The death of Christ was a great instance of Ps 76:10 being fulfilled, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee, the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.” The wrath of man against God’s Christ was made to praise God, in that it fulfilled His mysterious plan to put His Sheppard (Himself) to grief, and by it, be eternally satisfied that man’s sin had been paid for. The powerful, true statement delivered by the Lord to His disciples, is now being revealed to those of this last age, “The Prince of this world cometh and has nothing in us.” Rather than being afraid to claim our gift of righteousness, we are now seeing what a terrible sin it is to reject it. Rather than being CONDEMNED by the devil for testifying that we are sin-free, we are now being CONVICTED by the Holy Ghost for not saying it. We are seeing that by continuing under the dominion of sin, we are making the Cross of none effect in our personal life.

          The revelation is that our refusal to walk in the light of our total freedom from all sin and condemnation is the worse form of unbelief. It is the root cause of all unbelief. It is, in this writer’s opinion, the final revelation, sent to perfect our Faith into the kind that will get us up in the Rapture.

          Our fervent prayer is that this writer and our readers will from this time forward refuse to “Frustrate the Grace of God; for if righteousness comes by keeping the Law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Gal. 2:21)

          Lord Jesus, we wrest our total well being from Satan’s hands, and give you all the praise and glory. Amen!