BEHOLD, I GIVE UNTO YOU POWER
Study Text: Luke 10: 17 – 20.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
- Jesus sent out seventy disciples in the service for the kingdom of God, and they came back unto Him with good report and testimonies of victory through His name. We shall discussed this topic under four sub-headings:
1. Good Report of the Sent
2. Great Revelation of the Saviour
3. Gracious Reassurance of the Saints
4. Glorious Rejoicing of the Steadfast.
1. Good Report of the Sent
- There is nothing God is doing with man that He can not do without man. God can do His works without man but He choose to involve man in His service, so every man used of God should see it as a great privilege and opportunity which needed to be guided well.
- The Holy Spirit is the first witness for Christ, but He is willing to work with men who can yield themselves. These men must be saved by being washed in the blood of Jesus; they must be available and be willing to work for the glory of the almighty God alone.
- These sent people came back with good report. They never complained of the stress or challenges they would have faced in carrying out this great assignment. Every one that will work for the kingdom of God must be ready to endure hardship, face challenges and difficult situations without murmuring or complaining, but being filled with joy of serving the Lord. Acts 20:20-24: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
- We must be filled with joy serving the Lord. There is joy of knowing the Lord, in having personal relationship with God and living to please Him in holiness. There is also joy of working for the Lord, if we work for Him according to His will and for His glory alone.
- They told Jesus that the devil was subject to them through the name of Jesus, so they came back to return all the glory to Him. We should know that we can not do anything by our own power, but must depend totally on the power of Jesus name. Then any victory we record through His name, we must be ready to return all the glory back unto Him. Isa 42:5-8: Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
2. Great Revelation of the Saviour
- Jesus gave a revelation to His disciples that the devil fell like lightning. This means that the devil has lost his power through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Phil 2:5-11:Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- The devil did not want anybody to know this truth about him, he wants to hide this information and still present himself as being powerful when indeed he had fallen..
- Every one in God’s service should understand and believe that with the name of Jesus, the devil cannot do anything to harm us because he is fallen and has been placed under our feet.
- He fell like lightening from heaven. Three things characterize a lightening: it is sudden, visible and irreversible. Satan’s fall is sudden, even when he was not thinking about it, it was visible, but only those that have their spiritual eyes opened can see the fall of Satan and deal with him in that capacity. His fall is also irreversible, our victory over the devil is arranged to be total, permanent and continuous. The devil can not recover from the fall as long as the people of God remain faithful to Him. The devil is subject to us and will continue to be subject unto us because our Saviour told us that he is fallen.
3. Gracious Reassurance of the Saints
- Here the saints of God received a reassurance that power is given unto them to fight and overcome all the works, attacks, and schemes of the devil, and that no harm, injury or destruction will happen to them in the course of using this power against the devil.
- There are two kinds of power mentioned here based on what the power is meant for.:
1. Offensive Power:
- Today, many people put themselves only on the defensive against the devil. They fold their hands and waiting for one attack of the devil or the other to defend. Some are not even interested in going near the devil because they believed if they don’t trouble the devil, he will not attack them. But the Bible makes us to know that at all times the devil moves about like a lion looking for who to attack, whether you move near him or not.
- Jesus gave us power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and we must do that regularly and consistently without fear, but with great confidence in the Lord that as we tread upon them, we render them powerless and we put them on the run.
- Serpents and scorpions are dangerous, poisonous beings which will attack people smartly and quietly but painfully too, and if their attacks are not properly handled, they can lead to death in their subjects. But Jesus said we should tread upon them. with a confidence that we would not be hurt, but they would be.
- The sword of the spirit is our greatest offensive weapon against the kingdom of darkness, and we need to develop the grace of skillfully using the sword. Eph 6:13-18: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
- We should scatter all the gathering of the kingdom of darkness against progress and success in our lives by the word of God, we should pull down their strongholds, we should bind all the strong men of the devil and recover all they might have stolen or destroyed.
2. Defensive Power
- Jesus also gave us power that will shield us and protect us against all the arrows and attacks of the devil, which is why He says nothing, shall by any means hurt us. Not by means of accidents, coincidence, in error or perchance. Isa 54:17: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
- Any time we remain in the righteousness of God, the weapon of the devil can never prosper against our lives.
- The sword of the spirit can also be useful as a defensive weapon, especially in the battle of words with the devil. When you are being attack with a sword, you can defend with another sword raised in the opposite direction to the attacking sword.
- The greatest protective power we have as believers is the blood of Jesus. Rev 12:11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
- We must plead the blood of Jesus upon ourselves regularly as a means of protecting us against all the attacks from the kingdom of darkness and as a means of demolishing what so ever the devil succeeded in doing against our lives.
4. Glorious Rejoicing of the Steadfast
- Jesus told the people that they should not rejoice because of victory over the devil, but they should rather rejoice because their names are written in heaven. This is because it is possible for somebody to be victorious over Satan and yet not been admitted into the kingdom of God. Matt 7:21-23: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
- Judas Iscariot will definitely be among the seventy that were rejoicing because the devil was subject to them, but we know that at the end of the day he lost the kingdom of God. Signs and wonders are great and they prove to us the greatness of God and His power, but they are not meaningful if we will not get to heaven at the end.
- The greatest joy of the Christian is the hope of eternal life, and this hope is only for those who keep themselves blameless and remain steadfast in serving the Lord till the end. 1 John 3:1-3: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
- Whatever we are passing through in this world, we must not allow it to take eternal life away from us. No problem of this world is big enough to be compared with the glory that is waiting for us if we endure and get to heaven at the end.
- To conclude therefore, I will say the greatest power given to us by Jesus is the power to become a child of God, because this power not only give us victory over the devil, but also qualifies us for the glorious inheritance of the saints both in this world and the world to come. John 1:11-13: He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Friend, have you received this power to become a child of God? If not, you cannot have this glorious joy because your name is not written in heaven. But you can take a decision for the Lord today by confessing your sins to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness while you make up your mind to repent from your sins and to turn to God. Then accept Jesus as your Lord and personal saviour, and God will write your name in the book of life, and the whole heaven will rejoice at your new birth. This is the best thing that can ever happen to you and in your life. You will have a great joy on earth and in heaven.. God bless you as you surrender yourself totally to Him today.
