Robert Morris - Dominion
So, we'll get to John 14 in a moment, but before we do, let me read you just a few other Scriptures, all right? When Satan tempted Jesus, he said this to Him in Luke 4:6. "And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory, for this has been delivered", and I put in parentheses, they're given over. That's what the word delivered means. "This has been given over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish". Now, I'm gonna have to go through a lot of Scripture, so I'm just gonna have to make it quick today with you. But, who gave the dominion to the enemy? Well, Adam and Eve did, because God gave them dominion.
Genesis 1:28, "Then God blessed them", that's Adam and Eve, "and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" So, God gives dominion to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve hand it over to the enemy when they sin. And then, Satan says to Jesus, I've got all the authority, I've got all the dominion. I can give it to anyone I want. Jesus doesn't argue with him, but before the ascension, after the resurrection, what we call the Great Commission, Jesus makes this statement: Matthew 28:18, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth".
Here's what I want to show you. We don't have to wait for the second coming for Jesus to get authority back. He got it back on the first Easter, and I'm going to show you something that happened on the first Easter day, that day, the day He arose, Resurrection Day, that many people never see. But I'm gonna have to maybe blow away a little bit of something you've seen before, or show you a little different meaning to John 14, 15, and 16, okay? So, John 14, 15, and 16 is the conversation Jesus is having with His disciples at the Last Supper. John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions".
Now, the only two versions that use this word are New King James and Old King James. It means dwelling place. So, where My Father dwells, there are many dwelling places. "If it were not so, I would have told you, and I go to prepare a place for you". Now, hear me, all right? Just for a moment, just follow me, please, because you will see this by the time we start giving this message. He says in Verse 1 and 2, I've got to go prepare a place for you. Just for a moment, let's forget about, I'll pretend this is a hammer for a moment, that Jesus is up in heaven building mansions, you know, for all of us, and every time someone gets saved, Jesus is like, another mansion, you know? And as soon as He gets all of the mansions done, then He's coming back.
All right, let's forget about the mansions for a moment, and let's think spiritually. Is He saying you can't have a relationship with the Father until I take care of something, and I will go and present myself as an offering, so that your sin can be taken care of so you and the Father can have a relationship, because you can't have a relationship with the Father yet? All right? So let's just keep reading, and watch what He's telling His disciples. Verse 25, "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, and My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled," same thing we read in Verse 1, "neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'"
Now again, just for a moment, humor me. Could He be talking about the death and the resurrection? I'm going away, but I'm coming back. Watch this. "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, "I am going to the Father". So, I've got to go prepare a place for you so you can have a relationship with the Father. "For my Father is greater than I". Verse 29 is the key that we know that He's talking about the death and the resurrection, not the second coming, in this passage. Here's why. Watch Verse 29 carefully. "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe". Listen, no one is gonna have a problem believing after the second coming, not even the atheists, and I've got a Scripture on it. "Ever knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father". All right. John 16:16, "A little while," a little while, "and you will not see Me. And again, a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father".
Now, look at me just for a moment. It makes a lot more sense. In just a few hours, He's going to be delivered over to the scribes and the Pharisees for trial, and then three days, He's going to rise again. It makes a lot more sense for Him to say, "a little while", than if He's talking about the second coming and He's talking about thousands of years. "A little while", less than a day, and you won't see Me. And then in just a few days, "a little while", you'll see Me again. "Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, "A little while, and you will not see Me, and again, a little while and you will see me", and "because I go to the Father"? They said therefore, "What is this that He says, "A little while"?
I don't know if you all have ever noticed, but the disciples were thick. "We do not know what He is saying". Verse 19, "Now Jesus knew they desired to ask Him, so He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, "A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me"? Most assuredly I say to you", watch, "that you will weep and lament". Now listen to me. Again, the classic interpretation of this was that He ascended and He's coming back again. Okay, they did not weep and lament when Jesus ascended, they wept and lamented when He was crucified. Watch this. "You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice". The world rejoiced when He was crucified, not when He ascended. Watch this. "And you will be sorrowful". They were, when He was crucified. Watch. "But your sorrow will be turned into joy".
That's what happened in the resurrection. Then He talks about a woman giving birth, Verse 21. Look at Verse 22. "Therefore you now have sorrow"...watch this! He's talking to His disciples, listen! "But I will see you again". I will see you again. "And your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take away from you". Are you all following me? He's talking, you've got to take it in context. He's talking to the disciples. I have to go away. I have to fix something, because you can't have a relationship with the Father, but I'm coming back. It's just gonna be a little while, not gonna be long. And I'm giving you two clues, peace and the Holy Spirit, and when I come back, I'll talk about that, too. All right?
So now, let's go to Resurrection Day. John 20:1, "Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb". Now, this is in the morning. Look at Verse 11. "Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain". I don't have time to go into all of that, but that's a picture of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament with the two angels and God in the middle. That was exciting. Okay, let's just keep going. "Then they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.'"
Now, look at this verse and see how strange this verse is! "Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus". That is strange. She had traveled with Him for over 2 years, most believe between 2-1/2 and 3 years of His ministry. His ministry was really about 3-1/2 years. We say 3 years, but it was a little over 3, about 3-1/2. She started with Him from almost the very beginning, and she traveled with Him. John 8:3 says that a group of women traveled with Jesus and the disciples. She's one of them. Okay. So, there's something different about His appearance right now. That should cause an alarm when we're reading the Bible. That should make us say, I wonder why she didn't recognize Him? Okay?
The next verse, to me, it sounds even stranger. "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She didn't recognize His voice, either. Now, watch this! If you don't think this is strange, I don't know how to help you. Listen. "She, supposing Him to be the gardener". She thought He was the gardener! "She said, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you've laid Him, and I'll take Him away.' Jesus said to her, "Mary"! Now, He does something that opens her eyes, so she can see. "She turned and said, 'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher)". Watch this, though. "Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me". This word, cling, it's a Greek word. It's in the Bible 36 times. In the Authorized Version, it's always translated "touch". It's never translated "cling", it's always "touch". It's the same word where the woman said, "If I can just touch the hem of His garment".
So, it wasn't hold onto, it was just touch. And Jesus turned around and He used the very same word and said, "Who touched me"? The disciples said, Lord, a whole bunch of people. You're saying who touched me? He said, somebody touched me. That's the same word. Okay, so here's what He actually said to her: don't touch me. Don't touch me. Now, watch your Bibles carefully. "For I have not yet ascended to My Father". Now again, we understand that 40 days later, He ascended. But I'm telling you, something happened on Resurrection Day that we miss, that we need to catch, because it changes everything. Listen, does your Bible say He says, "I have not yet ascended to My Father"? Did you see that? And, don't touch me. Don't touch me.
Then He says, "But go to My brethren", the thick-headed ones, "and say to them, "I am ascending" right now. Look at that, present tense, I am. "I am ascending"...now, oh, this is so good! This is so good! You'd better get excited! "I am ascending to My Father", listen to this, "and your Father". "To My God, and to your God". Now, look down a little bit later, Verse 19. "Then, the same day at evening", okay, stop. Where's He been all day? Where did He say He was going? To the Father. Your Bible just said, "The same day at evening". Okay. Your Bible just said that Mary sees Him in the morning, and He says, don't touch me. Don't touch me. Don't touch me. "I have not yet ascended to My Father", but go tell the disciples I am ascending to the Father right now.
You go tell them that. And "Then the same day at evening", watch, "being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them", what? What two words did I ask you to remember? Peace and the Holy Spirit, right? "Peace be to you". When He had said this", watch this, "He showed them His hands and His side". By the way, just a few days later he actually said to Thomas, "Stretch your hand here". Let me paraphrase that for you: touch me. Touch me. That morning, He said to Mary, don't touch me, I haven't ascended to the Father yet. Same day at evening, He says to the disciples, touch me.
Are you all, are you all? If you're not getting excited, I don't know how to, I don't know. Your wood's wet. I can't get your fire lit. This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in the Scripture, I'm telling you. He says, I haven't gone to the Father yet, but I'm going. Same day, He says to the disciples, touch me. Peace. "Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them, "Peace to you". Now, I love this. "As the Father has sent Me". He's been in the presence of the Father all day. "I also send you". And then when He said this, "He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit". I'm going away.
Don't be troubled, it's just gonna be a little while, just a few days, guys. But I've got to get it right for you, so you can dwell with the Father, because you can't have a relationship with the Father. But, I'll go to the Father and I'll make it right. I'll present myself as a sin offering. He sees Mary and He says, don't touch me, I haven't gone to the Father yet. I haven't ascended to the Father yet. That same day, in the evening, he says, you can touch me now, because the Father has sent Me, and I told you this before it happened. Do you all remember that verse? "I told you this before it happened, so that when it happened, you would believe". Peace and the Holy Spirit.
Now, here's a verse that we miss. Hebrews 9:12 says, "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place", that's where the Father is, "once for all", and you should get very excited over these words, "having obtained eternal redemption". Having obtained eternal redemption! So, Ephesians then tells us that He first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He descended, that's Ephesians, that's during the three days. That's when He's in the tomb. And then it says, basically, just giving you the short version, He walks up to the devil and says, give me the keys, I'm taking it back. And then it says, "He leads captivity captive". That's referring to the Old Testament saints. They were not in torment, but they were in a place of waiting.
Now, wouldn't it be cool if somewhere in the Bible there was a verse-by-verse description of what happened from Sunday morning to Sunday night, when Jesus actually entered the presence of the Father? Wouldn't that be cool? See, the problem is that there are some things we don't understand about the Bible, but it doesn't make the Bible untrue, it just means we don't understand. So, Daniel talks about some things that are still gonna happen in the Book of Revelation, but sometimes when we see something in Daniel, we think, oh, that's in the future. I just want to convince you more than anything that Jesus isn't getting dominion back one day, He already got it back. That's what I'm trying to convince you of.
So, I'm gonna show you Daniel, but before I show you Daniel, I have to show you a Scripture in John. Now, we started in John 14, all right? In John 12, Jesus made this statement in Verse 31. "Now"...now. I hate to ask you to repeat stuff, because I don't want you to think you're in class, or some of you have very bad memories about school, I don't know. But, could you just say that word, now? Okay, not in 2.000 years. Right now, "Is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out". Now. Here's what He's saying. Guys, I'm about to take it back. What we gave Adam and Eve and they lost, I'm taking it back, legally. I'm going to take it back. So, here's what happened. It's in Daniel 7:9. "I watched until thrones were put in place".
Now, this next part may send chills up your spine, literally. "And the Ancient of Days was seated". Where did Jesus say He was going? To the Father. This is the Father. "His garment was white as snow". I just can't even imagine that we're going to get to see God one day. "And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him". That's a million, if you like numbers. "Ten thousand times ten thousand", that's 100 million, "stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened".
Now, that's why we think that that's Revelation. There's a judgment seat coming, and there's a great white throne judgment coming, but Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world". So, there was a judgment that took place on Resurrection Day. "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking. I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame". All right, hold on just for a moment. People will say, see, the beast, that's in Revelation. No, listen, in Daniel 7, there are four beasts. This is just the first one. And let me tell you what was destroyed on Resurrection Day, 2.000 years ago. Sin was destroyed. Okay, then watch this. Sin was destroyed. He destroyed it. "As for the rest of the beasts", watch, "they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time".
Here's what I'm trying to tell you! Satan is lying to you! He had his dominion taken away 2.000 years ago, yet his life has been prolonged for a season and time. But, he has no more dominion! No more dominion! Now, here's Jesus, coming to the Father. "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man", watch this, "coming with the clouds of heaven"! Now, I told you a moment ago, who did He take with Him to heaven on that day? The Old Testament saints. Hebrews 11 lists what we call the Hall of Faith. It lists these Old Testament saints, and Hebrews 12:1 calls them, "That great cloud of witnesses". I saw the Son of Man coming, and He had the clouds with Him, the clouds of heaven with Him, like that great cloud of witnesses with Him. "He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed".
That happened 2.000 years ago. When Jesus said to Mary, don't touch me, because I haven't gone into the Most Holy Place yet and offered myself. Two more verses, Daniel 7:21-22: "I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came in and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom". Here's what happened 2.000 years ago. The Ancient of Days walked in, the judge. He looked at Satan on one side. He looked at the saints on the other side. And then He looked at the bloody, bruised, battered, and beaten body of His Son, and He said, Satan, you lose, Saints, you win! I'm telling you, Satan doesn't have dominion over you anymore, and we don't have to wait until the second coming. Because of the resurrection, we get it now.
Jesus has dominion right now. He's not going to get it one day in the future, He got all dominion and all authority back 2.000 years ago on that cross, and when He entered into heaven on that Easter day and presented Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God gave Jesus a name above all names, and no matter what you're going through today, Jesus has dominion in your life. And I want to encourage you, don't listen to the enemy. He's a liar, he's a thief, and he's a fraud. Jesus has dominion. I want to encourage you to get this entire series. This message today is a message you probably want to hear again, and this message today is a part of a series called, "More Than Words," where we focus on God's word is more than just mere words: they are the very words of life to us. So, I want to encourage you to get this series. Thanks so much for watching. I pray that this truth ministered to you today.