When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Then Herod when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared, he sent the wise men to Jerusalem and said, “Go and search diligently for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also” (Matthew 2:8).
When the wise men heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold [to honor Him as a king], frankincense (to honor Him as God], and myrrh [to honor Him as a man]. (Matthew 2:9-11).
During the trial of Jesus Christ before Pilate He was asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself on this, or did others tell you this about Me? Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priest have delivered You to me. What have You done? Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here”
Pilate again asked Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice"(John 18:35-37).
On several occasions Jesus Christ indicated to His disciples that He was not the ruler of this world {age]. In predicting His death on the cross, His soul was troubled and He said, “Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice was heard from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. “Now is the judgment of this world: now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:27-32).
On another occasion Jesus told His disciples, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30).
In explaining to His disciples the advantage and the rationale for Him to go away and send the Holy Spirit, Jesus said; “I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:7-11).
Jesus in praying to the Father on behalf of His disciples said, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom you have given Me out of the world. They were Yours. You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” ‘I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.’ ‘I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17: 6, 9, 14-16).
When Jesus Christ perceived that the people were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to a mountain by Himself alone (John 6:15).
This should be conclusive enough for true believers to realize that the ruler of this world is Satan and therefore, the kingdom of Christ and His saints is not of this world, not in this era or age, but it is certainly current and has jurisdiction over the lives of His saints, just as the Lord was, and is King over the nation of Israel, when they rejected Him, and asked for a king like the nations that were around them.
Despite the fact that they were warned saying; “According to the doings of the land of Egypt, were you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 18:3-4).
Therefore, the admonition for the saints is, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:4'-5).
I therefore beg to ask the question, if Jesus Christ stated categorically that, His kingdom is not of this world, it is not from here and the Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, why should we entangle ourselves again with what we have been delivered from?
Why do believers who profess to believe in Jesus Christ as King continue to associate His birth with the pagan festival of Christmas! When there is a biblical festival that is ordained by God to commemorate the Kingship of Jesus Christ which started from His birth and glorifies Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords?
Remember, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. We cannot serve God and mammon. We can either be a citizen of the kingdom of darkness whose ruler is Satan, or a citizen of the kingdom of light whose Ruler is Jesus Christ, a choice has to be made.
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To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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