The Power of Authority

Luke 10:17-20

          Have you ever been discouraged about the results of your personal evangelism? If anyone answers no to that question you need to share your secret with the rest of us. For the most part we never see the fruits of our labor, but when we do get to witness the Holy Spirit draw someone to the Father through our efforts, it is one of the most awesome feelings there is. If we are blessed enough to watch the person grow in Christ, it is even more remarkable.

          When we last looked at Luke’s gospel, Jesus was sending out seventy disciples to prepare the towns and villages for his arrival as He journeyed back to Jerusalem. They were to warn the people that the Kingdom of God was near and that they had to turn or burn. Now I know that that is not the preferred method of evangelism today but our Lord was certainly not afraid to use it. Listen to the warning he gave to some of the cities;

            "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me."  

            If someone were to talk like that today they would be considered a radical Christian fundamentalist whacko that should be taken out and flogged in public. If a political leader said something like that, there would be senate hearings held to have him or her thrown out of office. Our “politically correct” society would never tolerate such “hate filled language”, unless of course it was coming from an Islamic imam. Did I say that out loud?

          Anyway, back to the lesson. We don’t know how long the seventy were on the road but at some point they returned to give a report to Jesus about their mission. This is where we will pick things up today.

            Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  ¹⁸ And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." NKJ

                                                                                                                        Luke 10:17-20  

             What happens when we faithfully carry out the great commission, is the subject of today’s sermon. If you don’t think that you are making a difference, you need to think again. Sharing the gospel has consequences that you probably never dreamed of and results you never thought possible.

            The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" NKJ Before we go any farther some of you are no doubt thinking to yourself, “My bible says there were seventy two disciples, what’s going on here?”  Well there is a discrepancy between manuscripts on this number. I normally use the English Standard Version but trust that the New King James is more accurate using the seventy rather than seventy-two. I believe that simply because of the symbolism associated with the number seventy.

          In Genesis 10 there is a list of seventy nations that are descended from Noah. I would list them all for you but I can only pronounce four of them. In Numbers 11 we read; So the LORD said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.”  And perhaps the most significant symbolism is that there were seventy leaders of the Sanhedrin who were suppose to be preparing for the coming of the Messiah, but had in fact rejected the One they were waiting for.

          Whether it was seventy or seventy-two, the fact remains that Jesus sent a lot of men out ahead of him to prepare the people for His last visit.

          The results of their tours were beyond even what they had imagined. "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" The reason they were probably so amazed is that Jesus hadn’t told them that they would be casting out demons. He told them not to take anything with them but he didn’t tell them he was going to give them everything they needed, including special powers. That had to be pretty wild the first time it happened. No wonder the seventy were so ecstatic about what they had accomplished in Jesus name, but that was only part of the story.

             And [Jesus] said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”     “Excuse me, you saw what?” “That’s right, while you were casting out demons; I was watching their master fall from heaven.” Can you imagine hearing that from Jesus?  The first thing I would have thought was; what is he talking about? Well, what was Jesus saying? For the answer we will have to go all the way back to the beginning.

          Way back in the garden, after the fall, God came to Satan, who at the time was in the form of a serpent, and laid this little promise on him; So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." Genesis 3:14-15   

            The question now becomes, when did this take place? And, how did it happen? Let’s fast forward many millennia to about 26 AD. Jesus had just been baptized by John and was lead out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. For forty days and forty nights He was tempted by Satan in every way conceivable to man, and probably in a few ways that we cannot conceive. Through it all, Jesus never gave in to the lies and false promises of the Tempter. He never once sinned, He never once faltered.

          This was the beginning of the end for Satan. He tried every trick in the book to get the Son of Man to follow him, but he failed miserably. He had met his match and the battle was just beginning. Because scripture interprets scripture, we can get a better understanding of this by looking at other passages.

          In John 12 Jesus was talking to the crowd about His death and how He was to be lifted up. Let’s pick it up in v27; “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came 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  

            Jesus made a promise that Satan would be thrown out of the position he held as “ruler of this world” when Jesus was lifted up. But Satan was already beginning to lose his grip on this world. Every time the kingdom of God was preached and another person came to believe in Jesus Christ, Satan was being cast out of authority.

          In Matthew 12 Jesus was accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul. This is how Jesus answered His accusers;

             "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Matthew 12:25-29

            If Jesus had not bound Satan at the resurrection, and limited his power here on earth, we would not be able to do the work that we are called to do. Things are bad enough as it is, can you imagine if Satan still had full reign over the earth? The promise of Christ is that through the sharing of the gospel and working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals, the Kingdom of God will prevail in this world.

          Let’s look at one more example just in case there are any doubts about Satan’s limited power in the lives of God’s children. In the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, Jesus gave this vision to John as recorded in the twentieth chapter; “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.” Revelation 20:1-3

            We are in the millennial reign of the Lord right now. Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father where He will remain until all His enemies become His footstool. We are seated with Him as He rules this world. If that seems a little hard to believe let me share with you the words that God gave to the prophet Daniel:

            “And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.” Daniel 7:27  

            Wow! Would you like to hear that again? “And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.”  That is the promise that God has given to the saints. That means you Saint (fill in your name).

            How do we reach the goal that has been set before us? We reach it by being faithful in carrying out the “great commission”. There is no other way. There is no magic wand, there is no political party, and above all, there is no fast track to achieving this objective. If it sounds like hard work, that’s because it is.

          In a recent article, Matt Kennedy outlined five things congregations that are thinking about leaving The Episcopal Church must be willing to do. This is number four; “Both clergy and people must be prepared for evangelism. There were few if any dedicated church buildings in the first century.  They seemed to manage just fine---and wasn’t because pagans were impressed with their liturgy.  The apostles planted churches and the churches obeyed the Great Commission, individually and corporately, by sharing the gospel in their region not just by deed (that famous St. Francis quotation about preaching the gospel through deeds is true, but it can also serve as a rationale for not sharing your faith) but also by word.  If the people in your parish are not prepared or equipped to share and proclaim Jesus Christ as King and Savior in the world, then you will probably not make it.”

          Every time you help bring someone into the kingdom of God, Satan is cast down a little lower, bound a little tighter and left a little weaker. He continues to “fall like lightning from heaven” whenever we faithfully proclaim the Kingdom of God. He was defeated by Christ on the cross but the battle is not yet over. We must press on without fear because we have been given the authority to do so.

            Jesus said to the seventy; “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” The same power and authority that was given to the disciples has been given to you Christian, do not ignore it.

          Let’s go back to the garden for a moment. God told the serpent; “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." This promise was not only fulfilled in Christ but is being fulfilled in the faithful saints. Jesus gave you authority to “tread on serpents” did He not? We usually do that with our heels do we not? We are also some of the seed that God talked about. Satan continues to be overthrown because of the work of the saints. How can such an important ministry be overlooked? 

          Before we move on it must be pointed out that authority over demons is no guarantee of salvation. In Luke 9 we read that Jesus “called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” Judas may have been given the ability to cast out demons, but that did not mean that he was saved from eternal damnation. I’m not going to elaborate on that, I just want you to think about it.

          Because of our sinful nature, Jesus once again had to give us a little warning to keep us on track. “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."    In his comment on this verse Hendriksen wrote, “How often men rejoice in earthly honors or accomplishments! How little in heavenly blessings, past, present, and future.” The ability to cast out demons or proclaim the gospel will end when we die, but the right relationship with God through His Son, will last an eternity.

          In Greek, the term “names are written” (ta onomata engegraptai) is in the perfect tense. That means that the names are there permanently. This same term was used at that time to make a public register or what is commonly called a census. Jesus was telling the disciples they were personally known by God “and that their eternal presence before him [was] certain.” Bock Their names were written in the “book of life”, as St Paul called it, and that is what really mattered. 

          Jesus didn’t want pride to get in the way of ministry, which can so often happen. He wanted His followers to keep their eyes on the prize, so to speak, and not be led astray by their accomplishments.

          Tom Wright did a nice job of summarizing this passage that I would like to share with you. “Jesus’ task is therefore not simply to teach people a new way of life; not simply to offer a new depth of spirituality; not simply to enable them to go to heaven after death. Jesus’ task is to defeat Satan, to break his power, to win the decisive victory which will open the way to God’s new creation in which evil, and even death itself, will be banished.”

          Could Jesus accomplish that by just speaking? Absolutely! “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus said. But here’s the kicker, Jesus wants to use us to accomplish this victory. He has given us the authority to do it, and with that authority, the power to carry out it out. What an awesome task He has entrusted to us.

          Do not underestimate what God can accomplish through you, if you let Him. We have been given a mandate, or as the Blues Brothers would say, “we are on a mission from God.” Carry out that mission with confidence and boldness, don’t look back, enjoy the ride, and remember, God has given you the power of His authority, don’t waste it.