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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
WHAT ARE YOU REJOICING ABOUT?
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 had sent his disciples out two by two, to preach the gospel throughout the land of Israel. 70 men, dedicated, consecrated, called and chosen had walked out into the territory of Satan’s domain. They went forth as a conquering army, preaching, ministering, praying for the sick and casting out devils everywhere they went.
The power that Jesus had bestowed upon them was beyond imagination. It was as though 70 Elijah’s or 70 Moses’ had been released upon Israel. Great miracles and crusades were formed as God’s army received its marching orders and advanced upon the strongholds of Satan.
Jesus had sent them forth as his fore-runners, to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming into every city where they went, just as John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus’ coming and appearing before the people at the River Jordan. It was there that Jesus’ public ministry began and now it was time for his ministry to begin spreading far and wide.
Jesus knew that the work that these 70 were sent to do would stir up trouble. He already knew the many hardships they would face. Nothing escapes his knowledge and his plans are already completed to overcome every attack of the enemy and bring about the victory.
Luke 10:3-4, "Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way."
What kind of encouragement was that to men who had never been involved in any type of ministry before?
It was as though Jesus was saying, “You are going to go out and be chased like wolves desiring to devour you and kill you. You are going to face all-out spiritual warfare. You are going to go hungry at times. You will have to flee for your very lives at other times. You will never be rich by this world’s standards. In fact, I want you to leave your money at home and don’t take anything along to protect yourself with like a rod or a staff. You will have to give up being close to your family and friends most of the time. Don’t bring any extra clothes or shoes because I require you to live totally by faith. And one last thing, don’t dilly-dally around. Don’t stop to talk to friends or make new friends, just keep moving. Now - Welcome to Ministry! How many of you are really called to do this job? We shall soon see.”
Jesus never promised them that they would not be persecuted.
Luke 10:10-12, "But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city."
Luke 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."
I wonder if Jesus could have been more negative in his commission to these 70 disciples? I wonder if he was even then, trying to test their faith, trust and commitment to him?
Has the Lord ever spoken those words to you, perhaps not audibly, but in your spirit?
When I began to pastor and take on a pulpit ministry, I knew that it would require a lot more time, work and energy than I had ever done in serving the Lord before. I also knew that there would be times when people would not like the decisions I had to make, or like to hear the message I felt that God wanted me to preach. I was also concerned that my skills as a leader were lacking too much and I wondered if any would care to follow.
I also know that there will come those times when the “wolves” will be growling at the door of this ministry and sounding like the big bad wolf of “The Three Little Pigs” fame.
“Let me in or I will blow your house down”, is the cries of the devil that I know have come before and will come again.
But even with all of those negative, hurtful and sometimes frightening events, I have found that working for the Lord is still the absolutely most satisfying and rewarding thing that I could ever do with my life. I am so glad that God called me and chose me. What an honor to work for the great God of Heaven in tending to his people!
Have you ever felt as though God said to you, “Go get ’em tiger, I’m right behind you!” And then you stop to think, “Now God, I would prefer that you go before me instead of staying in back of me. After all, I don’t know what I’m facing and you do.”
And so, off they went, those 70 brave souls, riding off into the sunset and straight into hostile territory, but they were working for the Lord, and that’s all that mattered to them at this time.
I don’t know exactly how long they were gone from the presence of Jesus, working, praying, evangelizing, ministering, praying for the sick and casting out demons, but I can imagine that it wasn’t much more than a few weeks because as they ministered to the people great things began to happen.
Sick people began to receive their healings by the power of God and the name of Jesus. Unrepentant souls began to turn to the message of repentance in numbers that were growing larger each day. Crippled people were instantly made whole. And most surprising of all, they were able cast out demons and deliver people from terrible oppression and possession of Satan’s angels.
Boy, if only I could have those kinds of results! How fast our church would grow! People would come by the hundreds and we would have to rent a huge auditorium or build a building the size of the Centroplex to hold all those who came. People will flock to see the miracles, the spiritual manifestations and to be the next one that gets slain by the power of God. We could have long lines that would reach all the way to the corner, or perhaps all the way to the city limits because people love that kind of sensationalism. It’s too bad that the simple preaching of the truth of the gospel won’t draw that crowd. They need the Word of God as bad, if not worse, than they need a miracle!
Many miracles had been performed throughout the history of Israel. People had been healed at the Pool of Bethesda like we mentioned this morning. People had heard of the mighty miracles of the Prophets of old, but now, for ordinary men, who had accepted the call of God on their lives, to be able to cast out devils. Now that was something special!
How excited would you be if you prayed this week and a demon shrieked and fled from that one for whom you were praying in Jesus’ name? How many of us would even want to come face to face with a demon and then take on the task of driving him out in the name of Jesus?
Most Christians of our world are so afraid to go against Satan and his demons that they will not confront him. They are afraid of his power and rightly so. We have heard the preachers say to us that if we aren’t prepared then that devil may enter us, so we shirk our duty to minister to the lost and demon possessed because of the lack of faith.
Do we not know that Satan’s demons can never enter the heart of a born again Christian? The Holy Ghost living in you is greater than the devil and he will never surrender that heart to the devil that Jesus has redeemed with his own blood. What are we afraid of – a fallen and defeated Devil?
Most of us would react to that supernatural power over demons, sickness, and disease just as those 70 disciples did! We would come back to church bouncing off the walls and flat out fired-up over being able to accomplish that great work for the Lord! We would be wild with faith and there would be nothing impossible to us, through the power of the name of Jesus. The amazing thing is that there is nothing impossible through His name.
Matthew 19:26, "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
Mark 9:23, "Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
Mark 10:27, "And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."
Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said unto them, … for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
You can cast out demons! You can heal the sick! You can cleanse the lepers from their sin! You can perform mighty miracles! - All in the name of the name that is above every name – the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! The power in his name is unlimited. All power is given to him, in Heaven and in the earth. The gates of Hell, the power, strategies, plans and intents of the devil and his angels are no match for the Power of that name and they shall never prevail against the church, the man, or woman of God, who relies upon and has faith in the name of Jesus.
I don’t blame those 70 disciples for being excited. Wouldn’t we all be the same way! But Jesus had a little more to say to them and to us!
It’s fine to be excited about being used by God to perform miracles and cast out devils but that’s only secondary for you to be shouting about!
We sing that chorus, Shout to Lord all the earth let us sing! Power and Majesty, Praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the sea billows roll at the sound of his name! I sing for joy at the work of his hands. Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares with your power Jesus. Nothing stands before your power Jesus. Your name is above every name!
But my friend Jesus said that there is a greater reason for you to shout; a more important reason to be happy; and a vastly more important reason to rejoice than being able to perform mighty miracles!
WE SHOULD REJOICE BECAUSE OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN DOWN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE!
How much greater reason do we need than to praise God for giving us salvation and eternal life! That’s what we really need to be rejoicing about!
Rejoice because you have power over Satan in Jesus’ name, but rejoice even more because your name has been written down in glory.
There’s a new name written down in glory and it’s mine, oh yes it’s mine! My name is written there! Many of your names are written there too! Oh happy day! Oh wondrous day, when our names were recorded there!
All of Heaven rejoiced; the angelic choirs of Heaven rang with the high notes of praise; the Lord Jesus Christ clapped for joy; and there was a party in the spiritual realms to celebrate your birth into God’s family!
Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, when the Shepherd finds that one lost sheep and returns rejoicing, Jesus says in Luke 15:7, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth…"
In the Parable of the Lost Coin, when the woman searches and finds that coin that represented her dowry, Jesus says that her rejoicing is comparable to what happens in Heaven when one soul comes home.
Luke 15:10, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
So in closing let me say this:
In Paul’s letter of 1 Thessalonians 5:16 he says, "Rejoice evermore."
Let us rejoice always and in all things, but especially rejoice because our names are written down in glory. Thank God for his power working in us to perform mighty works. Thank God for his power in us to witness and see souls won to the kingdom. But thank God most of all because my name was written there in the first place and now I have an eternal reward waiting for me!
If all the angels are rejoicing now over each sinner who comes home – I wonder how much that rejoicing and praise is going ring out the day that Jesus calls His Bride home! Won’t that be a wonderful time!
