An Electrical Storm

TITLE: AN ELECTRICAL STORM

SCRIPTURE: ST. LUKE 10:17-18

I promised Rev. Luther Kitchen that I would give him a tag-line for this mornings message. We looked at a portion of this scripture text this past Tuesday evening during our A.M.E.N (men’s ministry). We had a time; brothers, if you have not placed this ministry on your calendar for attendance, I encourage you to do so. You are missing a treat and a great opportunity to further our understanding of the Word of God. PPWC you need to know the men of this church are committed to become Spiritually Strong by learning more about God. This will make us better – HUSBANDS – FATHERS – MEN – LEADERS.

This is an exciting passage of scripture that we will examine. Many times we fail to remember that, according to Scripture, Jesus did have more than 12 disciples that followed him. Remember what Jesus said in ST. JOHN 10:16 “AND OTHER SHEEP I HAVE, WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD: THEM ALSO I MUST BRING, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE; AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD, AND ONE SHEPHERD.” The spirit of this verse is found in our text this morning as we find Jesus encountering 70 of His disciples that just returned from witnessing throughout the region.

• We don’t know how long the seventy were gone

• We don’t know where they went

• We don’t know how people responded in each place

• But we do know that VS. 17- reports the high spirits they returned in

• The disciples were overjoyed that they have been used as instruments of God’s power

When Jesus sent out seventy of His disciples to PREACH and HEAL, they returned EXUBERANTLY to report that even the demons were subject to them in His name. They should not have been so surprised, however. Jesus informed them that in His PRE-INCARNATE state, He had witnessed a very revealing demonstration of the Father’s supreme power over Satan: When the all-powerful God decreed Satan’s expulsion from heaven, Satan could not resist.

• Jesus chose the metaphor, like lightning, to emphasize the speed with which Satan fell

• He fell, not like molasses, but like lightning

• He didn’t fall like a leaf from a tree or a rock from a cliff – but like lightning

• Satan was in heaven one second, and in the next—BOOM!—just like that, he was gone!

• Just like AN ELECTRICAL STORM – one second the flash of lightning is there, next second it is gone

If God can so quickly and easily expel Satan himself, it should have been no surprise that His commissioned servants could also quickly and easily EXPEL DEMONS. When it comes to Demon Possession, I believe the average Christian is Fearful. Matter of fact most Christians prefer not to even believe in Demon Possession by saying this is Old Bible Stuff and certainly not prevalent today. Previously, those 70-disciples possessed great respect for the horrible power that demons exercised over their victims, but now they had witnessed a far greater power, causing their joyful amazement.

• How some of us need this same revelation today

• Too many Christians have a great respect for the perceived power of the devil and have not yet grasped that God’s power is far, far, far greater

• Too often we recognize devil in our testimony before recognizing Power of God

• God is the Creator, and Satan is only a creation

I am sure you can tell already, that we will be dealing with a subject today that we are VERY FAMILIAR WITH and on the other hand, FREQUENTLY, WOEFULLY IGNORANT OF. One of Satan's masterstrokes of deception has been to succeed in getting most of the world educated to believe that he doesn't even exist—that he is merely used in the Bible as a SYMBOL or a FIGURATIVE EMBLEM to explain the presence of evil. But the Bible, on the other hand, shows him not only to exist, but also to be the chief of a huge army bent on destroying God's plan.

We must not take him lightly or for granted. According to an article entitled “Dare to Dream Again”:

• He is your worst nightmare

• He is more cunning than a serial killer, more dangerous than a terrorist, and more powerful than all the armies of the world, combined

• He is sneaky, underhanded and covert

• He is the demise of many a good man, woman, and nation

• He is very good at what he does

• In fact, he’s the best

• He’s a killer, a liar and a thief - but most people never even know they’ve been taken by him

• He’s stolen your self-esteem, damaged your relationships, and crippled your walk with God